Yesterday I was contacted by the Observatoire des Vers Luisants that is the Observatory of glow worms. I was asked if I would be willing to repeat my “Special Mission” looking for glow worms on the same route any day from yesterday until the weekend. I happily agreed as I find glow worm searching fun.
This time we found 14! Much more fun than the last negative survey we had made.
We had been asked to take photographs if possible. That is not so easy! My built in flash is all I have got and so Macro shots have too tight a field of focus.
Kourosh resorted to his old Canon PowerShot SX210IS which leaves a small black mark on the photos (cut out here). He managed to capture the winged male edging up the ivy leaf towards the female.
And then mating.
We even found three glowing away in our front garden – but they did not count. I wonder if it was the 15 mm. of rain that fell during thunderstorms Sunday night/ Monday morning? Everything feels better now.
Any advice on taking photographs of glow worms would be appreciated.
a french garden 
It’s tough to take photos of a light source.
LikeLike
How exciting to find and photograph several. I’ve no ideas on taking photos – and have never seen any in this part of the world, but maybe we haven’t searched hard enough?
BW
Julian
LikeLike
You could be the first to spot them in your area? Amelia
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve never seen a glow worm but you could try an LED light source. They’re adjustable and don’t cost much. I use one for mushrooms and other things that grow in dark places.
LikeLike
I’ve just been checking that out and the Macro ring flashes are cheaper than I thought they were. Another thing for my “wish list”. (I know you meant torches but that’s the problem of the internet-temptation of things we didn’t know existed.) Amelia
LikeLike
Amelia, I use an LED head torch when on a g-w hunt…
to avoid falling over objects, etc.
I have used that before now when photographing night objects…
and I have also stuck folded layers of greaseproof/tracing paper over the flash to reduce its output and diffuse the light…
the great joy with that method is… film being free these days…
is that you can experiment in comfort….
a handful of vegetation in a beaker and a small object amongst the stems…
stood on a table….
that has worked fine for me
with a glass of vino to assist focus, of course.
All flashes differ… but, as a guideline, I found 16 layers gave manageable results…
with my on-camera flash that is.
If you then stick that to two cut-down plant labels…
you can use Blu-Tac to mount the filter away from the flash…
some of the light then bounces off, giving you still better control.
Hope that helps…
Tim
LikeLike
My problem was the flash was not strong enough to give me a large enough aperture even at 1000 ISO. If I diffused it further there would be less light? Amelia
LikeLike
Yes, much less…
I forgot that you were using an SLR…
your problem can be overcome by buying a TTL metered flash that fits in the hot-shoe…
I have a Vivitar one… it has a clip on diffuser that you open upwards…
that becomes a weak reflector…
however, a bit of crumpled, then re-opened tinfoil wrapped around the reflector…
sends almost all the light back downwards…
when you angle the flashhead up, this downward reflection can be positioned quite accurately in front of the lens.
LED Ring flashes are good… but give a very flat image…
this can be overcome by obliterating… temporarily… some of the LEDs…
this gives light from two thirds or so of the circle… and, as a result, a shadow!
Thus lifting the picture…
Hope that clarifies…
Tim
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is very helpful, Tim, I haven’t used flash much but it does extend your capabilities in low light conditions. Amelia
LikeLike
I have never seen a glow worm in real life, thanks for the pictures, I think they are very good.
LikeLike
They are really worth the trouble of going and looking for them if you have any where you live. You need to go just after the sun has set. We often look at the stars then so it is easy to miss them on the ground. I have never seen fireflies, but I’d love to. Amelia
LikeLike
Reminds me of the old song: Glow little glow worm, glimmer glimmer!
LikeLike
I don’t know that one. My daughter remembered – I wish I were a glow worm, A glow worm’s never glum, ‘Cause how can you be grumpy, when the sun shines out your bum?! No class, our family. Amelia
LikeLike
I haven’t seen glow worms for years (last in Portugal). Nor fireflies, which I guess are even harder to photograph (last in Italy). Now I want to! RH
LikeLike
You do get them in the U.K. I wonder if there is a British Glow Worm Appreciation Society? Amelia
LikeLike
I don’t think you need any advice about the images, you have captured these brilliantly. You are both very observant and lucky to find the glow-worms mating.
LikeLike
Actually, the hint about the LED light source might be quite helpful but that has unfortunately sent me musing about getting a special circular flash for my Macro lens. Amelia
LikeLiked by 1 person
It sounds like a very exciting outing going glow worm spotting, I have never seen one. I do, however, remember the song “Glow little glow worm, glow”
LikeLike
I don’t know this song. Does it have a rude ending? Amelia
LikeLike
Sorry to disappoint you but no rude ending, here is a rather wonderful video of the song, its the same one John mentioned earlier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8myK93FqbYc
LikeLike
Thanks for that, Philip, I had never heard that one. 🙂
LikeLike
All my photos are taken with an iPhone so I’m not the best photographer but I manage to get some good close ups of bees and the like.
LikeLike
I haven’t got a phone with a camera but the advantage of those is that you can get good impromptu photographs, excellent for the bees if you are just going for a walk. Amelia
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Have you seen a glow worm? | a french garden
Pingback: Special Mission – Year Two | a french garden
Pingback: Accepting choices in the garden | a french garden