Nature has many beautiful phenomenons, one of which is hotaru (firefly) season in Japan. The season lasts from around May to July in different regions of Japan, and at its peak in June/July, the forests are alight with the tiny insects. It is a marvel to behold and even more so to capture on camera, but Russian landscape photographer Daniel Kordan did just that.
I felt like a kid looking for the first time in my life at a Christmas tree! It was so exciting and enchanting, like magic. At a certain moment, the fireflies synchronize and start blinking synchronously. Yellow-green flashes light up the forest with dim light, and for a few milliseconds you can see mysterious shrines and the dreamy bamboo forest. It was like a meditation. In deep dark space you are surrounded by soft emerald light for just a few seconds!
Daniel Kordan, Instagram
His impressive images, taken on Kyushu island, capture awe-inspiring nature in spectacular photographic detail. They show hime-botaru light dots, synchronous fireflies. There is also another another type of firefly, Genji fireflies, which leave the long trail as their light dims slowly.
Fireflies are very sensitive to ecological conditions. Unfortunately, they are not the best in the last few years, so it’s starting to be very challenging to find fireflies. Sometimes it’s just two or three days when they light up. And you can find this information only among local photographers.
Daniel Kordan, Instagram
Capturing these incredible creatures at the peak of their extraordinary light show took a lot of planning and preparation. Daniel arrived at each location early, long before 8-9 pm when the first fireflies start to show up. He played around to find the best composition, setup his cameras and then watched and waited patiently for the show.
To see more of Daniel Kordan’s photography visit his website or follow him on Instagram and Facebook.
