In February 2025, I photographed giant Punga ferns in Oratia, in the Waitakere Ranges on New Zealand’s North Island.
Each exposure took between 20 minutes and about an hour per shot.
Reaching the ferns meant up- and downhill hikes through the bush, followed by climbing, crouching, creeping and working in near darkness to position the camera and light.
The night was warm and perfectly still. Ideal conditions, apart from a few thousand relentless, blood-thirsty mosquitoes.
