If you’ve ever been to New Zealand, you’ve most likely heard of the Waitomo Caves. They are the home to the incredible animal known as the glow-worm. If you’ve never heard of this place or these animals, you are in for a treat. Photographer Shaun Jeffers has been traveling back and forth to the Waitomo Ruakuri Cave to master the art of photographing these amazing creatures in their natural habitat. Now you may be wondering why anyone would travel around the world, just to photograph an insect. Well, take a look at the pictures he as has captured, and it will quickly become apparent. These caves hold a certain magic that you have to see to believe.
The caves themselves are cool in their own right. Rock spires hang from the ceiling and giving this place the look of a Bond villain layer.
Then, you notice the thousands of tiny lights dotting the ceiling and the inside of the cave suddenly turns into an amazing star filled night sky.
Shaun Jeffers is the man responsible for these stunning photographs. His goal has been to master the art of photographing them in their natural habitat.
This place is like stepping into an alien world. It reminds me tremendously of Pandora from the Avatar.
Kayaking through this place would be an experience like no other.
It’s no wonder that people flock from all over the world to experience this natural beauty.
Jeffers compares photographing these glow worms to photographing the night star, except the exposure times can be much longer.
All these photographs required 30 second to 6 minutes exposures.
Entering this hidden world would be such a surreal experience. This is something that very few people get to experience.
Shaun was submerged in cold cave water for 6 to 8 hours a day to get the shots he wanted.
I would never want to leave this place if I ever got the chance to visit. This place seems completely separate from the rest of the world, with a beauty that few other places can match.
This place really is like something out of a sic-fi/fantasy movie. The comparisons to the Avatar movie are quite apt in my opinion. I would have never thought something like this could exist on Earth. Being able to see this in person is definitely an item on my bucket list now. I just have to find a way for someone else to pay for my trip to New Zealand. If you’d like to check out more of Shaun Jeffers incredible photography you can find a link to his website here.