This is one of my most vivid childhood memories: My sister and I staying up past our bedtime, running around our grandparents’ big backyard on summer nights with Mason jars in our hands, trying to capture some fireflies.

I remember our shouts of glee when we were successful. We would press our noses right up to the jar and wait for those moments when the insects would light up; it was like holding tiny fireworks in our hands.

I was so reluctant to set them free—my nine-year-old-self thought that they would make the most awesome pets and I wanted to keep them on my bedside table, but my grandfather would gently say, “Time to let them go.” So my sister and I would slowly unscrew the lids of the jars, and the fireflies would take off once again into the dusky summer night.

Fireflies are one of my favorite parts of summer, along with freshly picked berries and hammocks. And Japanese photographer Yuki Karo has captured that magic in these time-lapse photos. The fireflies seem to flit like fairies through the trees or cover the forest floor like a magic carpet.

For you, I hope these photos bring back memories of happy summer nights, just as they did for me.

You can find more of Karo’s stunning photographs on his blog.

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Ed: Bryonie Wise