The Motions of Canoers and Kayakers Exposed with LEDs in Long Exposure Photography

Ontario based photographers Stephen Orlando always searches a way to bring new ideas to the widespread photographic sub-genre of light painting. His incredible photographs capture the hypnotically repetitive motions of kayakers, canoers and swimmers as they paddle through the water, turning their movement into gorgeous woven braids of light.

Orlando’s photographs use programmable strips of LED lights that can blink or swap colors over time, which is how he was able to ensure that every paddle stroke was captured. In an exposure of twenty to thirty 30 seconds, the kayak becomes invisible, but the trail of light left behind as they paddle gets picked up and turned into a stylish lightshow.

The gifted photographer has plenty more long-exposure light paintings of other activities as well. He says I am an avid outdoor fanatic and photographer and I also have an engineering experience. These three things culminated in the production of these photographs and the shape of the light trails turned out to be what I was expectant. You know, i did a great planning for these photographs and I planned out the expected path beforehand. The unanticipated result was how visually attractive they are. The lights trails in these photos were not formed in Photoshop, nor are they composite images. They were made with cautious timing, appropriate lighting and patient friends. I did have to waterproof the lights, particularly for the whitewater kayaking photos. Source: Boredpanda