The Motions of Kayaking and Canoeing

Photographer Stephen Orlando creates stunning light paintings—sans Photoshop—through long exposures of environmental and physical motion.

Orlando reimagines movement through water with his representative light paintings, Motion Exposures. These photographs create rainbow trails of light as they map the graceful gestures of people swimming, kayaking and canoeing as they glide across bodies of water. In his artist’s statement, Orlando says, “I’m fascinated with capturing motion through time and space into a single photograph. Using LED lights with custom color patterns and long exposure photography, I’m able to tell the story of movement. This technique reveals beautiful light trails created by paths of familiar objects.”

To achieve this effect, he attaches programmable LED light sticks to paddles, bodies, and racquets, and then takes long-exposure photographs of them kayaking, canoeing, or swimming. The results are majestic visuals of futuristic lines and rays of light.

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