One photographer and filmmaker has created a photo series using a custom-made lighting rig that sees a rainbow of colors streak through forests, beaches, and lakes.
Daniel Mercadante has taken the series of long-exposure images, aptly titled Rainbow Road, across many landscapes in Connecticut and Guatemala. In the pictures, otherwise mundane settings are illuminated with a magical rainbow trail.
Particular favorites include one taken on the beach, a sleeping dog illuminated from the light, and another running across a lake, which sees the multicolored streak reflecting on the water. The surreal images have the effect of looking as though they were created in post-production, they’re actually a result of a rainbow lighting rig that Mercadante himself created.
Predominantly creating films alongside his wife Katina (see their joint work here), he explains that the appeal of long exposures stems from being a fusion of photography and video:
After so many years focused on the moving image, I’ve struggled with singularly caught moments in still imagery—so I love how this project still requires images to be captured over 15sec-1 minute, so in some way they require the same passages of time that a shot in one of our short films might.
The series is a work in progress. Keep up to date with future additions, and see more of Daniel's colorful feed, over on Instagram.
Images used with permission of Daniel Mercadante.
Very creative use of light paint