drone light paths above mountains captured in long exposure photography

photographer reuben wu captures alien looking light trails within various manmade landscapes using the power of drones. the chicago-based photographer uses them to create aerial light sources, illuminating locations in his ongoing series lux noctis.

all images courtesy of the photography

light from the GPS-enabled drones create a halo effect around mountaintops that reuben wu captures in photographs. drenched light is calculated by wu who than captures it along with resulting trails throughout the series. 

the work depicts ‘landscapes within the framework of traditional landscape photography‘ but is ‘influenced by ideas of planetary exploration, 19th century sublime romantic painting, and science fiction‘, it explains on wu’s website. ‘we are overwhelmed everyday by beautiful images of the familiar. I imagine these scenes transformed into undiscovered landscapes which renew our perceptions of our world’, it continues. devoid of human life, the compositions capture mountainous with an ethereal tone.