Red Bull + Snap! Orlando + Light Painting

MOTION TO LIGHT

This is a collaborative project between Red Bull, Snap! Orlando, the wakeboard athletes: Mike Dowdy, Adam Errington, and Dallas Friday and myself as a light painter. It is purely experimental, none of us ever did a project like this before. We mixed sports and technology to create art. The movement of the athletes in the water, with the LED boards, created the light paintings. We shot 3 nights in a row from sunset to sunrise at the OWC, Orlando Watersports Complex.

This project got viral quickly and got over 6.6 million media impressions.

The boundaries dividing sport and art are blurred in this collaboration in an effort to capture the inherent emotion and creativity of athleticism.

Published in WIRED UK:

Images and video installations will be at Snap! MOTION TO LIGHT this May 02-05: https://snaporlando.com/exhibits/

From the Red Bull Illume site: https://www.redbullillume.com/stories/featured-stories/article/lights-camera-wakeboarding.html

… The shoot – which was done in conjunction with a local Red Bull-supported photography event called Snap! Orlando – included many challenges in preparation. It’s hard enough to shoot high-speed action in the dark – add in the tasks of outfitting the boards with the waterproof LCD light systems to staging the cameras, lighting and athletes in proper position to secure the shot, and you have yourself a serious photographic mission.
Some of the most inspired by the project were the athletes themselves. “It really is my movements painting this picture and helping this photo come to life!” says Errington, the 24-year-old wakeboarder at the top of his game.

For Rochon, the set-up and planning were extensive, but the motivation while shooting was simple: “Focus on the art, the creativity, and the beauty,” said Rochon, mid-shoot. Fortunately for him, he knew he could rely on the riders to offer performances worthy of the occasion. “I’m really impressed by the athletes,” he added. “They are so fluid in the water, and they understand naturally what we are trying to do here.” …

Snap! Orlando: https://snaporlando.com

Snap! Orlando on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Snap-Orlando/272917344070

Red Bull France: https://www.redbull.fr/cs/Satellite/fr_FR/Video/light-painting-wakeboard-video-illume-photos-021243336217908

Red Bull Illume site: https://www.redbullillume.com/stories/featured-stories/article/lights-camera-wakeboarding.html

Red Bull Illume on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedBullIllume?fref=ts

Amazing video by Geoff Levy: https://www.geofflevy.com

The LED on the boards have been designed and built by Evan Jones from Snap! Orlando.

Thanks to Red Bull for sponsoring this project.

Thank you to all the participants and helpers for this project and thank you Snap! Orlando for making this happen.

Some of the press covering the wakeboard & light painting project:

This is COLOSSAL: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/04/light-wakeboarding-photographed-by-patrick-rochon/

GIZMODO: https://gizmodo.com/5994477/night-wakeboarding-with-light-boards-paints-gorgeously-mesmerizing-pictures?post=58849242