Lasers, Meteors, and Aurora Come Together in Ethereal Photo Series

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Colorful auroras in the night sky with pink, red, and green lights swirling above a dark coastline. A ghostly, elongated light effect stretches from the water towards the sky, creating an ethereal scene.

Photographer Reuben Wu, known for pioneering light painting in beautiful landscape photography, including through the use of drones, has begun work on a brand-new project. While the project is in progress, Wu captured some beautiful shots in August that are too cool not to share a little early.

“These images were captured during an annual family trip to Lake Michigan in August. While testing a new technique involving lasers during the annual Perseid meteor shower, the aurora borealis made an unexpected appearance — a rare Summer event that seemed to be completely undocumented by anyone else,” Wu tells PetaPixel.

The new project, Siren, builds upon Wu’s excellent Aeroglyphs series. Like Aeroglyphs, Siren uses lights mounted on drones. However, while earlier work was very geometric, Siren is much more fluid.

A vibrant Northern Lights display with ribbons of green and pink hues illuminates the night sky. Wispy white patterns resemble waves on a calm shoreline, blending into the reflections on the water's surface. Trees silhouette on the right horizon.

“This series captures ephemeral, curtain-like structures that hover delicately in space, shaped by their environment rather than imposing upon it,” Wu says. “On the beach, the movement of the waves modulates the light source, creating a spatial ebb and flow over the course of a long exposure. These interactions allow for a response to natural rhythms, producing forms that feel alive and dynamic.”

The aurora borealis was lucky but related to Wu’s broader goal of exploring unconventional lighting methods and working harmoniously with environmental forces and natural phenomena.

A person stands on a beach at night, gazing at vibrant pink and green auroras lighting up the sky above. The shoreline is lined with trees and rocks, under a starry sky.

“I got insanely excited when the aurora decided to show up out of the blue and photo bomb my laser drone experiment,” Wu says. “I have been trying to figure out the next iteration of Aeroglyphs for years, so I was deliriously happy when the aurora, Perseids, and my light painting work aligned in one setting.”

The aurora’s appearance that August night felt like an absolute gift — completely unexpected during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. There was something powerful about being possibly the only witness to this convergence of these celestial events.”

A long exposure photograph of thin, white light streams forming a rectangular shape over a dark beach. The Aurora Borealis glows green in the background sky, reflecting on the water. Silhouetted trees line the shoreline.

This kind of serendipity, when rare, natural phenomena align with artistic intent, creates moments that feel touched by something much bigger than ourselves.”

While Siren is still in the early days, Wu tells PetaPixel that the series started as a sketch way back in 2021.

A hand-drawn sketch of three panels. The first shows a series of lines or glyphs, the second depicts vertical lines possibly indicating water or rain, and the third has wavy lines with an arrow labeled "scan TV." The label "Aeroglyphs 2" is noted below.

Wu started with the image he wanted to create and worked backwards from this vision, experimenting with different tools until he found a way to pull it off.

While he is keeping the details of his drone-mounted laser system close to the vest, he explains that the series explores “a more organic relationship with the environment” than his previous light-painting work, like Aeroglyphs.

A long-exposure photograph shows white light trails forming a vertical sheet against a backdrop of the aurora borealis and a starry night sky, with silhouettes of trees along the shoreline.

The relationship between technology and art has long been fascinating for Wu. Technology never eclipses the art itself, but he consistently finds new ways to utilize his existing tools and combines them to create something new.

He notes that his new images were shot using the Fujifilm GFX100 II, but that he also shoots with the Phase One XT system, a Sony a1, and as PetaPixel has written about before, even an iPhone.

A person stands on a beach illuminated by ethereal green lights and a starry sky. Soft, vertical light trails rise around them, creating a surreal ambiance. The shoreline fades into darkness with silhouettes of distant trees.

“Working with medium format, particularly in these nocturnal conditions, allows me to capture very subtle gradations of light and atmosphere that are crucial to the emotional weight of these images. The technical quality serves the artistic vision — and enables me to create very large, gallery-quality prints,” Wu says of working with the GFX100 II for Siren. “Working with a fully manual camera also gives me a lot of control over timed exposures, especially when choreographing drone movement with the shutter speed.”

A luminous rectangular light installation stands on a dark sandy beach under a starry sky. The background features a stunning green aurora, with silhouettes of trees along the shoreline. The serene atmosphere is reflected in the calm water.

Siren is off to an incredible, beautiful start. While the northern lights were a fantastic surprise for Wu, he won’t rely on specific celestial events for the series. The series will continue to explore the connection of natural rhythms, shapes, and motions, establishing a visual dialogue between artificial and natural elements. Additional work from Siren will be available on Reuben Wu’s website and Instagram when it is ready.

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