Daredevil Photographer Attaches LED To Drone For Hauntingly Beautiful Photos

Photographer Reuben Wu transforms the vast desert landscape into otherworldly scenes with his stunning series Lux Noctis. The dramatic images feature solitary rock formations surrounded by nearly pitch-black darkness, only illuminated by a selective spotlight. This approach both highlights their incredible characteristics and visually creates the feeling that an alien ship is about to land on the curious grounds.

h/t: mymodernmet

To capture these hauntingly gorgeous images, Wu traveled to the western United States and shot at seven locations, from the Bisti Badlands in New Mexico to Mono Lake in California. This required some ruggedness on Wu and his assistant’s parts—they often had to hike miles into the wilderness with their gear and occasionally camp after a night of work. They’d first scout possible places to shoot in the afternoon and then return to the exact spot once it got dark.

Wu cites “ideas of planetary exploration,19th century sublime romantic painting, and science fiction” as the driving forces behind Lux Noctis’ aesthetic. “We are overwhelmed everyday by beautiful images of the familiar,” he writes, “I imagine these scenes transformed into undiscovered landscapes which renew our perceptions of our world.”