Surreal and at times a bit eerie, a rainbow road made of pure light winds through muted landscapes as if illuminating a path to another world. As it makes its way through snowy forests, across rocky creeks and along the seashore before pausing within an abandoned shed, it almost seems alive. For filmmaker and photographer Daniel Mercadante, there’s a sense of hope to it, a narrative that only becomes apparent when you see all of the images in the series on his Instagram. “When the journey felt long and lonely, can you remember you’re on the Rainbow Road?”

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The rainbow first appears in a dark and mysterious forest. It travels throughout the many diverse landscapes of California, skips all the way down to the lush jungles and weathered alleyways of Guatemala, reappears briefly on the West Coast and then finds its way to Connecticut before encircling Mercadante’s wife and creative partner, Katina Mercadante, in celebration of their anniversary.

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The project is a gorgeous example of just how magical long-exposure photography can be. It’s so simple to make – you just wave sources of light against a darkened backdrop while keeping the camera shutter open longer than usual – yet it seems to open a portal to another universe. Check out the Mercadantes’ Instagram to see the whole journey, or their website for their collaborative film projects.

The strange glowing figures in these images are so complex, you might think they’re screenshots from a digital animation, or created in Photoshop – but there’s no computer-based trickery here. Just the same long exposure techniques light artists have been using for decades to create and capture ethereal compositions, albeit applied in an unusually creative manner.

Hannu Huhtamo’s bizarre shapes glow against twilight landscapes and abandoned interiors, often looking somewhere between a plant and an alien insect. They sprout up in snowy fields, appear from inside giant teacups at theme parks or take shape in darkened living rooms.

A musician by training and hobbyist photographer, the Finnish artist first experimented with lighting techniques when taking promotional photos for a death metal band and deciding he wanted a long-exposure pentagram made with the flame of a lighter. Years later, when he met light artist Janne Parviainen and got a look at his work, Huhtamo decided to revisit the technique from a new angle.

All of his work is created ‘SOOC’ or straight out of the camera, and he uses no special light equipment other than El-Wire (electroluminescent wire) and modified LED flash lights. “Darkness is my canvas and the light is my brush,” he says in this behind-the-scenes video produced by Great Big Story.

Paint with light in real-time with a pair of shoes that not only have 100 LED lights embedded into the sole, but are also fitted with advanced motion tracking sensors to put on a dazzling show matched to your movements. Orphan by Japanese startup No New Folk Studio is a programmable performance shoe that can be set to blink and change color according to the speed and orientation of the dancer’s movements.

The Orphe shoes are essentially an artistic medium, bringing technology, dance and light painting together in a highly customizable experience. Users can either use the accompanying app to communicate with the shoes via Bluetooth, or pre-program their own effects. But the functionality goes beyond personal expression.

“The 9-axis sensors embedded in each sole pick up the movements of each shoe in real time. This data can then be used to wirelessly control various external devices, allowing the shoes to function as musical instruments, video game controllers, foot switches, etc.”

Each shoe contains a small circuitboard with an ARM Cortex-M3 microprocessor, a tracking device, a wireless module and a charging circuit as well as the LED light strip. The project is currently seeking funding on IndieGoGo, with backers snagging their own pair for $270 as a reward.

Strange undulating patterns of colored lights seem to slink across the surface of water like living entities in this captivating series of images by Ontario-based photographer Stephen Orlando. In a variation on the art of light painting, Orlando attaches LED lights to the oars of kayaks and canoes, literally spotlighting their movements as they cut through rivers and lakes.

Long exposures capture nothing but the lights as the subjects move against the backdrops, erasing the kayaks and the humans piloting them. The result is surreal, as if bioluminescent alien creatures were gliding on the surface of the water.

“I’m fascinated with capturing motion through time and space into a single photograph,” says Orlando. “Using LED lights with custom color patterns and long exposure photography, I’m able to tell the story of movement.”

“This technique reveals beautiful light trails created by paths of familiar objects. These light trails have not been artificially created with Photoshop and represent the actual paths of the objects.”

Another project takes light painting to a more urban setting, with painter Diliz capturing faces in sparks. Cyclones of light also appear to break through the surface of the earth and bodies of water in stunning works by Martin Kimbell.

Swirls and pillars of light hover in fields or against dark urban backdrops like phantom monuments, captured on camera in a way that just can’t be perceived by the human eye. UK-based artist Sola literally paints with light, his amorphous creations seeming to take on three dimensions for just a split second as if the light itself has gathered up a mass of its own.

Looking for an outlet for personal expression led Sola to professional photography, documenting the sports, bands and lifestyles that he was into. Eventually, though, he wanted something that would give him more control over the creative process.

“Then I found light painting. Quite by accident one night while shooting landscapes of the urban environment and instantly I knew it was what I’d been looking for. I like to keep things real. I shoot with digital cameras, yes, but I employ principles of analogue film technology – in that once I’ve made an image I don’t change it any more than I could in a darkroom and therefore what you see, is what I shoot.”

“I believe there’s a real magic to creating something wondrous that’s ‘real.’ Sure, there’s a place for post production in this world but on the whole, you won’t find any here. To the point that even if I am caught in the scene the image is thrown away. I aim to create images that allow the viewer to suspend their reality and simply enjoy the energy and mystery of the image.”

See lots of more Sola’s work, including collaborations with NIKE and other brands, at LightBombing.com.