Striking photos of Canadian Olympian Adam van Koeverden to benefit charity

Striking photos that feature Canadian Olympian Adam van Koeverden in action in Toronto's waters ahead of the Rio Olympics are being sold to raise money for a program that helps young people learn life skills through canoe trips.

Waterloo, Ont., photographer Stephen Orlando took photos of van Koeverden near the Toronto Islands last September after attaching colour-changing LED lights to his paddle.

Half of the proceeds from the sale of prints of the three photos will be donated to Project Canoe, a Toronto-based charity. The project was Orlando's idea but he said van Koeverden, who will be competing in Rio, was actively involved in the process.

"I want to emphasize to people that what they are looking at is a real photo with the lines representing the actual path of the paddle," Orlando told CBC News on Tuesday.

"It's done with good knowledge of the equipment, timing, planning and a little bit of practice," he said.

Orlando said the goal of the photo series is to tell the story of movement while the proceeds benefit a charity that uses the outdoors to change lives. "I think the visible perfection of the paddle strokes depict the results of Adam's hard work and dedication to kayaking," he said in a statement.

The photos show the movement of paddling through lines of bright light with the Toronto skyline in the background. Orlando took the photos, which are single exposures, by setting his camera for a long exposure, leaving the shutter of the lens open for 10 to 15 seconds to capture the movements of the lights. The photos were taken in the waters off Olympic Island, a location chosen by van Koeverden.

Olympian thrilled with pictures

Orlando uses a full-frame DSLR to capture the images. The LED lights, meanwhile, are linked to a micro-controller and are programmed to change colours as van Koeverden paddles. Van Koeverden had to paddle two strokes per second or 120 strokes per minute to make the colours change for each stroke. 

"I wanted him to do that so the that the colour would be evenly distributed," photographer Orlando said.

Van Koeverden said in a statement that he was pleased to be involved in a project that features paddling in an urban setting to benefit a charity. He said the Burloak Canoe Club, which he joined as a teen, changed his life.

"This project represents something really exciting for me; a really unique intersection of technology, sport and art. The result is a striking image representing something more than simply a moment, it's an image that demonstrates movement over a period of time," van Koeverden said.

The location was chosen to provide a view of the Toronto skyline not obstructed by trees and with a sandy shore to ensure the kayak would not be damaged by rocks.

One of the photos shows the movement of his paddle in water at night in rainbow coloured lights, while the other shows the movement in red and white lights.

Orlando said van Koeverden is not visible in two of the photos because the photos were taken just after sunset while the sky was still bright and he was not in the same spot long enough to be exposed on the camera's sensor. The only things that are visible in these photos are stationary, such as the skyline, or bright, such as the LED lights.

The photo with van Koeverden visible was taken long after sunset and Orlando illuminated him with a flash at the end of the photo to freeze him in time.

Photos and prints will be available at www.motionexposure.com. A 12x18-inch print sells for $80.