Week 10- Light is Hope

One day, I noticed a beautiful landscape in the sky as the sun was setting.  With the shadowing that the sun's light was creating, the clouds looked very three-dimensional and almost looked like mountains.  The sky made me feel hopeful and showed me that even on dark and cloudy days, there is always a chance that the sun will come.   Again, I also managed to capture the streetlights in the image, which shows natural light versus artificial light.  The natural light is something that is not so easy to recreate, but we can always find ways to resemble it. 

P.S.  I am sorry this post is late.  I have been having trouble with my internet off and on.  I fully enjoyed doing these blogs and I have a newfound appreciation for lighting design and light in general.  Thank you for a wonderful class!

Week 10: Work

So this is a picture of my workplace, Irvine Lanes. The lighting in this picture is not quite unique, but it is interesting. As you can see, the whole lanes are blasted with lights while the sitting place is less lighted. I understand that the lanes are needed to be lighted, but this choice makes the actual customers less important. I see this all the time at work but whenever it's closing time and the lights turn off, the whole bowling place totally completely changes. The bowling place becomes sort of a creepy dark place. The pins are still visible, but everything else is pitch black. Also, the reflection of the light off of the wax further lights up the ceiling. It seems to efficiently uses all the light as much as possible. The lights that light up the place where the pins are also important. Sometimes, the pin lights turn off and when they do, we call the mechanic to fix it. In the meantime, the pins seems so lonely without lights. It's little things like this that we don't really appreciate.

Week 10: Blinded by the Light

Natural light is something very visually different then artificial, the cool gradient created from the blocking of the sunlight coming from the window, and even the intense shadows created visually reminded of theatrical lighting. I've always liked the way that the dark interacts with only the smallest amounts of light, visually for me it is really cool and even calming in a way. When I saw this I also thought to myself how this would be a very cool light to recreate in a theatrical setting because it is definitely possible and an awesome idea to utilize an object to absorb 90% of the light to create this awesome object glow effect! It reminds me how diverse lighting can be and the potentially awesome effects that can be made with lights alone, and that lighting is not necessarily just used to light the stage!

Week 10: Las Vegas

It can be hard to remember just how important architectural lighting can be until you see the Las Vegas Strip during the day, and then at night. During an overnight day trip to Las Vegas, we walked down the strip during the day, and I was surprised at how little actually jumped out at me. Sure, the mini Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty were a bit odd, but my eye wasn't drawn to them. Everything was cast under the same harsh sunlight. But once the sun went down, then my eye wasn't sure what it was drawn to more. Lighting via architecture so often goes unnoticed because my definition, most architectural light designs don't change that much. Most buildings are lit in the same fashion the whole time, so the eye does not pick up on it repeatedly. In Vegas, however, everything is flashing and changing and your eyes are forced to look at the large extravagant buildings calling for your attention and your money. It interesting how much a difference lighting in architecture can make and how appealing lights can make a place, even when you're aware that they just want your money.

Week 10: Golden Road

I took this picture in New York from a window and I just love how at night in the city there is still so much light. It is not as ideal for trying to sleep, but it definitely looks pretty. I just like how in the picture the most lit up part is the street from all the cars and taxis on the street even late at night. There is a play on perspective here because the further away you look, the brighter the light and the smaller the street even though the street does not get any narrower. The picture reminds me of how beautiful and amazing New York can be and how active the city is at all hours.

Week 10: Creepy Walk Home

Whenever I walk home I have to pass this hallway and I have always thought it looked creepy. The light closest to me does not work so most of the light is coming from the side or from the lights furthest from me. The hallway looks much longer than it actually is because most of the light is coming from the end of the hallway. The lights in the back and the color change of the walls make the furthest part of the hallway look almost magical. This light makes me feel like i am looking at the light at the end of the tunnel. It is kind of calming, but also scary because I still have through go through the dark part of the hallway.

Week 10: Matterhorn

I took this picture after I got off my shift at Disneyland. This man made attraction just looks so natural and beautiful and I forget that this place is man-made and filled with thousands of people who paid lots of money to be here. I love the lighting in this photo. The orange, wispy clouds mix with the blue sky for a wonderful balance of warm and cool. This makes me think of working in class and often talking about needing cool/warm light to balance out the other. This makes me think of the cyc and perfecting a sunset that is not just oranges and reds but also has some blue in it to satisfy the eye.