Imagine a beautiful cream colored fountain illuminated with a warm amber light. Perhaps a wall of green ivy washed by a Coverliter with a 35W MR16 lamp with a 60 degree beam spread and green lens, #GU-0404CU-LO3560-G.
It is important to remember when using dark colored lenses that you may need to increase the wattage of the lamp or use a narrower beam spread, such as with dark green, dark blue or deep red lenses. Lighter colored lenses such as silver green or moon blue lenses will work fine with lower wattage lamps.
Holiday lighting can be enhanced with the use of colored lenses and fixture interiors. Consider the following:
Independence Day: Try using red and blue lenses with narrow beam lamps in #GU-6503BR Lipinski Liters to backlight a wall or temporarily light a garage door. Or try image templates and words to celebrate an occasion using the #NS-0411 Nightscope.
Halloween: At my home I have 3 Clayliters #DB-0902CU-LO5024 uplighting a wispy mesquite tree. The kids in the neighborhood love how spooky it looks when I add an amber lens to one, a green lens to the second, and a dark blue lens to the third.
Christmas: Celebrate the season by hanging black Starliters with colored interiors #TD-0702-1-INT-G(green) or -R(red) from trees or from the eves of your house. Combine them with some candy-cane striped Deliters #GD-2404-33340-LO93 (white background with red stripes) or #GD-2404-6024 (white background with green stripes). For additional accent, you can also add Powerliters #GU-1305-R or -G with red or green lenses to highlighgt the architecture and trees.
My good friend Kevin Gilligan of Gilligan's Paradise Creations will often use an Artisan #WM-O404CU-MB downlight with a Moon Blue lens to create the illusion of moonlight coming down from large established trees, such as pines, ficus or olives. Using the Moon Blue lens in this manner will also bring out the color of a well groomed lawn and define the shadows of the tree branches. Kevin has also used the Starliter TD-0702-INT-A,-B,-R, or -G with amber, blue, red and, green interiors to create a fun and festive effect. Mark Cook of Trinity Power & Electric and Jeff Wolff of Sunwolff Irrigation, enjoy using a Silver Green lens to bring out the true colors of many desert succulents. The Silver Green lens has the same green color of an old cola bottle.
KEVIN SMITH
Arizona/New Mexico Contractor Support
kevins@nightscaping.com
602-363-1197 Cell
With the support of his Mother and Father, Bill and his wife Chris sold the Jenkins family business and opened up Think Green Irrigation in 2000. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Jon Riep joined them as a partner. The three of them make a great team, focusing on total customer satisfaction.
NightscapingŪ has become a major part of Think Green's business. As an electronic wiz, Bill insists on strong mechanics in an outdoor lighting system. "Why light" is always the first question asked by Bill to the new client. Bill says, "We strive to enhance our customers total environment, creating romantic scenes and natural effects". And Jon reminds him, "We are very proud to be Nightscaping Registered contractors."
I am also proud to have lifelong friends like Jon & Bill.
Think Green Irrigation
Scottsdale AZ 85254
480-922-9497 Busn
480-998-7975 Fax
thinkgreen@cox.net
A Story About Bill's Dad, From Kevin Smith
William T. Jenkins is and always will be one of the greatest men I have ever known. I remember in my early days when I worked at the irrigation house, I had a boss that would leave the store every day when we would be bombarded with customers. One day William T. came in and saw me flustered and scrambling. After clearing out the store W.T. looked at me and said, "You look like you could use some ice-cream!"
He then walked across the parking lot and brought back two large cones. That afternoon we had a nice chat and I told him that my new bride and I had started landscaping our home. He told me to visit him on Saturday after I closed the store. Keeping the appointment with W.T. he asked me if I thought about lights for my yard. I said "Yes ". He did not know that I looked through my NightscapingŪ catalog every night. W.T. directed me to a storage room that had a shelf with about 10 Footliters and 6 Walliters. He told me that he had put in the system for a customer 2 years prior and had just replaced it with all copper NightscapingŪ fixtures. "I'll sell 'em to you for $1.00 each" he said. Luckily I had 12 bucks on me, and jumped at the opportunity. I bought 4 Footliters and 2 Walliters (as I still needed gas money; this was in 1989).
Just before I left he said, "Wait, you're going to need a transformer" and he handed me an old green 100W Powercenter(TM). "This one is on me" he said. I thanked him and told him that I WOULD NEVER FORGET HIS KINDNESS.
Architectural Lighting Tips
The same rule applies with architecture as it does with art, determine what points the designer was trying to bring out in the architecture and enhance it. Look at decorative construction techniques in masonry and wood facades. Highlight the gables, draw attention to the peaks. Two techniques; place fixtures at the bottom of the gables and project the light up from each side so that it meets at the tip of the peak, or place two fixtures under the peak and aim them down to the lower edges.
Entryways - Drawing attention to the front door itself is many times warranted. The door itself IS a focal point. Hand-carved wood, raised wood panels, artistic metal designs. Draw attention to the door from overhead paying close attention not to cast glare in the eyes of those entering and exiting the building.
Atriums - The objects in the atrium, columns, arches, breeze ways, ledges, shutters, cupolas, weather vanes, and seasonal and holiday flags can all be architectural focal points that can have attention drawn by professionally designed lighting.
Cross Lighting - A single light source in front of a statue is flat and boring. Borrowing a trick from the theatre, two light sources, one on either side are aimed to cross at the statue, creating depth and more visual interest.
Highlighting - In any given lighting situation, try to find and light a focal point. Focal points can be trees,statues or anything you want to accent. Uplighting, downlighting, or any combination can be used effectively.
Skeleton Lighting - The shapes and structures of tree and plant branches are natural for lighting. Fall and winter are beautiful and by uplighting or backlighting tree and plant skeletons, a very dramatic look can be created.
Vista View Lighting - Protect a valuable view by framing it with subdued uplights and using below knee-level downlight in the line of the view. The viewer must be able to see through the lighting to the vista beyond.
Flood Lighting - On a residential level, soft, gentle floodlighting is used as background lighting to create visual depth. Don't confuse this with high intensity discharge mercury and sodium vapor lighting used for commercial security and parking.
