I just got back from the annual AOLP outdoor lighting conference; and as usual, I always return to work refreshed and ready to take on another year of creating beautiful outdoor lighting scenes for my clients. Naturally, since this was a conference dedicated to the outdoor lighting industry, lighting fixtures was a very large topic for discussion.
One of the things I always stress in my industry is that a true outdoor lighting designer is not selling light fixtures, we sell ambience. We sell art. We sell a vision and atmosphere. We don’t sell landscape lights.
Of course, we can’t create a lighting design without fixtures, but the point is this: We’re not out to sell as many lights as we can on any project. We’re dedicated to using whatever fixtures are needed to create the right ambience in the space. This makes our client happy and produces the atmosphere that they desire in their outdoor space.
I’ve discovered over the years that it usually takes more fixtures to create the right design than less. The reason for this is that a good lighting design requires layers of light, not just ‘ten of the same fixtures pointing up to some trees.’ There needs to be some fill light between those trees. There needs to be some light between the viewing location and those trees; and most likely, those trees shouldn’t use the same fixtures on each one, and also likely will need more than one fixture each to show their depth and enhance their beauty properly.
We can’t use the same lighting technique to accent a magnolia tree as we do for a crape myrtle since they have different structure, leaf size and thickness, and color. This applies to all the different plants, flowers, hardscape and architecture on the property. As I’ve said before, one light fixture is not the right fixture for every application.
The point I’m trying to make here is that a good lighting designer doesn’t count fixtures, they use the “tools” – like a painter uses paints and brushes — that are needed to create the art they envision. If they can create their design with 12 lights, then that’s what they’ll use. If it takes 50 lights, than that is what it takes to bring the design to life. Our commitment is to the end result for the space and the client. As lighting designers, we are not fixture sales people; we are designers and artists first and foremost.
