Light Series 1 - April 2 and April 15

April 2nd

Today the sun is shining bright and filling the gallery with a large spread of light. This picture was taken at about 5:00pm. The sun has gone down a bit in the picture but all day it was really warm and inviting in the lobby space. And I literally mean warm! It seemed like it was about 10 degrees warmer in the lobby than it was anywhere else in the building. Probably even warmer than it was outside. There was not much of a glare which is what we usually find in this space with all of the glossy surfaces.

April 15th

Today was a little chilly and it made the lobby feel cool and uninviting. This picture was taken around 6:00 pm so the sun has gone down for the most part but you still see a nice glow coming in from the windows and casting a nice shadow on the concrete column. The illuminance of the glossy concrete floor also seemed like a body of water with the glare that we can't seem to get away from.

Lighting Final!

Light Series 4 - HID

A. This space is a middle school basketball gymnasium.
B. The purpose of this lighting is ambient lighting. It is used for large volume and tall ceiling types of places.
C. The luminaire is metal with a plastic covering. There are more than one HID's in the luminaires.
D. The effect of the light source in the space is a bright all over intensity spread to illuminate the surface of the court as a whole. The key is to have sufficient overlapping of light in order to reduce contrast and keep the court surface looking smooth.
E. The effect of the light on colors is somewhat reddish. The blues on the court look really muted and even greyed out. The reds in uniforms really stand out which is one good thing about having a cool color temperature.
F. The levels of illumination are appropriate. There is a nice spread of illumination across the court. Although there is a glare created from the luminaires on the floor which could be a problem from the basketball players concentration.
G. Observations and Recommendations:

• Using a lower intensity light may reduce the glare from the luminaires on the basketball court.
• Use some wall washing to reduce the contrast from the court to the walls to the ceiling. The ceiling seems the brightest area of all.
• Maybe use some task lighting down where the judges and score keepers will be so they don't have to just rely on the ambient lighting from the HIDs.
  

Light Series 4 - Flourescent

A. This space is a kitchen which is attached to a laundry room and hallway.
B. The purpose of lighting is for ambient use. It lights the room as a whole.
C. The luminaires are recessed ceiling panels of fluorescent lighting. It hangs down a few inches from the finished ceiling and creates an overhead glow lighting up the whole kitchen.
D. The effect of the light source is clean and clear. It creates a nicely spread lighted work surface on the counters and center island.
E. The effect of light on colors is pretty accurate. There are mainly neutral colors in the kitchen so it isn't hard to establish one tone from another. The browns are still clear, as well as the beiges and blacks and whites.
F. The illumination level in the kitchen is appropriate. There are no harsh shadows or contrasts between the surface or work plane and cabinets. Although there is a little bit of a glare on the back cabinets which might have actually happened due to the flash in the camera.
G. Observations for improving the lighting environment:

• Add some task lighting
• Add some under cabinet lighting to reduce the small contrast made from the shadow of the upper cabinet.
• Make the most of natural lighting.
• Reduce the cabinet glare by either using a different finish on the wood or a lower intensity fluorescent.
  

Light Series 4 - Incandescent

A. This is a picture of a hotel room using incandescent lighting.
B. The purpose of the lighting is for task lighting (and maybe even accent lighting). Perhaps bedside reading, to create and a mood or feeling or a small light for navigation.
C. The luminaire is a table lamp and consists of a lamp shade and base. It mainly shines light downward and has a little bit of light that shines upward. There is a slight glow that permeates the shade too.
D. The effect of the light source creates a low light intimate mood setting. Because of the lamp shade it creates and interesting light pattern on the wall above and behind.
E. The effect of the light on different colors in the space creates a reddish tint on everything. The blue on the comforter almost looks grey-ish, brown. As you can see it also distorts some of the other colors too... but all of the reds look really bright and pop right off of the comforter.
F. The appropriateness of the illumination level is decent when combined with the overheard ambient lighting. Although when just the table lamps are used alone it creates too much contrast in the room and is uncomfortable to the eye.
G. Observations and Recommendations:

• There seems to be a bit of a "hot spot" underneath the lamp... perhaps too harsh for reading. Maybe consider using a compact fluorescent or a lower intensity incandescent.
• Use an incandescent that is closer to a white light instead of red since everything seems to have a funny reddish tint.
• Use more ambient lighting to reduce the contrast between the luminaires.