Week 4: The Tree of Light

I always walk to class through Aldrich Park, and I love the scenery. It was not clear to me until I started to take the lighting class that the reason I love walking through the park is because of the light shining through the trees. After capturing this picture on a brisk walk to my class, it gave me time to look at how light and shadows affect the atmosphere around me. When looking at it, I realize that the tree in front appears darker than the trees behind it, but when I continue walking and the tree is behind me, they all appear to be the same color. This is because of the shadow the light causes on the tree. Because the light is shining from behind, it appears darker. This reminds me a little of the affect of a scrim on stage. If you shine light in front or behind it can either be see through or solid. I love exploring my surroundings and realizing that light can play tricks on the mind, much like it does for theater to disguise and   highlight important aspects onstage.

Week 2: Lifeguard Tower Sunset

The Lifeguard tower at 40th street in Newport Beach is one of my favorite spots. My home is situated directly behind the tower, so each day I observe the activity that takes place on and around the tower. Living on the beach has made me appreciate beautiful sunsets. Yesterday, the sky lit up in a multitude of colors and the ocean appeared as a velvet blanket. The lifeguard tower is always a central image to these sunsets I observe, but the lighting surrounding the small building constantly changes. This image inspires me in many ways. A simple picture could not do this sunset's presence justice. The mixture of the burning sun and the cool night sky combining into one created an earthy tone of pink and purple. The reflection of the vivid colors on the ocean made for a texturized appearance of the sea, one that almost seemed fake. These colors contrasted with the mountains on the island of Catalina so that the entire land mass was visible, a rare sight to see. Natural light inspires me in many ways, but I feel most affected by the way light and color are formed during a beautiful sunset.

Week 2: Concert; Evelyn Freely

Sometime in October I had the privilege of going to see one of my favorite bands in concert. The picture is kinda shaky but it was the best one that I could get of the who stage.  Most of the lighting in the concert was pretty bright and had a lot going on. Towards the back of the stage we see that even the stage had lights on it that helped create scenery and help set the mood of the song.  The lighting was of cool colors and some warm colors as well. The song was mellow and really affected the change in the audience's attitude. No longer were people jumping and screaming but swaying back and forth.  There was specks of white lighting I guess to make it seem like it was snowing which I feel like was a nice effect. The use of lighting in the concert help to transition from mood to mood and I haven't quiet seen a stage like that in a long time.

~Evelyn Freely.

Week 2: Edwards Cinema

The movie theater is a great place. You enjoy some quality time with family or friends all while watching a creation brought to you by a CASINO. No just kidding, it's definitely a movie theatre, Edwards Cinema at Irvine Spectrum to be exact. But can you see why when I saw this the first time, I thought "Casino?" 

In case you don't see why, here's my interpretation. The colors being used here a bright and mainly warm colors, although there are a few cool colors as well. However, the warm colors draw you in, which is a lot like casinos with their warm colors saying "Come loose all your money here. It will be fun." Not only that, but the way the neon lights are shaped replicate that of a casino; AND even the number 21, which actually represents the number of the theater, also gives a hint that only those of 21 years of age can come in. 

Now if you aren't 21 years of age and have never seen a casino, what else does this look like? A carnival ride! These colors are also reminiscent of the colors seen at carnivals and fairs, which we all know children look forward to. 

All in all, the theater invokes the sensation of "having fun" with all its twisty and fancy neon lights. The colors help accentuate that feeling, so anyone looking at this, whether an adult or a child, will get the idea that this place is loads of fun. 

Now, go have fun at the movie theater.

-Erika

Week 2: Christmas Lights

One of my favorite parts of Disneyland is getting to see everything lit up at night.  It always looks like something out of a movie.  I took this picture just before Winter Break.  We'd been walking around all day.  The park was just about to close, so we decided to walk by Small World on our way out.  I love how everything about it so big; it's brighter than Main Street.

Week 2: Spellbinding Lighting

I took this photo in my bedroom.  This is the midday lighting in my room with the blinds closed.  It looks a bit brighter in this photo, but what I wanted to capture was the glow about the room.  Perhaps it is simply the way the sunlight bounces off of my pale green paint, but something about the light in my room puts me to sleep. It is so warm and soothing that if I happen to come home in the daytime, I am in great danger of knocking out for a few solid hours.  It is truly interesting that certain kinds of light can make one drowsy.

Week 2 Angelic Lighting

I took this picture in my grandmother’s house. I have to say beside the roof being one of my favorite places to hangout in her home this is another, it a roofless hallway. Well not literally a hall way, it’s the size of a room. I love spending my time there reading. It has such an amazing lighting there, almost magical, real angelic. When the light peaks through it’s so beautiful. I felt a sense of peace, the warmth of the light of the sun heating you and just closing your eyes and taking a deep breath in.….it’s breath taking. I love that what I saw everyday there actually came out perfect in the picture. The moment was really captured and that made me happy because now I can always look at the picture, recall of how peaceful it makes me feel and smile.

Week 2: warm and cool light

Before taking this picture I didn't realize the difference in the lighting from the hallway to the living room. In both areas I would have considered both of these lights to be white lights, the only difference was one was dimmer than the
other, but in this picture you can clearly see one set of lights is bluer while the other is more orange/yellow.

Week 2: 24 Hours

I had stayed up for 24 hours straight with my best friend when I took this picture of the sunrise outside my dorm. We were both so out of it at the time we couldn't really appreciate it but now that i look back it's so beautiful and serene. Lighting-wise I find it very interesting that, just as we discussed in class, the outside lights on the building look amber colored while the sunlight looks like white light. Yet at night time when the sun is gone those same building lights look like white light. It truly is all about what your eyes are adjusted to and what they see is relative to the other lights around.

Week 2 Unexpected Glare

I went out with my neighbor to go shoe shopping for her son. After an exhausting day of indecisions, we decided to throw the towel in and head home. As we were heading West, the sun was setting through the trees. It was beautiful, warm and subtle. Immediately, I thought of this blog and attempted to capture the magnificence that I was viewing. As we were descending down the hill, the sun seemed to move along with us, giving off the illusion that it was melting on the hood of her car. The glare that matched the sun was a pleasant surprise, and only seems to enhance the shot. It was incredible to see the light shoot out the sides of the sun, making it twinkle like a star. My neighbor's 5 year old son said, "it looks like when the planes move really fast through outer space". This shot of the sun instantly lifted my exhausted spirit.

Week 2: Napping in Sunlight

Natural light coming through windows is the first thing that comes to mind for me when I want warm, content, nostalgic, hopeful, or safe. In my day to day life naps in sunlight are very comforting, and in this case, 'awww' worthy.

The Destroyer in docile nap-mode. 

This is Zoe aka 'Zoe The Destroyer'. Like most younger cats, she's rambunctious and feisty, hence the name. In the early day I make sure that the shades are open just enough so that Zoe gets her warm napping spot. Call me crazy-cat-lady or whatever, but it makes me happy to see kitties sleeping with this kind of light on them. Yay!

You've probably done that acting/living exercise where you are blindfolded and semi-guided by a partner. If you haven't, close your eyes a bit outside and feel the difference between shade and sunlight. Also, if you have yet to take a nap in a sunny spot in Aldridge Park, it's really nice, do it.

Week 2: Fluorescent Lights

Over the summer, I took a quick vacation in Florida. I quickly snapped this picture to show a friend how fancy the hotel was. Looking back on it, I can't help but notice the harshness of the fluorescent lights. These LID lights seemed perfectly fine to my eye when staying in the hotel - my eyes had adjusted and accepted the abrasive greenish light as white light - but they came out looking very, well, ugly in this picture. To this day, I'm still taken aback by the difference between how you feel about the light you're in and how that light seems to an outside observer. In this picture, the lights are little circular blobs of white color with sharp edges. They aren't at all warm or inviting. I always felt like the light in this hotel were gorgeous, but that's certainly not how my camera caught it. How fascinating that our perception of light can change so drastically when we're seeing it from afar, rather than being bathed in it!

Week Two: Tree Shadows

I was running late to class, so I was walking as fast as possible to make it on time. As I passed the humanities gateway, I realized that the sun was hitting in such a way that the trees lining the walkway were casting shadows onto the walls of the buildings. The color of the light wasn't extraordinary, but the way that it seemed to double the beautiful scene of the trees was the part that really struck me. Due to seeing this, I've been noticing shadow play more and more often as I walk around campus. What an interesting thing we take for granted!

Week 2: The Different Colors of Morning

        Forgive the bad quality, this was taken form my car. I was on my way to work, and I started to see the sun rising. While the red of the stoplight, I thought the vision was beautiful, so I pulled over and snapped this quick picture. What struck me was the contrast of all the warm colors surrounding the sky with the darkness. It appeared as though the sun was not high enough to reach the surface, so only the sky was lit up. However, the traffic lights on the cars matched perfectly with the affect of the sunrise. I love the picture because of the array of colors. There is the blue of the sky that clearly fades to a bright yellow. However, with the two colors overlapping, there also appears to be pink in the center. However, the pink in the sky could also be coming from the red of the signal light. It would have been interesting to take another picture when the light turned green to see what effect that would cause in the coloring. I took this picture at around 6am, which shows that light is changing all the time, and catching it at any specific moment will cause something spectacular. 

Week 2, Laser lights

Over my winter break, I attended this particular event/show and I was able to capture this magnificent photo that I haven't noticed how awesome it looked until I took this lighting design class! It is so incredible now that I have more insight on what kind of light it is and what is the purpose of these lights. I'm not sure if this is a correct photo to post up because it seems like everyone's photos are more natural lights. If so, I apologize, but I do think this photo is intriguing to look at because it makes me wonder why the performer wanted this certain color and type of light, and certain way of presenting to the audience. What was very amazing about this photo, now that I have a sense what light is what, the green and blue laser lights have more of a purpose rather than the cloud/fog looking lights in the back, which makes me think... "the laser lights are more sharp which means they are "Leko" lights and the fog/blurring lights are "Fresnel/Parcan" lights?!" I apologize if I'm wrong, but I was thinking that as I examined more about this picture. This picture makes me feel very.. "cool and breezing." I think that is because the "Fresnel/Parcan" lights covered the whole arena, like how it would cover a whole stage, gave me a cold temperature feeling. The laser lights made me feel very minting. It is so fascinating to know certain colors and lights determine one's mood and I really think by learning more about this subject, I am able to understand a different side of "art." I apologize again if my terminology is incorrect, please correct me if I'm wrong, and for the upside down panda in the picture.

Week 2 Hawaii

During Spring Break in 2012, my family and I took a family vacation to the Big Island of Hawaii. I have never been there before so I was excited beyond belief to go. Once we arrived, I could not believe how hot and humid it was. I was sweating and feeling extremely uncomfortable. On the first day, after checking into our hotel room, we found a restaurant in which we fell in love with and made certain to go back another night. The difference the second time around we made sure to get there early enough to claim an outside seat and, to our liking, a cruise ship that had parked for the day began sailing away about twenty minutes before the sun went down. When sunset was about to occur, all the tourists, joined by the locals, would step outside to watch the sun fade away. As it left the sky for the night, the clouds changed to a light pinkish color, which was absolutely gorgeous. Because of this light, people stopped their activities, joined their families, friends, and loved ones to watch the beautiful event that took part. This color that occurred daily made people feel welcome on the Big Island. It brought people together and made them feel loved by their families and implemented a sense of peace to people watching the beautiful sky as well as myself. Lastly, this event marked a significant time in the day. It ended the work hours therefore the laborers could go back home to their families and other activates that occurred during the sunlight came to a closing. It, also, brought on the festivities that started when the dark of night began.

  

Influencing My Looking Back At What It Could Have Been

©CDPhotography                                                     Hearst Castle

Over winter break I took this lovely photo of the gold, gilded, bottom pool of Hearst Castle up North. If you were looking at this in front of you, you would be standing on the east side of the room in front of tinged, dusty, glass windows, facing the west side (which is what you see here.).  What captivated me about this room was primarily how the lighting and architecture of the indoor pool created and formed shadows. The pool itself was not lit, and was dark which reflected the light coming from the windows and the light poles (which you see here). It served almost like a mirror, expanding the space and colors of the room. The shadows which are influenced by the architecture, (inlays in the walls, nooks and crannies, separated spaces) created visual depth, The closer the walls were to you, the more the lighting actually bounced off and the more color that was reflected towards your eyes. Having a dark unlit pool, natural lighting (which was from an overcast and gray day), and electrical light poles, helped to create a mood of eerie calm against the still water and blue tiles. The eerie feeling was that of imagining the pool full of life at one point, where people were entertained and swam... where all the lights where turned on so the room could be in use. When I saw the pool, only the poles where lit (lonely and alone) in a cold room with shadows... so it made me feel as though no one has swam in that water for decades.

A Panoramic Sky At Sunset

     As I was taking a walk on top of Turtle Rock, the sun began to sink low behind the clouded sky.  I thought it was interesting how the clouds changed the light.  The sun hid behind the clouds, but the light was pulled up to create a column of light that peeked over them.  The clouds acted like a piece of lighting silk on the sunlight.  Another interesting  thing I noticed was the beautiful gradation of color from the setting sun over the ocean to the distant, hazy silhouette of Saddleback.  It was captivating to see the yellow and pink sun on dark blue clouds, then turn to see the lavender mountains against the blue and pink sky.  It was refreshing to stand up high to observe nature's beautiful sunset in panorama.

Welcome to 50c Blogging for Fall 2012

The intention of these blogs are to help you develop your eye for light not just in the theatre but in your life.

In order to more effectively understand how light can alter the perception of the audience; we need to first understand how it alters our perception on a daily basis.

As we move through the quarter, I hope that this blog will help you to discover light in ways that you have not seen before.

Perhaps you'll see colors you've never noticed before, you may recognize the angle of a certain light, and maybe you will find ways to articulate how a light makes you feel.

In order to assist with this process, I've created this blog so that all of you may contribute a short piece every other week on an aspect of light that you have noticed in your journeys.

This can include a beautiful sunset, a great rock concert, a well lit store, or just what happens to your emotions when the sun moves behind a cloud. Anything and everything can be included.

Your postings do count towards your final grade.

Please include photos with your post to help us see what you are describing.

Whether or not you continue in lighting design after this class, I hope that this online journal will help you to discover inspiration for you art in daily life.Please start your title for each posting with the Week of the quarter and a sybject.

Thanks and Happy Blogging!!

Lonnie Alcaraz