Germaine Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 I have a new client who wants to light up the lake/fishery outside their venue to give some nice night time views after the sun sets (Permanent Install). I have considered a few options. 1) A spaceflower on the other side of the lake so reflected beams are visible.2)Lighting the lake with city colours although I probably don't need CMY and I've done this for a compnay I've worked for in the past and thought the effect was poor considering the kit we were throwing at it.3)400w HQI Discharge floods, a cheaper option and with enough of them the water or at least the ripples on it should be pretty visible, although I don't think this is the most artistic approach.4)LED units such as Palco white or ribalta (can be run of the already existant 16a supplies/no need for bulb changes etc) The client doesn't really know what they want so I'm looking for as braod a range of ideas as possible i.e. there are more classical through to more tacky ideas above and I'm not sure which way he'll go. Germaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frazer Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 I can't remember where, but I recently saw a photo of layered breakup gobos on a large pond/lake. The effect was quite impressive. If I find the picture I will post a link. Frazer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick LX Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 If the water is clear enough, LEDs underwater (if it is permanent) are a good choice, but that is entirely dependent on the water being clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Germaine Posted November 15, 2008 Author Share Posted November 15, 2008 Thanks for the advice so far. The water probably isn't clear enough for underwater lighting, and it would be interesting to see the pic of layered gobos, it's an idea I wouldn't have come up with myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmxtothemax Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 How big is the lake? and whats around it ( trees, buildings ) and how close,You could use colored par 38s, or better still discharge lights, as they last longer and run cooler than incandesants, try colors like green and blue for calm atmosphere or red and yellow for high lights.please let us know what you use, and how it went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtastic3 Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Is the venue really close to the lake? If so, and depending on the size, try and think about the light hitting onto the building for that shimmery effect to appear accross the facade. It could be done in two ways: lights above water (reflecting light) or lights under water (refracting light) but make sure your light source is pointing towards the building. Just one idea..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDP Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Have you looked at City Colours along the edge and Mac in mac domes for your gobo effect. If the band is flat enough, Macs on stands in domes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 The running costs are the main thing in any permanent installation. Do NOT use Macs in domes. They'll cost a fortune to run and will not survive long-term. For motion, there are a few exterior fixtures designed specifically for use in architectural settings.Martin Entertainment have a range that seem reasonably good. (Had a few hundred running in the desert for 18 months so far, with only a couple of failures) You'll also need a control system to drive it - again, there are quite a few architectural lighting control systems of varying complexity depending on what you finish up with. As far as lighting design is concerned, we can't really give much advice as it's your design, and we don't know the venue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Water itself is pretty flat, few ripples not much to catch the light if you try shinging it straight at it, at low angles just get loads of spill and probably best lit bottle bins in county... Adiing fountain or waterfall gives movement to take light , but water feature engineering is a whole specialist area in itself, don`t need to rival Bellagio but still need to think maintenance needs to be performed by boat. Take advantage of big dark mirror and light the perimeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 You need to consider where your reflected light is going to end up and if it is not to be a nuisance and that should give you your angles. I have lit a large dam with lots of narrow spot par 64's as you don't want to waste the light beam. it showed up the water surface and lit up the trees on the far shore. This method takes more light as there is not a lot reflected back to you. The long term method should be some form of dischage lamp for efficiency, but CityColors etc have wide beam widths as they are usually located close to a wide surface they are meant to illuminate. All nature ever uses is one big flood and it is the surface movement that appeals to people, so my suggestion is to get some discharge floods on high polel so they are hidden at tree top level. For colour change options try CityColors, but you need to factor in maintenance costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyld Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Take advantage of big dark mirror and light the perimeter. This also gets my vote. A still expanse of water at night doesn't actually refract light that well but reflecting lit bits and pieces (trees, architecture etc) you get twice the effect. If you like the idea of rippling reflections on a nearby surface, you could fake it rather than trying to light water itself. I know clients are obsessed with colour changing this and LED that, but you can get a hell of a lot of MBI flood for the same money. Consider your viewing positions and just light the subjects well with whatever it takes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Germaine Posted November 18, 2008 Author Share Posted November 18, 2008 Thanks to everybody who's repsonded. The lake is quite large so underwater lighting/ adding water features sounds a bit daunting. When we normaly do outdoor lighting we'd uplight trees etc with HQI's but this artificial lake is only surrounded by piddly looking trees so that doesn't really appeal. I think as well as the initial ideas I mentioned above I'll try elevating a flood to see if it helps pick up the ripples. I'll let you know how I get on. Although this is off topic I would like to say that there are LEDs available as OEM's that are currently being used for medical applications that put out a hell of a punch (4cm sq pretending to be city colours) so although this is still in development and is yet to be bought to market LED is almost an option. Thanks againGermaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Fountains and features do require some looking after, but if the budget is available it gives a day and night focal point to the water, Alnwick Garden has some amazing standalone features by these people, grand cascade was built by McAlpines: http://www.inventwater.com Festoon, well something like LED Lumisphere or Glasson`s innovative products http://www.lumisphere.co.uk http://www.glassonelectronics.co.uk Lamina is already in some production units, Enfis is hopefully going to get there... High density LED sacrifices efficiency for power density unfortunately, its good if you need a compact array i.e. medical application or something thats going to use secondary optics..., to replace a city colour don`t need a compact array and tradeoffs required, LED is probably already an option but at a cost and size penalty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron-Hill07 Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Recently I was working at a fireworks night gig, I had to light a lake and I decided to use Citycolours, the effect you get from them is fantastic, they pickup on things like lily-pads very well too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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