#BLMC2010 Swag Bag Winner Announced

Yes, I am a little late with announcing the winner to the Memorial Day Weekend BLMC Swag Bag Giveaway.  Yeah, try saying that 5 times fast, it kinda hurts! Using a random number generator, we have a winner to the giveaway!  And yes, Chad, (Rosco’s NYC Rep) was taken out of consideration for the contest.

JR Lidgett

Congrats! You were randomly selected!  Check your email. ;) Thanks everyone for leaving a comment and reading iSquint.  I wish I had more to give out, but limited editions are what make it special right? A special thanks to all of the manufacturers that provided swag at BLMC, there is some pretty neat stuff in there along with something special that I added.

I still have more coverage from the Broadway Lighting Master Classses coming up so stay tuned and don’t look into the light, it kinda hurts. ;)

Photos: Broadway Lighting Master Classes 2010

I trust everyone had a nice long and restful memorial day weekend!  I would say mine was nice and long, but no where near restful as it was a weekend filled with work. Last week, was the Broadway Lighting Master Classes in New York City.  You may have heard me mention this a couple of times already, well, I have more for you.

If you attended the BLMC, you may have seen me there, I was the geek at the head of the class taking notes, photos and in awe.  I had an amazing time at the classes.  First, it was awesome to talk about theory of lighting and leave all of the technology out of it for a bit and get back to the meaning and art of lighting, so inspiring!

On top of attending some great sessions by leading Broadway lighting designers, I also got a chance to mingle with other attendees and talk even more about lighting.  Normally when I talk about lighting, the conversation ultimately ends up talking about technology and new products.  This was not the case for most of my time at the BLMC. Other attendees and I talked about the arts and science of lighting or about what we just learned in a particular session.  I still get goose bumps thinking about some of the wonderful talks I had with other attendees!  I did get a chance to talk with almost all of the manufacturers at the showcase during lunch breaks and witnessed a couple of new products making their way to the market.  I’ll be writing more about those products in a bit.

One session that I do have to point out is Don Holder’s LEDs vs Tungsten.  Mr. Holder setup two scenes that were identical. Stage left was lite by tungsten sources and the stage right lite by all LED fixtures.  The goal of Mr. Holder’s session was not to convince you either way about what type of fixture to use, but to compare them to each other and see how closely they can match.  Mr. Holder created the scenes first with the tungsten sources and then tried to match the levels, looks and colors with LED fixtures. It was pretty impressive how closely they matched. Will we be seeing a show in the near future entirely lite by LEDs?  Maybe, the goal of the session was for you to see what they can do and find the correct fixture for your situation whether that be an LED or tungsten source.

Overall, I had an incredible time at the Broadway Lighting Master Classes last week!  A huge thank you is in order to Live Design for inviting me!  I would highly recommend the BLMC to anyone that wants to listen and learn more about lighting design for Broadway and increasing their understanding of lighting design.

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Lighting in New York City – It’s More Beautiful Then You Think

Before I go on about the Broadway Lighting Master Classes, I wanted to share something that all of you have inspired me to do. It has been a very long time since I have taken out the camera and just started shooting.  With all of the work and amazing photos that everyone has shared either here, on flickr, or on your own site or other sites, you have all gotten me fired up in me about my picture taking. You have encourage me to capture moments and feelings with photography and I thank each and everyone of you!

I want to share a couple of photos that I had taken the afternoon before the Broadway Lighting Master Classes in New York City as I hope to help inspire and encourage you and others to capture your own moments.  As my father would say, I arrived in New York City at the “Golden Hour” for photography, the late afternoon around 5:30pm.  After checking into the NYU dorm where I was stay, I was eager to hit the streets and see some of my favorite sections of the city.  With the Camera in tow, I headed down Broadway to SoHo to visit one of the many Apple Stores in NYC. Along the way, I witnessed some of the most amazing lighting in the city that I have ever seen.

Now, when people mention the lights of New York City, most times they are referencing the manufactured lighting of Time Square or advertisement bill boards or video displays all around the city.  That is not what I mean, I mean the natural beauty the afternoon sun produces reflecting, refracting and penetrating the urban jungle that is NYC.

From the images below, you may get a sense of what I mean. A simply stunning white faced building 3/4 in shadow might seem unappealing to the unimaginative, but to me, it shows a city putting an end to the day like a dock worker taking off his hard hat at the end of the day.  How about the simple shape of the apple logo cut out of a piece of metal and hung on a brick wall.  Of course I get excited seeing that simple shape as it means I have arrived at the SoHo Apple Store, but take a second look.  Look at the distorted shape of the Apple logo in shadow and light, something so simple taken out of normal representation and given a new look.

I found myself looking at the Apple sign for a bit before I went into the store.  Not because I was in awe of being at yet another Apple store, but I wanted to watch the shadow of the Apple sign move with the setting of the sun to create a sun dial of sorts. And yes, the power of the Apple store did eventually get to me and I had to go inside and I am glad I did.  Not because I wanted to see any of the new MacBooks or sit in on a apple session, the power of the architecture and simplicity of design that is found in every apple store.  I have seen photos of the SoHo store before and have wanted to visit for a long time.  The use of glass and light are just amazing.  Beams of light come flowing in from the sky light and fill the store with natural beauty.  One thing that I am every curious about is the wooden water town visible just outside of the skylight.  Seen just right, you see old world technology meeting new, now is that intentional or just a happy mistake? I’ll have to quiz Steve Jobs when I finally meet him some day!

Of all the images that I took that day, I am only showing a fraction of what I took. I feel that these are some of the best ones taken, but there are a couple that I am keeping to myself. Not that I am protecting my images or hiding anything from you, it’s just that these couple of images mean something special to me. I feel that photography has the ability to capture a lot of things, feelings, emotions, events, memories and so forth.  There comes a time when you capture a moment in time and it does something to you, it means something special.  A couple of photos did that for me that day. Now will I lock them up and never show anyone? Heck no! But at the moment, I want to keep these very meaningful images to myself, sorry. ;)

I normally don’t feel right unless I have left you with something.  Whether that is news about products or information about events or maybe a bit of advice. So hear is the helpful hint to you, always carry a camera.  That is it, plain and simple.  Now, let me clarify that a bit, you don’t need to carry around your precious DSLR or expensive camera, that is, unless you want to. Carry around something that has the ability to capture a moment that means something to you.  Keep a simple point-n-click camera in your pocket or use your iPhone/smart phones camera, capture the moment.  I have taken many photos with my iPhone over the last three years and while the images may not look to exciting or mean anything to you, each image on my iPhone has the ability to take me back to that moment in time and remind me of why I took it. I encourage you to do the same, who knows, you might just like it!

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Happy Memorial Day! BLMC Swag Bag Weekend Give Away

Ah Memorial day weekend.  A nice three day weekend here in the states where we honor those who have served and sacrificed so much for our country and the world. It is also the un-official start of the summer season and opening of area pools. To help kick start the summer season and celebrate memorial day weekend, I am giving away my swag bag from the Broadway Lighting Master Classes from earlier in the week.  I want to pass along the swag bag to a lucky someone that was not able to attend the classes.

It’s pretty easy to enter to win the swag bag, leave a comment on this post with your full name, email address, (which is not public) and a note if you like.  First thing Tuesday morning after the long weekend, I will randomly select a winner from the comments and announce it Tuesday.  The give away will be open to only US residence, (sorry my international friends!) and last from now till midnight on Monday, May 31st.

Everyone have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend!

The 2010 Broadway Lighting Master Classes Coming to a Close.

With all intentions of writing while I was in New York for the Broadway Lighting Master Classes hosted by Live Design, I found I couldn’t find time while there. The classes were just so wonderful as I mentioned in my previous post on day one, day two was just as awesome.  I could have certainly found time during a break between classes or during lunch, but there were just some many great attendees to talk to and share our love of lighting. In fact, the conversations were so wonderful, some of us almost missed the start of a couple of the classes because we lost track of time.

Then there was lunch.  We had almost 2 hours to eat and visit all of the manufacturers that were exhibiting at the Manufacturers showcase during lunch. I had to slam down the box lunch that was provided while still talking to some attendees and then making my way around the showcase to see all of the great products on display.  The two hours just seemed to fly by. There were a couple of new prototype’s on display and certainly things I have seen before, which I’ll get into more in later write ups.

At night, the education and talking didn’t stop until I finally closed my eyes to get some sleep.  Talking with fellow attendee’s and manufacturers, seeing FELA! on Broadway rounded out the first day after classes ended at 5:30pm.  Getting back to the NYU dorms late and having to get some sleep for more learning the next day was in order.

The next day was just as great as the first day at the Broadway Lighting Master Classes.  It is so interesting to hear how different designers approach lighting design and over come some of the challenges they face.  Understanding the different approach’s to designing really helps to understand that there is no set way to accomplish what we try to do. Each designer has their own methods which work for them and shared them with the class.

I am so grateful to Live Design for inviting me to the Broadway Lighting Master Classes this year!  I had an unbelievable time learning, and meeting new people and of course, talking with Broadway lighting designers.  I would highly recommend the BLMC to anyone that has any interest in lighting design and understanding how the Broadway designers do what they do.  As Jules Fisher said in his opening speak, the BLMC is not just about learning, but connecting with others for the advancement of lighting.

Stay tuned for more of my coverage of the Broadway Lighting Master Classes.  I have a bunch of photos to share from the last two days and some great videos as well.

The Broadway Lighting Master Classes Start TOMORROW!

The Broadway Lighting Master Classes start bright and early tomorrow morning.  Have you registered to attend yet? The next three days will be action packed with all kinds of lighting goondness with talks, discussions, collaborations, training sessions and demo’s. If you are a lighting geek like me, there is no reason to miss this. Some of the biggest Broadway lighting designers will be on hand talking about their craft and sharing their wisdom and secrets of the trade.

Thanks to Live Design, I will be on hand covering the show with limited coverage during the next three days as I want to take every word in that they are saying.  After the BLMC, I’ll have a complete recap of the event and if I am lucky, some great talks to post.  If you follow iSquint on twitter, be sure to look out for the hashtag, #BLMC2010.  I’ll be updating twitter through out the day along with some of the other students in attendance.

And yes, I do have “No Sleep till Brooklyn” stuck in my head now!