Landscape Lighting Design

My philosophy is that designing outdoor lighting is very much like painting a portrait. The painter isn’t concerned about how many brush strokes it took, how much paint it took, or how many colors it required. It’s about what he envisions and the final result. 

1. Contractors ask the homeowner how many lights they want. The homeowner will say, “Give me 10 lights in the driveway and three lights on that tree.” That’s like going to a painter and saying, “Give me a portrait using three tubes of paint.” The painter would look at you like you’re on drugs. The fact is that a lighting job may require 42, 82 or 102 lights. It doesn’t matter. It takes what it takes.
2. Using the same intensity of light throughout the whole project. The reason for that is that they typically front light everything. They’ll front light the trees, the house, the bushes so everything is at the same intensity of light.  

1. Wattage, Beam Spreads, and Color of LED Lamps all have an effect on intensities
2. Moving fixtures around to achieve different effects
3. The use of corrective lenses. Options include clear, frosted and spread lenses. (i.e. tone it down, whiten, or soften without changing the position of the fixture or changing the light bulb).