Illuminating Education

I mentioned earlier that I had gone to Cleveland, Ohio for the Kichler 101 hands on lighting class.  Well what have I done since then to further my education in lighting?  Here is a brief synopsis. 

The next course I took was put on by Unique Lighting.  They are a landscape lighting manufacturer out of San Diego, California.  The class was actually located in Austin and so Jr. and I both went to this one day class.  It was also somewhat of a hands on class in that the morning was spent learning about their equipment and the afternoon was spent setting up a lighting demonstration at a residence.  I would say that the class taught me more about marketing what I do than how to do it.  Jr. and I both felt like they tried to dumb down the whole design/installation process.

Next I was asked to go to Houston and help teach a class about lighting.  I asked my distributor to help me set it up with yet another lighting manufacturer.  This company was CAST lighting out of New Jersey.  This equipment is very heavy duty cast brass lighting which was needed in that coastal area of the country.  Here I was able to teach a company about lighting design and installation and was also able to learn a few things about another manufacturer and their products.

In 2007 I was invited to the first ever Unique Advanced lighting course in San Diego and so Jr. and I both thought it would be a good idea to go.  This course got into “trick” installation, which meant that we would find ways to put lights where we wouldn’t have thought to do it before.  We cut and core drilled concrete to put in fixtures.  We core drilled fire place mantles to put in fixtures.  We mounted fixtures in places that I had never even considered before.  This was a few days of very good design and installation training which really set NightScenes apart from our competition.

In 2008 I attended the world famous Janet Lennox Moyer Landscape Lighting Institute in Troy, New York.  This was a five day course in design, installation and documentation which was way over the top.  It was five 12 to 14 hour days that were just packed with information and work.  I was able to become acquainted with lighting equipment from just about every major lighting manufacturer in the world.  I was also able to utilize just about every type of lamp (light bulb) that is available. After this course I really started looking at every project differently.  I wanted every project to be special and look amazing.  Unfortunately, not every property or budget will allow for a lot of this information to be utilized.  I do however approach every project with the very best design in mind.

Finally I took a five step online course that was offered through Hadco Lighting.  This was pretty basic stuff geared toward the novice lighting guy, landscaper or irrigation person but was still pretty good.  I really didn’t learn anything new with this class but it did reinforce some basic information that I had let slip a little.

I am also taking the AOLP Certified Outdoor Lighting Designer course through the Association of Outdoor Lighting Professionals.  This is a four year lighting design course which is being put together by the AOLP and Janet Lennox Moyer.  This first of it’s kind certification course will probably become the industry standard by which all others will be compared.

I will continue to pursue any and all education possibilities as they become available both locally and nationally.  I know that even the most basic classes offer something to learn either by the instructors or by the other attendees.  The goal here is to never stop learning my craft.

Till next time.