I really have to get better at keeping up with this blog!!
I just read a brief article and realized that I really needed to write something about GLARE. Glare is the biggest problem to overcome as an outdoor lighting designer. How do you accent or highlight something without showing the source of the light?
The first thing that we have to do is use a light fixture with a glare shield. This will allow us to eliminate the glare from one direction but what about the other viewing locations? I also have used fixtures with no glare shield so…It may not be possible to block the glare from every direction but there are a few tricks to help.
One of my favorite things to do is make sure that there is a plant that can block the fixture. This works very well when there are only one or two viewing angles. Another thing I do is use a large rock to block the view to the fixture.
We always have to make sure that whatever we do to hide the fixture, we need to make it look natural. I’ve actually added a form of yard art to hide a fixture that was washing a wall and guess what happened. It created a wonderful silhouetted effect!! I just love it when things come together and make me look good.
A good lighting designer knows how light fills a space and how to go about eliminating glare.
