Lit With WHAT?

So, I was taking a little break from doing a lighting design, and decided to check out my TweetDeck feed where I have a search for landscape lighting all set up. I see a tweet saying:

“Outdoor Landscape Lighting Kits. Lit using our kit. Link below.”

(This was the photo used)

Naturally curious, I had to click the link to check it out! It takes me to a Pinterest page that I know quite well, with a photo that actually belongs . . . TO ME. The imposter had cropped out my identifying logo watermark on the photo, and did a flip - but sure enough, it was my photo of one of my projects – most certainly NOT lit using anyone’s kit. You know what I had to do then, right? I had to click the photo to see where it went, and there it was - on some lighting distributor’s web page. This operation, RLLD Designs, had my photo there captioned with the phrase, “Lit using one of our kits.” I was dumbfounded. Really? The kit pictured beside it was one of those boxed sets you could get at your local home improvement store that wouldn’t light a dog house very well - and it was supposed to achieve those lighting effects that I had designed and created especially for that homeowner? Not even close!

First of all, at best it’s pure and simple false and misleading advertising! Second, they cropped out my logo and then used it without my permission. This is just plain stealing! On one hand I’m flattered that they felt my photo represented such great lighting work that it would help sell their wares, but on the other hand I’m pretty angry that the stuff they were selling was a seriously inferior product - and they stole my photo to convince people to buy it.

The high quality products that I use in my designs are all excellent, and produce a wonderful effect in the landscape. The products that these crooks had linked to my photo were very cheap and could not possibly produce the same effects, and would also have been a nightmare to maintain. Sadly, the unwitting consumer who had been persuaded to purchase this crappy kit, expecting to get the results seen in the photo of my work – a custom designed lighting project using high grade fixtures and superior lamps installed by a professionally trained and certified crew – well, let’s just say that consumer was bound to be disappointed.

Needless to say, I dropped them a nice little email expressing my dismay. And guess what? The photo was taken down within an hour! Understandably, the outdoor lighting industry is very visual, and posting photos of our work online is necessary to show people what we can do. We want folks to be able to compare projects between us and others who post their work on their websites, Facebook pages, Pinterest or blogs. That does not mean that any other business can just filch those photos and use them to sell their merchandise without permission.

NightScenes does not publicly endorse any products, so if you are trying to sell something, do NOT take one of our photos without our permission. We have, on occasion, given such permission for selected publications. If you have a publication, and you would like to use some of our photos, please just ask. We try to remain open to opportunities that will bring positive attention to our company, our work and the lighting industry overall. Professional courtesy can take you a long way, but the consequences of this kind of thievery can be quite dire.

If you would like to visit OUR Pinterest page, please do.