Lighting: Slow But Steady Progress...

 With summer vacations and unpredictable work schedule, gathering the team recently has been quite hard. However, we aren't slacking down either.

Original lighting with it's yellowish hue.

Over the last few weeks, we've been experimenting with various lighting rigs to improve the layout ambiance. Right now, it is a mix of yellowish and pinkish fluorescent fixtures which yield poor color rendering and makes taking pictures a complicated task.

The smaller room have been greatly improved with the use of 3000K LED fixtures and it looks good. I know most people will say you must used 4000K or even 5000K to get a realistic overall light. It may be great for the camera, but we aren't too fond of the hospital ER vibe at all.

The larger room is much tricker. We tried LED projectors of various output and color temperature but were not impressed. First, it requires dozens of projectors to get an even result. Second, if you do some accent lighting, it is far too harsh. In fact, our forest in Clermont looked white and attracted attention far too much. Worst, because we have a peninsula, spots blinded us. It would have been impossible to reduce that without building a complicated and costly valence... We abandoned that idea.

New improved lighting (same camera setting)

Then, we tried with LED fluorescent tubes. Too yellow or too bluish. Worst, the ones with the right color temperature literally burned down even if they were supposed to be compatible. So back to traditional tubes.

After trying several tubes, we came to the conclusion 3500K tubes gave a nice daylight impression, made taking pictures easier and blended themselves well with the LED in the other room. Also, to reduce glare, a piece of moulding was attached on the side of the fixture toward the aisle, making the room more comfortable for the eyes.

At the end of the day, we plan to have fluorescent fixtures running parallel to the fascia all around the layout. Investment is minimal and results already impressive.

I know we could have used expensive technologies, maybe with superior results, but at the end of the day, you must find a sweet spot you are happy with. If the layout was smaller or built in a different room, I suspect the answer could be different. The same also if the ambiance we wanted was something else. On a small switching layout with focused operation, I think I would go with a more cozy style of lighting.