To me light has always been fascinating. The other day while I was going on a car ride, the sun was super bright and unfortunately I didn't have sun glasses and so had to use my hand to cover my eyes. It was quite blinding actually. Something I noticed after was the my eyes had gotten used to the bright light that when we stopped and went inside a cafe which had dim lighting my eyes shifted through a multitude of colors, before getting adjusted to the actual light in the cafe. It was like a true revelation that sunlight indeed comprises of all the colors within itself.

Random Light and Darkness

Recently I have been noticing random brightening and darkening of my vision. Since it has some inclination of light, I decided to add it here. Whenever I am doing something or paying attention to a lecture, everything will become bright and white for a half a second. My whole eyesight will become white. I become fearful that it is just me dreaming or in the verge of dreaming. Another random thing that happens to me is that when paying attention at something, sometimes the edges of my eyesight becomes dark while the center begins to be grayish. It could be that a lot of exposure to light may have caused me to experience these things. Especially since we are being more expose to light as years pass by, because of many people being glued to a screen, the way we see light might be altered by over exposure. Or even the lack of light might make light unbearable if that person was locked in a dark room all the time. Knowing the possibility that what everyone sees might be different, I wonder if they perceive light differently and have a totally different experience than someone else.

Light and Space

As a child I would always hang around the back of my mother's store and play in this particular alley. Before, the alley was completely empty and solely dirt was shown. Light would reflect off the wall and illuminate the imaginary scene I would create when I was playing when I was a kid. At the end of the alley, a crack of light will come off the sealed up door. I enjoy these subtleties because I would always find it peaceful. The space is secluded without it being too dark or too bright. At times I feel like I am taken to a forest just because of the space and light alone.

Light in the early morning at School

This school year I had to wake up very early in the morning for school and work. The morning  sky is still dark and I walk past the ARC and past the Paul Merage building and the light posts will brighten ever so slightly when I walk by them. At first I thought it was my eyes just adjusting but each day I pass them I start to notice it is the light post. Walking in the morning when it is cold and the sky looks gloomy, these lights really brighten up my mood. The light looks like it highlighting me and it makes me cheery. Since it is just me walking toward school, knowing that something is reacting to my presence makes me feel good. I feel like in places where the outside is mostly dark outside, having light post where the lights acts the same way they do at UCI, that it will help better their mood when walking by.

Light back in time

I woke up one morning with the tv on, displaying a bright blue screen. It covered the whole room which made me feel like I was back home as a kid watching late night cartoons. The light does trick me sometimes because I woke up in rooms where it stays completely dark, making me think I woke up in the middle of the night again: be knows to me, it is morning and sometimes I’m waking up thinking its night but it is the middle of the day. The light does give me an uneasy feeling because my memories as a kid of monsters coming to me at night is in grain in my mind.

Pretty show or Pretty foe.

I went to Disneyland Tuesday night with a friend and basically had an experience because the entire time I was there, all I could think about were all of the lights and how expensive the bill was to pay for them. There were a lot of stores with marquee signs< and i spent most of my time trying to figure out how I would light each scene of the play. I thought it was very interesting that there were so many lights around. I watched the fireworks show for the first time inside the park. Though I was fascinated by the bright colors and noise, I began to wonder how much pollution and smog covered the sky. The within the smog a light show appeared, and I felt it was a distraction to take people's mind off of how much smog had accumulated after the fireworks. Though it is a pretty sight with bright lights and loud booms, the fireworks show at Disneyland causes an alarming amount of pollution. Nonetheless, all of the lights and colors gave me inspiration for my project.

Laguna Beach

Isn't if funny how when you're in love things seem a little brighter?
Not sure if this has been scientifically proven or not but it sure does feel like it. This past weekend I celebrated my one year anniversary. We chose to "get away" and spend the day in Laguna Beach.
Lately Irvine has had this bright and somewhat ominous overcast to it. However, on Saturday the sun shined through and the colors were extremely rich. The colors that stood out to me the most was the green of the grass and the blue water. After taking this class I think those colors stand out to me the most because of the cones we have in our eyes. I think I perceive the ocean as beautiful because it is multicolor and it has a gradient affect due to the shallowness and the deepness of the water. The more shallow the water is the more transparent it becomes and the blue color is lighter. As I look out onto the horizon the transparency lessens and I see a deeper blue. I also love the ocean blue in comparison to the sky because of the natural textures it has.

A Dinner with Parents

I took this photo the day I was celebrating my parent’s birthday. I enjoyed this picture because it set up a tranquil ambiance. The room was very dark and the lights that you can only see were from these. What it reminds me a lot of are camp or bon fires. Which is cool because it takes us back when we hunters and nomads bonding together over a fire. I wonder if that was the attention of the restaurant owner when he set up these tables. The only faces that I can clearly see are those sitting on my table; the light makes us focus only those around us. The light did made me feel warm inside and made me enjoy the company of my parents a little bit more.

Sunlight through a cold one

The other day, I couldn't help but notice the sun shining through my beer and the vivid, glowing, yellow color it cast on my hand. This Light shined through a liquid medium of a darker color creating a new color and in trying to pick this color in the Rosco book, my conclusion led me to #312 Canary. I'm not sure if this color would be the same when used on actual lights but by just looking through first looks this would be my guess. 

I saw these two PAR cans at the front of a Montblanc store. I am surprised that they use theatrical lights at a non-traditional theater place, and they also hang them in such a obvious place. It makes the space looks theatrical, especially with the two cases under the counter. The lights become part of a scenic design of this show window. 

The lighting adds accent to their products. It makes the watches look more beautiful, shiny, and attracting. The watches at the right side stands out to my eyes compared to the ones on the left. I feel the PAR at the left is not pointed to the right angle as the watches on the left side is not well lighted. It looks like that they are lit by the florescent light outside of the store, which makes them look flat. 

How to explain light

Last week I was driving with my mother in L.A. and the typical conversation about school came up. I started explaining to her about the lighting class and how light affects the atmosphere of a play and she asked me, "What is light"? This has to be the simplest question out there but I didn't know what to answer her, I didn't have an explanation for what light is and I gave her the usual, "Light is energy" answer. She wasn't satisfied by that answer so I started telling her that light is energy and also a measure of speed and that sun light gets to us in 8 minutes. Basically I started b.s.ing my way across so that I didn't sound like an idiot, and when I dropped her home I started thinking deeply on what light is and I started reminiscing on my childhood and I used to thing that light was electricity, and even now at the age of twenty I still don't know what light exactly is. In high school I used to be really good in physics but I never thought of the question of light and its relevance to electricity. In the end I resort back to the "light is energy" answer, since I can't think of a more detailed explanation.

Sweet Smell Tech

We have been in tech for Sweet Smell of Success for the past 3 days. Its been a relatively stress-free tech for the cast. We have been blessed with a fabulous crew and read of designers. I've also found it enjoyable to watch Darrin adjust cues on stage and realize I can recognize what he's doing (adjusting intensity, changes colors, etc.) It makes tech less monotonous for me as an actor.

Night Sky

This week, I have been up much later than I normally would have been, and have had the chance to appreciate the faintly lit sky occurring in the early hours of the morning. Each night it possessed a different tint ranging from orange, coral, faded blue, and even grey (as pictured). It was fascinating to note the changes in color from night to night. Usually I would be sleeping through this picturesque scene; I just assumed the sky would be completely dark, appearing black. This sky appears to be illuminated by the accumulation of city lights throughout areas of Irvine, which allows for more color to be seen, and less stars to be realized in the sky. I thought the backdrop of faint light was gorgeous, and the illumination made me feel safe. Our day’s natural progression of light is striking and breathtaking.

Reflection

I'm thinking about reflection.

I grew up with three brothers and for a long time throughout childhood, an easy way to mess with each other was to shine light reflected off a watch or phone in each other's faces.

In a show I'm currently working on, a character uses an iPad on stage and the lights cause fairly sizable spots of light to bounce around the stage as she moves the tablet.

Sometimes if I accidentally leave a CD in the passenger seat, it can glare into my eyes, making it extremely difficult to drive.

Light is really powerful. Obviously, when you think about the sun or football stadiums it's easy to acknowledge the power of light, but I'm awed by the way it can bounce off an inch of glass with such intensity. It's such a common (and usually irritating) phenomenon that we forget how unbelievable it is. Even after having taken this class and learned more about the science of light and reflection, I'm crazy impressed.

There is a unimaginably large ball of gas, millions of miles away, that has the potential to reflect off a watch-face and blind a driver, causing a car accident. I guess that's kind of a morbid hypothetical example, but I think its telling of how powerful and influential light can be. It's magic.

A Green Room

I was at Disneyland last week and managed to snap this picture in the art studio place in California Adventures (I don't remember exactly what it's called). The room lighting changes according to the pictures being projected onto the walls. In this moment the lighting was aimed towards establishing the setting for the Jungle book. I did my best to get the sources, pictures, and the lighting on the bodies which explains the quality. However, you are still able to see how the lighting sets a definite jungle feel as if we're standing under giant green trees in the middle of the day as some orange lights are also visible. The exaggeration of the color and expressionism give it that outwardly disney feel. This tactic is used in almost all of their attractions and its intent is very successful as we feel we are actually living within these worlds they have created for us.

Real talk – I took this picture Christmas Day 2013 from Carlsbad, CA. I stood there talking pictures for like 20 minutes because it was so perfect. But even in nature you can see the balance of warm and cool colors. There is the bright yellows and oranges of the sun, but the sky is red, purple, and magenta. And the sea, while still reflecting the sky, also reflects the darkness (the deep blues and purples) of the atmosphere. The more I stare at this picture, the more I realize that trying to emulate the perfection of nature on stage is darn near impossible. I would love to see this on stage, I find it so powerful and evocative. Even to use this light cue not to represent a sunset but a powerful expressionists moment. Where could it go in Glass Menagerie? I might use it to light Tom’s last monologue – which is such an incredible moment for him, the ending of one chapter in his life, the beginning of a new one. The regret of leaving Laura, but the fire set in his soul. 

So I took my students to a conferences in Santa Ana College last weekend. One of the workshops that they had was for students to be able to learn the basics of our constellations in the sky in the planetarium. One thing that had caught most of my attention was the idea of lights in the sky, especially in the northern hemisphere, which was called "the aurora". I was fascinated by the idea of how the sun can release a high amount of solar energy every 11 years, which combine with the earth's magnetic field to create these beautiful colors. I love bright colors, and seeing this had made me so happy. In this picture, the combination of colors in the sky stood out the most due to the dark sky. The darker the sky is, the brighter these aura are going to be. I would love to go and observe this amazing event one day.

I’m sure many people have seen this picture floating around Tumblr and Pintrest – but it really stuck with me! This light replicates the effects of a gobo – a shadow effect. I think this really brings home the idea that shadows can be more significant than the light. My coworker and I were actually talking about how difficult it is to create something like this because you can’t necessarily just think about what is there, you need to think about the negative space. On another note, for as awesome as this chandelier is – why would someone put it in their house? What type of space would this chandelier be useful for? Rainforest Café? A jungle or swamp themed attraction? The color of the light could be more menacing or peaceful?

Our Eyes!

I have been thinking a lot lately about how our eyes individually perceive the light. I find it so interesting how each person reacts differently to sunlight. For example: I have extremely sensitive eyes. It physically hurts to go outside during the day without sunglasses (even on cloudy days), and sometimes even then my eyes are squinting. However, there are people that hardly ever feel the need to wear sunglasses at all during the day and have no problem with the sunlight. I just find that so interesting! Our eyes area all so different. This makes me wonder about how our eyes individually see color. I always wonder if the colors my eyes see are the same as the colors someone else's eyes see. What if we all see colors differently!? I just wish I could hop into someone else's mind for a minute to experience how it feels to not be terribly blinded by daylight and to see what the colors look like to them. Wouldn't that be awesome? Perhaps one day!

I captured this image at Spectrum – I was thinking about the kind of atmosphere that is created at the mall. I really enjoyed the lighting down the strips, I found it a little romantic and definitely relaxing. I loved the juxtaposition of the dark night sky and the brightness of the mall. These string lights are nice – not overly bright and obnoxious, it adds some overhead light that isn’t abrasive. I also realized that by adding these lights, it cut down on the amount of shadows in the vicinity. The space is bright and inviting, there isn’t a section that is dark or unwelcoming. This is the environment that is necessary in a mall, I really enjoy it.

1100

There is something so special about performing for the first time in a space that you’ve only taken classes in. Studio 1100 is used almost everyday by dancers for class. Whether it’s ballet, jazz, improve, or simply for rehearsals.  The space has grey marley, black bars, huge mirrors, and a black curtain. It feels very neutral in the sense that depending on what class it is the emotions and energy in the space differs.  For example at 8am modern the space is uninviting, frigid, and blank. When I go for the Etude Ensemble at 4pm the space seems vast and warm. There are also two windows that allow natural light to come in. Depending on the time of day and how harsh the sun is these two windows create large rectangular spotlights on the ground. If it’s overcast bright light enters in a kind of whisper to remind you that there is life beyond the studio. During the day when one looks up at the ceiling there are tremendous amounts of lights. The light we use during class seems to be fluorescent white light, almost as though we were in a doctor’s office. What is so special about this week is that the space gets to be transformed into something more than just a studio. We are in the midst of Senior Thesis, creating a whole dance show in 1100. We have set up black wings and pull the black curtain all the way shut.  Darren has been in charge of lighting Shirine’s Thesis, which I am dancing in. I was able to watch the two other choreographer’s dances that are in the show. The grey marley picks up all the light that is hit onto it and at times it seems like the dancers are performing on nothing but clouds of light. I really love when blue light hits the ground because it looks as if the dancers are dancing on water. It’s amazing what color and lighting can do to truly transform a space.