Posted by Mary Jarowitz on August 27, 2009 at 12:01pm
Hi,
I wanted to get some input regarding lights at shows. Right now I am using swing arm lights with the energy efficient bulbs, which allows me to have more lights and still fall within the shows wattage limit.
I am wanting to switch to track lights because I think it looks cleaner. I'm just not sure that I can light my booth with 300-600 watts, especially at a night show. Does anyone use tracks with halogen bulbs? How many lights and how far away from the walls do they need to be placed? I am configuring my booth in a standard U shape and I'm thinking about adding a brace at the top of the tent (same level as top of frame of tent, or 6" higher) running from front to back, right in the middle. Then possibly another brace, running right to left, positioned toward the back wall of the booth. On this I would attach one track (3 lights) to illuminate the back wall. On the other brace I would attach 2 tracks (each with (3) 50 watt lights, and point them to the right and left, alternating to illuminate each wall. Do you think this will work? I'm just not sure if there will be enough light.
Thanks!
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One more thing. When you say you clamp the lights onto your cross braces, do you mean one at each corner? I have a Trimline by the way.
Mary Jarowitz said:
Hi Michael, thanks for all of that really good input. I ended up purchasing some track lighting but I may return them and try what you have suggested. It is just so hard to visualize without being already set up. I am going to set up my booth (sans tent) for the test, which won't give me the same effect that you talk about. I don't have glass on my work (canvases) so I don't have the concern of the glare, but I don't want the heat etc. I am wanting the lights to be far enough away to NOT be so hot, yet close enough to illuminate the art. Oh well, I guess I will just have to try it. Thanks again.
MICHAEL ALAN STIPEK said:
I'm assuming, since you said that you are using swing arm lights that you have 2D artwork. Most of the responses have been from jewelers, who use halogens to light the work in their cases or on their display stands, with little lighting needed for the overall booth. If, in fact, you have 2D, halogen lights have a tendency to spotlight, or "hotlight" framed work, especially if it is under glass, and create dark shadows elsewhere in your booth. Not to mention, scorching the eyes of potential buyers!
Since you have a Flourish or Trimline tent, you have an arched interior that casts no shadows on your work in the daytime. One application I've had great success with for nighttime lighting is to use that arched interior top as a giant reflector for your lights. At Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., buy the cheap ($10?) clamps lights, discard the reflector (recycle if aluminum) and screw in pigtail-style fluorescent bulbs. I use 42-watt, 150 watt brightness bulbs. I only need four of them, clamped onto my Lite-Dome cross braces, to throw a shadowless, even, bright light across the whole of the inside of my tent and onto my glassed/framed artwork. The fixtures are aimed downward to lessen the chance that even these relatively cool bulbs will contact the tent top fabric.
You can experiment with the 23-watt, 90 watt brightness bulbs if the light is too bright. At night at an art show, my tent is often the most cheerily lit up booth in the area, all for 168 watts! If you have an outside wall or corner booth, you can use your swing arm fixtures, put in the 23-watters, clamp them to your rainfly arms and aim them at your work hanging on the outside.
If you don't want to hang the fixtures directly on your inside braces, you can rig up some sort of bar that hangs on your roof braces, then clamp the fixtures to them. Remember, don't use the reflectors, because the light bulbs will not be able to throw a 360-degree sphere of light all over the inside of your booth. And keep the bulbs in the blister packs they came in, to lessen the chance of breaking them.
Hi Michael, thanks for all of that really good input. I ended up purchasing some track lighting but I may return them and try what you have suggested. It is just so hard to visualize without being already set up. I am going to set up my booth (sans tent) for the test, which won't give me the same effect that you talk about. I don't have glass on my work (canvases) so I don't have the concern of the glare, but I don't want the heat etc. I am wanting the lights to be far enough away to NOT be so hot, yet close enough to illuminate the art. Oh well, I guess I will just have to try it. Thanks again.
MICHAEL ALAN STIPEK said:
I'm assuming, since you said that you are using swing arm lights that you have 2D artwork. Most of the responses have been from jewelers, who use halogens to light the work in their cases or on their display stands, with little lighting needed for the overall booth. If, in fact, you have 2D, halogen lights have a tendency to spotlight, or "hotlight" framed work, especially if it is under glass, and create dark shadows elsewhere in your booth. Not to mention, scorching the eyes of potential buyers!
Since you have a Flourish or Trimline tent, you have an arched interior that casts no shadows on your work in the daytime. One application I've had great success with for nighttime lighting is to use that arched interior top as a giant reflector for your lights. At Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., buy the cheap ($10?) clamps lights, discard the reflector (recycle if aluminum) and screw in pigtail-style fluorescent bulbs. I use 42-watt, 150 watt brightness bulbs. I only need four of them, clamped onto my Lite-Dome cross braces, to throw a shadowless, even, bright light across the whole of the inside of my tent and onto my glassed/framed artwork. The fixtures are aimed downward to lessen the chance that even these relatively cool bulbs will contact the tent top fabric.
You can experiment with the 23-watt, 90 watt brightness bulbs if the light is too bright. At night at an art show, my tent is often the most cheerily lit up booth in the area, all for 168 watts! If you have an outside wall or corner booth, you can use your swing arm fixtures, put in the 23-watters, clamp them to your rainfly arms and aim them at your work hanging on the outside.
If you don't want to hang the fixtures directly on your inside braces, you can rig up some sort of bar that hangs on your roof braces, then clamp the fixtures to them. Remember, don't use the reflectors, because the light bulbs will not be able to throw a 360-degree sphere of light all over the inside of your booth. And keep the bulbs in the blister packs they came in, to lessen the chance of breaking them.
Ha! I know what you mean. Better to find out before the show. I have not had the chance to test yet, although I did find some energy efficient Halogen bulbs (I did not know that they existed) that are supposedly as bright as a 75W but are actually 40 W. I ended up purchasing tracks that will use either halogens or regular bulbs, so that I have the flexibility of changing them out if I want to. I bought these before I read Michael's input, but I am going to test them and return them if they don't perform the way that I want.
Kaelin Cordis said:
Mary, I just took a closer look at my lights, and realized I reported a little accidental mis-information. I know I said my lights were halogen earlier, but they are actually xenon(enough of a distinction for my show promoter) and are very nearly cool-touch in actual practice. My latest test involved setting up at night, and leaving everything in place for several hours. They worked just fine for lighting the cases, but I am adding a few clamp lights for general lighting, as it got a bit dim around my banner, and pictures, etc. I'm running very close to maximum power with my laptop thrown in, so I'll only be using 2 13w "pigtail" lights, as recommended above(thanks Michael!) but I thought you would appreciate my latest test results.
Mary, I just took a closer look at my lights, and realized I reported a little accidental mis-information. I know I said my lights were halogen earlier, but they are actually xenon(enough of a distinction for my show promoter) and are very nearly cool-touch in actual practice. My latest test involved setting up at night, and leaving everything in place for several hours. They worked just fine for lighting the cases, but I am adding a few clamp lights for general lighting, as it got a bit dim around my banner, and pictures, etc. I'm running very close to maximum power with my laptop thrown in, so I'll only be using 2 13w "pigtail" lights, as recommended above(thanks Michael!) but I thought you would appreciate my latest test results.
I'm assuming, since you said that you are using swing arm lights that you have 2D artwork. Most of the responses have been from jewelers, who use halogens to light the work in their cases or on their display stands, with little lighting needed for the overall booth. If, in fact, you have 2D, halogen lights have a tendency to spotlight, or "hotlight" framed work, especially if it is under glass, and create dark shadows elsewhere in your booth. Not to mention, scorching the eyes of potential buyers!
Since you have a Flourish or Trimline tent, you have an arched interior that casts no shadows on your work in the daytime. One application I've had great success with for nighttime lighting is to use that arched interior top as a giant reflector for your lights. At Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., buy the cheap ($10?) clamps lights, discard the reflector (recycle if aluminum) and screw in pigtail-style fluorescent bulbs. I use 42-watt, 150 watt brightness bulbs. I only need four of them, clamped onto my Lite-Dome cross braces, to throw a shadowless, even, bright light across the whole of the inside of my tent and onto my glassed/framed artwork. The fixtures are aimed downward to lessen the chance that even these relatively cool bulbs will contact the tent top fabric.
You can experiment with the 23-watt, 90 watt brightness bulbs if the light is too bright. At night at an art show, my tent is often the most cheerily lit up booth in the area, all for 168 watts! If you have an outside wall or corner booth, you can use your swing arm fixtures, put in the 23-watters, clamp them to your rainfly arms and aim them at your work hanging on the outside.
If you don't want to hang the fixtures directly on your inside braces, you can rig up some sort of bar that hangs on your roof braces, then clamp the fixtures to them. Remember, don't use the reflectors, because the light bulbs will not be able to throw a 360-degree sphere of light all over the inside of your booth. And keep the bulbs in the blister packs they came in, to lessen the chance of breaking them.
We display 2-d ceramic tile art on flat walls(panels).
Deb
Mary Jarowitz said:
Thanks Deb, Are you displaying 2-D art on walls? Just wondering if it seems to be bright enough, especially at night.
deb upright said:
We have halogens that fit on a track. I think they are 40w each. We usually use 2 tracks and run 2-3 lights on each. The set up came from Lowes. We liked them, they are small and the black blends in with our display. We've had them for a few years and they are very adjustable for each display configuration we set up. I've seen jewelers with the same lights in white. Halogen light works well with my product colors. The new energy efficient bulbs(not Halogens) throws my color off.
Thanks Douglas, that is very informative. I am going to try using the 35 w bulbs so that I can use more lights.
Douglas Farrar said:
We have been using track lights with halogens for over 10 years in our Trimline tent. Originally Flourish only had the T's to make the light bars even with the top of the side walls. We have gone with removable fixtures so that we can use the amount that we need for a particular show. To make it easier to install after the tent is up I took half of the T's and cut away the bottom of the cross piece so that we just place the pole in the attached T and then slide the other T on top of the other end, the weight of the pole will hold it down. We carry the light tracks in 4 ft sections and have the connections on half to make them 8 ft sections. I carry 6 four foot sections and 15 light fixtures. One 8 ft section runs down directly over our jewelry tables and then a 4 ft section runs at 90 degrees over the other jewelry tables. Another 8 ft section runs 2 ft from the outstide wall where we hang our earrings and I use 5 of the lights to flood that wall. We are using 35w halogens and can run them on a marine battery for about 9 hrs using an invertor.
We have been using track lights with halogens for over 10 years in our Trimline tent. Originally Flourish only had the T's to make the light bars even with the top of the side walls. We have gone with removable fixtures so that we can use the amount that we need for a particular show. To make it easier to install after the tent is up I took half of the T's and cut away the bottom of the cross piece so that we just place the pole in the attached T and then slide the other T on top of the other end, the weight of the pole will hold it down. We carry the light tracks in 4 ft sections and have the connections on half to make them 8 ft sections. I carry 6 four foot sections and 15 light fixtures. One 8 ft section runs down directly over our jewelry tables and then a 4 ft section runs at 90 degrees over the other jewelry tables. Another 8 ft section runs 2 ft from the outstide wall where we hang our earrings and I use 5 of the lights to flood that wall. We are using 35w halogens and can run them on a marine battery for about 9 hrs using an invertor.
Yes, I know what you mean. I always play by the rules, because I want to be invited back:)
I have only seen these bars with rings on their website, but they appear to be a snug fit. Everything else about the tent design (Trimline) was very well thought out so I expect this to be no exception. But thanks for the question, it is a good one to ask of the rep, before I purchase.
Kaelin Cordis said:
Hello Mary,
I thought leaving early would be unprofessional, and I know the contract requires I be there the entire time, but since nobody was speaking to that point.... *shrug*
Your flourish bar connectors sound very well thought out. I can hardly wait until I can afford some! :) However, I would think that having the lights slide on rings would mean they might bounce and sway with the movement of the tent. If someone nudges the walls accidentally, or you remove a painting, would the lights swing and bounce for minute before settling down? Depending on how big the rings are, could they bounce for a while?
I thought leaving early would be unprofessional, and I know the contract requires I be there the entire time, but since nobody was speaking to that point.... *shrug*
Your flourish bar connectors sound very well thought out. I can hardly wait until I can afford some! :) However, I would think that having the lights slide on rings would mean they might bounce and sway with the movement of the tent. If someone nudges the walls accidentally, or you remove a painting, would the lights swing and bounce for minute before settling down? Depending on how big the rings are, could they bounce for a while?
Replies
Mary Jarowitz said:
MICHAEL ALAN STIPEK said:
Kaelin Cordis said:
Can you tell I test everything to death? :)
Kaelin
Since you have a Flourish or Trimline tent, you have an arched interior that casts no shadows on your work in the daytime. One application I've had great success with for nighttime lighting is to use that arched interior top as a giant reflector for your lights. At Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., buy the cheap ($10?) clamps lights, discard the reflector (recycle if aluminum) and screw in pigtail-style fluorescent bulbs. I use 42-watt, 150 watt brightness bulbs. I only need four of them, clamped onto my Lite-Dome cross braces, to throw a shadowless, even, bright light across the whole of the inside of my tent and onto my glassed/framed artwork. The fixtures are aimed downward to lessen the chance that even these relatively cool bulbs will contact the tent top fabric.
You can experiment with the 23-watt, 90 watt brightness bulbs if the light is too bright. At night at an art show, my tent is often the most cheerily lit up booth in the area, all for 168 watts! If you have an outside wall or corner booth, you can use your swing arm fixtures, put in the 23-watters, clamp them to your rainfly arms and aim them at your work hanging on the outside.
If you don't want to hang the fixtures directly on your inside braces, you can rig up some sort of bar that hangs on your roof braces, then clamp the fixtures to them. Remember, don't use the reflectors, because the light bulbs will not be able to throw a 360-degree sphere of light all over the inside of your booth. And keep the bulbs in the blister packs they came in, to lessen the chance of breaking them.
Deb
Mary Jarowitz said:
Douglas Farrar said:
Doug
I have only seen these bars with rings on their website, but they appear to be a snug fit. Everything else about the tent design (Trimline) was very well thought out so I expect this to be no exception. But thanks for the question, it is a good one to ask of the rep, before I purchase.
Kaelin Cordis said:
I thought leaving early would be unprofessional, and I know the contract requires I be there the entire time, but since nobody was speaking to that point.... *shrug*
Your flourish bar connectors sound very well thought out. I can hardly wait until I can afford some! :) However, I would think that having the lights slide on rings would mean they might bounce and sway with the movement of the tent. If someone nudges the walls accidentally, or you remove a painting, would the lights swing and bounce for minute before settling down? Depending on how big the rings are, could they bounce for a while?
Kaelin
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