#lighting plot

[fia-vwx]

Picture 2: 24 December 2021

Lighting cue two go.

I’m not going in any particular order when it comes to posting these pictures. Mostly I just go through the folder I have of interesting lighting and post whatever is the current vibe. I will forewarn, however, that I have over a hundred and fifty pictures I plan to post at some point, and that’s a number that grows nearly on the daily.

For this one, I’m technically actually posting two pictures, but they’re of the same occurrence, so I’m counting it as one thing. These pictures are of a sunset. My mother and I were driving home on Christmas Eve—at the last possible second, as is fairly typical for me—when my mother pointed out the sunset to me.

Because my mother was the one driving, I was instructed to take pictures for her. :) But I think this sunset was particularly lovely, too! I have a preference for warm light over cool light, and sunsets like this are a part of the reason why. Amber lighting is everything. Truly, there is no more accurate way to describe this sort of evening-time than “golden hour”.

There’s something deeply peaceful, yet also looming, about looking up at the setting sun. On one hand, this is the same sky and the same sun that humans have been seeing for literal centuries. I can look up and see the same thing that my ancestors did, and my ancestors’ ancestors. It feels so small and insignificant to be just one little person out of literal billions staring up at it.

At the same time, though, the sun never sets the same, does it? A thousand pictures of the sky taken from the same place would never once look the same. My Theatre History class loves the idea of sympathetic magic—one plus one equals more than one, the parts come together to become more than just the whole, each experience is a new one.

It’s comforting, then, to know that each and every one of those before me has looked up at the same thing, only to take something different out of it. That’s a sentiment I hope to carry over to lighting design, should I ever design for a show. Even if the lighting design is the same, no two show nights are ever the same, and I can only hope each audience member takes something away from it, even if it‘a never the same something.

Golly, I love perspectives. It’s nice not being alone on this flaming disaster ball of a planet. :)

Standby writing cue two. :P

(Get it, ’cos it rhymes with lighting, hahahaha.)

[fia-vwx]

Picture 1: 7 November 2021

Lighting cue one go.

Hello! I’m Fia, and this is the blog I’ll be keeping about light! I suppose I could start this off with an introduction and share why my profile picture is what it is.

So this is me. Fia, they/them pronouns, a college kid currently in college for theatre and entertainment technology. I’m a technician—started mainly with sound, but I’m taking a lighting class this semester!

Theatre is largely in part a reflection of life. And lighting, an important branch of tech, is certainly no different. So, as a part of this lighting class, we are supposed to keep a blog observing light in the world around us.

I chose this picture as my profile pic, and as my first entry on this blog, because believe it or not, the red isn’t a filter or overlay! Two winters ago, the heat went out at my parents’ house, so to keep warm we set up these heat lamps everywhere.

The heat lamps gave off a reddish glow, and I thought that it looked pretty nifty, so I wanted to capture the moment. To me, red is a color that can be perceived in many ways—it often is a symbol or signifier of evil or passion, to name a few.

At the time I had just snagged a pair of wine glasses with spiderwebs on them on sale, a leftover remnant from Halloween. So, I figured, I could use that as a prop and try capturing…well, something, at least. It was a very silly and fun process. The activity kept me entertained—and warm! I’d call that a success.

Standby lighting cue two.

[fia-vwx]

Entry 1: 9 January 2023

Today marks the first day of spring semester—although by the time I finish setting up this Tumblr and actually post this, it probably won't be anymore. I had only one class today, and it was one I have looked forward to from the moment I was informed of its existence.

Lighting for the Theatre. A marvelous thing, if you ask me. When the average theatre-goer attends a play, they are often too focused on the actors to realize that it is the lights that even allow them to see in the first place. The sun is not missed until it has set. Often we take light for granted.

Towards the end of that joy of joys, the typical first day syllabus overhaul, my lighting professor tacked on another assignment for us this semester: "Oh, yeah, and by the way, you guys have to do a blog!" Naturally, I am going to be absolutely insufferable about it.

It's a simple concept, really; we're just supposed to pay attention to light in everyday life. Theatre lighting is a reflection of life, pun very much intended. We are to take pictures of light we find to be particularly inspiring, to write about why we find it so.

Absolutely no one is going to read these except maybe for my professor, and even she is likely to see this and go "What the hell, Fia" before deciding she doesn't have the energy to deal with my bullshit and clicking off of this blog. And honestly? Fair.

Standby lighting cue one.