Uplighting Advise

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awalker19

awalker19

DJ Extraordinaire
Oct 17, 2016
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I have a client that wants to uplight this room. It has been remodeled recently so I have not been able to find a picture of it uplight. Most rooms that I have done uplighting in have white walls that are fairly empty. These walls have a lot going on. Plus, 2 walls are all windows. Do you think it would light well?

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You'll have different effects .. the window walls have a shorter ceiling (due to the HVAC box-in) and you'll light up that ceiling more than the window. The opposite wall (with all those round things) will probably look better uplit.

Personally, I would opt to light those large pillars on both sides (middle of both pics - and both sides of each pillar as well), the small walls BETWEEN the windows (basically where the sconces are) and the high opposite wall.
 
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Like Taso and Steve said, I'd say the answer is "Yes, it can be uplighted." The thing to keep in mind however is that the tint on the walls will diminish and possibly change the tint of the lighting. The important thing is to do what the others stated; hit each of the wall sections and make sure it's a strong fixture. You're going to want to dim the wall sconces down a lot. Hope they can be dimmed. It should paint out very well.
 
Yes, it can look stunning. How many fixtures do you have to work with?
 
I quoted her to do the whole room (around 20 fixtures) and she declined as it is out of her budget. We are meeting at the venue in a couple weeks. I may do a sample for her, that may change her mind.
 
Do you have pics of your own uplighting that you showed her. My uplighting portfolio has grown to 100 photos as of this past weekend with different rooms, colors, times of day etc. to be able to showcase inquiring couples what would be most appropriate for their needs? I would advise starting a portfolio of all the rooms you've ever used it in. If this is a room you frequent often and would like to do business more at but don't have any uplighting samples, I'd suggest including it uplighting for free or at a heavy discount.
 
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That is part of my problem. I do not have a good portfolio of uplighting photos. I will probably starting throwing it in more on certain venues to get the marketing material.
 
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If you saw my event recap from this past weekend, you'd notice that I had staging in that event. I started showcasing those at my events in august for free to build the portfolio. I did a total of 3 events with those at no extra cost. However, by getting those pics I was able to get future clients to add them on. This past weekend was the first client to add them on and pay for them full price. Next month I have another. No ones going to purchase something if you don't give them something to be excited about.

Do a little extra work... go to a few venues with different architecture styles... set em up, take pictures in DIFFERENT colors and if possible, video as well. Also take before and after shots. Make sure the camera you use is high quality.
 
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If you're unsure....bring a bunch of your uplights to the meeting.
Try fixtures on different walls and different places.
Then, try an old salesman trick.
DON'T ask the client if they would like uplights or not...
ask them "Do you prefer THIS....or THIS".
It suggests that they are already sold on the idea...
and it's just a matter of price.
(which you should make VERY affordable)
 
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Ausumm said:
If you're unsure....bring a bunch of your uplights to the meeting.
Try fixtures on different walls and different places.
Then, try an old salesman trick.
DON'T ask the client if they would like uplights or not...
ask them "Do you prefer THIS....or THIS".
It suggests that they are already sold on the idea...
and it's just a matter of price.
(which you should make VERY affordable)
Click to expand...

Just speaking from my experience, any time I've had a client trying to decide if they want uplighting, I always suggest a site survey where I tell them I'll bring along some uplights and offer for us to do some brainstorming together. In every single case, the minute they see that color against the walls in their venue, they are hooked.
 
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Rooms like this (and tents) are why I've never been able to sell up-lighting. My fixtures are too weak and wouldn't be effective during the day.
 
rickryan.com said:
Just speaking from my experience, any time I've had a client trying to decide if they want uplighting, I always suggest a site survey where I tell them I'll bring along some uplights and offer for us to do some brainstorming together. In every single case, the minute they see that color against the walls in their venue, they are hooked.
Click to expand...
Most of my meetings in general tend to be during the day time (unless its winter where sun goes down much earlier), and I would expect that if there are windows, theres a lot of light coming in making it hard to visualize no?

Ps its also great if you get awesome first dance and party photos with your uplighting to show how they can drastically change the "look" of your professional photos.
 
djtaso said:
Most of my meetings in general tend to be during the day time (unless its winter where sun goes down much earlier), and I would expect that if there are windows, theres a lot of light coming in making it hard to visualize no?

Ps its also great if you get awesome first dance and party photos with your uplighting to show how they can drastically change the "look" of your professional photos.
Click to expand...

I work a day job, so my meeting are almost always at night. Even if this were my FT gig, I'd still ask for those site surveys to be done when I could demonstrate the lighting (after dark). If I can get a bride, at her venue, and show her how the lights look, the sale is a slam dunk.
 
So we did end up doing some uplighting. We only used 16. This wedding had several last minute changes, including moving us from the center of the room to the far side of the room. So I ended up not lighting the high middle ceiling like originally planned. The pictures do not do it justice. It completely transformed the room. The venue staff talked with me about coming back and doing a staging with the room completely lit.
 

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rickryan.com said:
Like Taso and Steve said, I'd say the answer is "Yes, it can be uplighted." The thing to keep in mind however is that the tint on the walls will diminish and possibly change the tint of the lighting. The important thing is to do what the others stated; hit each of the wall sections and make sure it's a strong fixture. You're going to want to dim the wall sconces down a lot. Hope they can be dimmed. It should paint out very well.
Click to expand...

Depending upon the color selected by Client, I always visit the venue months or weeks in advance and check out the color tint. In one of my earlier posts I talked about doing a up-lighting meeting with the Client (mostly Brides) to choose the color that works for her/them. I would have at least 6 variations (shades) of the color that was initially chosen. Worked.
 
awalker19 said:
So we did end up doing some uplighting. We only used 16. This wedding had several last minute changes, including moving us from the center of the room to the far side of the room. So I ended up not lighting the high middle ceiling like originally planned. The pictures do not do it justice. It completely transformed the room. The venue staff talked with me about coming back and doing a staging with the room completely lit.
Click to expand...

Nice job. If I may offer a suggestion, on the blue light pic, look at the fixtures against the wall. You have a ledge that is knocking down the beam, because the fixture is too close to the wall. If you'll move it about 8"-12" away from the wall, then angle, you can get over that ledge and paint the walls, higher up. I typically would avoid the columns and focus more on the outer wall spaces, however what you did with it looks nice.
 
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