| Lighting for Corporate Workstations The
short history of artificial lighting [Swan, Edison 1879]
has enhanced the visual environment of our homes, our
workplaces and our communities, however recent
discoveries have shown the profound importance of the
nonvisual influences of light on the human body and mind.
The retinal response to light not only sends optical
information to the visual sensory cortex of the brain,
but also directly inputs the hypothalamus which contains
the body's internal clock controlling sl The first fixture is a "soft" light box designed to be used in the workplace. It creates a source of light that gives every office a window. Inspired by the 10K Lux lights used in the treatment of SAD, it has the look and feel of modern office equipment rather than that of a medical appliance. [Patent pending] See final version as Remington's Heathlight at http://www.sphereone.com |
The second fixture delivers a real time dynamic motion of flickerfree full spectrum illumination which emulates the quality and changing light in a natural day. This artificial "window" begins the "shift day" by slowly bringing the lowest "sitting horizon" module from 10% to full brightness. The next "standing horizon" module follows this brightening to arrive at its full brightness at about "10.30 am" while the lower unit returns to about 30%. The third "overhead module" arrives at full brightness at "noon" while the "standing horizon" module has dimmed to about 30%. At about "1.30pm" the sequence reverses itself, so that the "sitting horizon" module reaches full brightness again at about "4 pm" and dims to 10% at the end of the shift "day" [5.30pm]. [Patent pending] The naturalistic dynamic illumination cycles can be controlled by standard network protocols and is able to perform a number of interactive options which include turning the fixture completely off if the worker is not present or dimming the unit for energy saving requirements if nearby windows, skylights [or nearby fixtures] are providing enough illumination. The modular design of the fixture and its flexible programming allow any number of configurations such as wall or desk top use [floor standing shown]. |
|
Other nifty ideas looking for the "light of day"--
The new Plume attachment ring allows additional accessories to be attached to the face of the Ring for various purposes inside a lightbox. OR, the Ring can become a simple joiner between a task specific accessory and the flash head adapter for any brand of flash. See a selection of examples below: SNOOT for use as a hairlight in portrait set-ups. Or a extreme effect inside a lightbank. Other possibilities include 45° to direct light to a corner of a softbox. Or transparent tubes of different lengths.
DEFLECTOR for spreading the light radially only. Useful in lightbanks for dark graduation for center to corners and sides. Not readily apparent, but such a negative graduation results in better color saturation when lightbox is double the size of the imaging subject (falloff compensation. ROUND REFLECTOR, the most
conventional expectation, used inside a lightbank for increased
"hot spot" . Could be sold in a nesting series of
differing angles and depths. This example also holds the 7
inch Balli Grid Spots (Balcar, Bowens, Speedotron, etc.) In
such use, again the Ring becomes the universalizer.
DOUBLE RING ADAPTER for use when attachment of lightbank or other accessory proves too heavy for the reflector mount of a flashhead (usually only strong enough for a light weight reflector). Note use of one of two threaded holes in the Ring. Front Ring continues to allow the lightbank to rotate. LIGHT PADDLE, a
patented idea of Don Farrall, for continually variable
graduations inside a lightbank. The idea could be extended to
become a universal Barndoor / Reflector system outside a
softbox.
LOWEL "PADDLE" Adaptation.
With the addition of a small LOWEL clip to the Ring, any flash head
will be make compatible to the Lowel Flex Arm System
accessories. Right photo: All Lowel OmniLight
accessories, such as the barndoor shown, would fit the "double"
adapter spinning. SPECIFIC FLASH ACCESSORY ADAPTERS, again the Ring could serve as a joiner between a flashhead of one brand and the accessories of another brand. Shown here, Bowens to Elinchrom- just consider a Norman to Broncolor; Speedotron to Comet; the brain soars and reels! FILTER FRAME, easily attaches coloured filters, NDs, metal scrims to the Ring for use within and out of a lightbank. Frame reverses over the Ring during travel. Pre-cut filter kit with the frame or only a template (or both).
GRADUATED STILL LIFE LIGHTBOX
measures 27 x 35 cm (11 x 14 inches). Made from plastic
"film" and silver fabric, this semi rigid design zippers
open to fold flat. Again, the advent of digital is
forcing the use of graduated light boxes to avoid the
"blooming" of highlights. ASYMMETRIC LIGHTBANK resulting in a
3:1 falloff from end to end. Graduated lightbanks have long
been the domain of less than a 1% of highest level of professional
photographers, but, again, digital problems have brought this
creative idea into the realm of necessity. Here are several configurations. The first, a tungsten source that thinks it's a flash. The second, a compact flash. The last five are fluorescent instruments. In the future of imaging (still scanning, video and internet broadcast), there will be only one choice- Daylight balanced fluorescent. Daylight balanced (4100-6500K) high frequency, high color (85+ CRI) fluorescent have the advantages of nearly equal spectral Red, Green and Blue; no spectral heat ( which distorts CCD response); and long lived lamps. Incandescent sources have 92% spectral heat with little blue. HMI / MSR lamps, though good RGB, have high UV and heat output, lamps are extremely short lived and very expensive to replace.
REMOTE TUNGSTEN WITH MODELLING
As tungsten is 92% heat, this fixture minimizes the energy and
heat during set-up and is turned on remotely (several fixtures at
one moment) only during the imaging process, then turned off again
to modelling level for continued set-up. A two channel control
would allow quarter, half and full stop ratio - that is, 250W
modelling level (1/4), plus two 150 W "on" to total 550W
(1/2), then four more 150W "on" to total 1150W
(full). All levels, due to multiple lamps, would be at full
color temperature - not true with dimming methods.
INTERLOCKING "PENCIL LIGHT"
2400 w/s configuration with modeling and internal fan cooling.
Earlier product (on left) was designed six years ago by myself and
Bill Farrall. Bill produced it under the name "FlashStyx".
Stolen by Photoflex's "hot" light. The redesign on
the right is 20% smaller, drawings and milled housing are completed.
Original thinking was that this design could accept all brands of
flash accessories.
BABY FLO is a 30 Watt 6500K lamp with reflector (shown mounted to a Manfrotto table tripod). Excellent Red, Green, Blue balance. Cost retail could be $40 usd (w/o tripod). Perfect for digital capture of jewelry and other small product. Several could be used with a Cocoon. HIGH OUTPUT LIGHT BOX for digital capture of existing transparencies. Such cameras as "BETTERLIGHT" and DICOMED Scan Backs can be further utilized to scan a photographer's existing collection of transparencies only IF a lightbox existed that concentrates the light. This design is an enlarger head on its side so that the heat escapes by convection out the back and only the heat-free daylight balanced 200 Watts of high frequency fluorescent passes out the transparency holder. Could be a Scandles accessory.
Studio and Location Products STOWAWAY CAMERA BAG to solve the
following problem— over-the-shoulder bags are great during
the "shoot", not so great for protection during
travel. Conversely, hard cases, such as Pelican and
Halliburton are great protection during travel, not so great during
the "shoot". This design folds flat (like a six pak
carton of beer) to "stowaway" in the lid of a hard
case during travel (replacing the usual foam liner), and opens
up (like a six pak carton of beer) to hold cameras and lenses. "Grippers" LIGHT WEIGHTS
hold tight to the boom or lightstand due to their own weight pulling
down on the special design of the closure. This closure acts
the same as a mountain climber's jumar ascender, jamming under the
load of the climber and releasing when he shifts his weight to the
other foot. Just the same, if you need to move the weight, you pick
it up and slide it to it new position, where it lock again when you
release it. STILL LIFE FLASH SWITCH for "turning on and off" the several flash generators which a table top specialist might need between flash exposures for changes in focus, filters, movements and other special effects. In this example, the three "on/off" switches are illuminated when "on", there is a "open flash" button and a sync cord receptacle. |
eep timing and
daytime alertness [biological rhythm resetting effect and
'direct' alerting /activation effect]. If understood in
terms of our broader biological needs, the indoor
lighting environment of today is light deficient in
quantity and quality. Such light deficiency promotes a
number of identified disorders including insomnia,
hypersomnolence, daytime fatigue, reduced work
performance and increased accident rate, dietary
imbalance, weight gain and depression. Increased
"photic" stimulation in terms of intensity,
duration, time of day and short-term modulation can
reduce or eliminate these disorders. 
POWER
DISK is a simple, easy-to-make, polycarbonate disk which will
increase light output of a bare-bulb (Bron Pulso, Speedotron,
Profoto, Comet) flash configuration by a stop or within a lightbox
by 1/2 stop without change in light quality. Very cheap watt /
seconds.