This hands-on session will introduce participants to the essential skill of reading and applying photometric data in a way that strengthens design outcomes. Attendees will learn how to make sense of fixture reports, understand basic terms like beam angle, lumen output, and distribution, and connect those numbers to real-world design choices. The session emphasizes how data can guide creative intent, helping emerging practitioners gain confidence in selecting fixtures that deliver the desired look, feel, and function.  Focus will be on relatively challenging spaces to predict.

Whether it’s a Picasso or a family portrait, artwork is important to a Client and it’s important to light it properly.  Recessed lights, track lights, framing projectors, and picture lights can all be appropriate but how do you choose?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one?  How do you space them correctly?

This course explores the art and science of landscape lighting design, teaching participants how to move beyond simply lighting objects and instead create emotionally powerful scenes that transform outdoor spaces. Drawing inspiration from theatrical design, the program emphasizes the use of color, intensity, and direction to shape atmosphere and mood. Students will learn to select and apply light sources with purpose—avoiding “fixture fixation”—and develop systematic approaches to illuminating trees, architecture, and hardscapes effectively. The course also introduces the four critical phases of the design process, giving participants the tools to communicate value, overcome sales challenges, and deliver compelling lighting experiences. 

The best recessed light in the world is useless unless it is put in the right location…so true!  You can’t fix a basic thing like fixture placement once they have been installed and sheetrock goes up.  How confident are you that what you’ve put on paper will actually work?  And lighting design is SO MUCH more than just where you put recessed lights…are you thinking like a designer? Or are you just blindly drawing an array of circles on a plan without considering the effects?  This seminar is critical for anyone who wants to make sure they are not making a mistake in their design process.

This course introduces the five critical areas of professional landscape lighting installation, equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to deliver efficient, reliable, and high-performing systems. Topics include streamlined installation workflows, power management and system design, best practices for cables and connections, fixture placement and pre-aiming techniques, and final documentation for long-term serviceability. By combining technical expertise with practical application, this program empowers contractors and designers to elevate their craftsmanship and provide clients with durable, beautifully executed lighting solutions. 

Second only to recessed lights, linear LED fixtures are a huge aspect of architectural lighting that have to be fully understood.  How important are the extrusion choices and how do they work into the millwork details?  How important are things like color rendering, lumen output per foot, dimming range, etc?  How do you pair up linear fixtures with tunable white recessed lights?  These are just some of the difficulties with linear fixtures that will be covered.

Analyzing recessed lights is an important thing that even experienced lighting design professionals need to do on a consistent basis.  If you don’t have a deep understanding of the most basic building block of architectural lighting design, then you need to learn more!  Fixture options change constantly…how do you know what to choose for your projects?  It’s not just about what you can sell, it’s about what solves the particular problems of a project.  Reading spec sheets, understanding lumen output, and how to compare fixtures to each other is critical information that will be covered.

We always think about new construction, but what about a renovation?  What are the challenges of trying to make a client’s lighting better when you can’t start from scratch?  Can changing lamps (bulbs), adding lenses, aiming and similar techniques be enough?  How do you analyze what is needed (not as easy as just saying “more light”)?  How do you explain and defend your design suggestions?  And how do you look ahead to what the challenges to implementing those design improvements would be?