Busacca Gallery

Light and Shadow Monochrome Photo by the Hungarian Artists Dreamdelivery Group: The world is just light and shadow, just mood and sensation. These lamps dreamed shadows in a lonely shopwindow of a Brussels (Belgium, Europe) gloaming. The streets are empty. Expectations of people don't press the world into the stocks of solildity and tangibility, the energy of cosmos can dream its dreams free. The world of dreaming is shining in the eternal lights of twilight. The lamps were made of metal. Sharp shapes which are the opositions of the soft light coming out of the lamps. Shapes and lights are playing in the mysterious shade of gray colours. They are dancing in the standstillness. The picture was taken with Canon EOS 1000D camera, exposure time 1/80, F:5.60.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighting

Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some aesthetic or practical effect. Lighting includes use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and natural illumination of interiors from daylight. Daylighting (through windows, skylights, etc.) is often used as the main source of light during daytime in buildings given its low cost. Artificial lighting represents a major component of energy consumption, accounting for a significant part of all energy consumed worldwide. Artificial lighting is most commonly provided today by electric lights, but gas lighting, candles, or oil lamps were used in the past, and still are used in certain situations. Proper lighting can enhance task performance or aesthetics, while there can be energy wastage and adverse health effects of poorly designed lighting. Indoor lighting is a form of fixture or furnishing, and a key part of interior design. Lighting can also be an intrinsic component of landscaping.

Lamps

Commonly called 'light bulbs', lamps are the removable and replaceable portion of a luminaire which converts electrical energy to both visible and non-visible electromagnetic energy. Specialists who work with lighting, carefully avoid energetic units for measuring of the light output of sources of light due to the spectral response of human visual perception. For example, instead of watt per steradian, the special unit candela is used; 1 candela=(1/683) W/steradian for monochromatic light at 555 nm wavelength. Common characteristics used to evaluate lamp quality include efficacy measured in lumens per watt, typical lamp life measured in hours, and Color Rendering Index on a scale of 0 to 100. Cost of replacement lamps is also an important factor in any design.[10]

It is important to be able to differentiate types of lamps and lamp technologies. These include:

"Ballast: A ballast is an auxiliary piece of equipment designed to start and properly control the flow of power to discharge light sources such as fluorescent and high intensity discharge (HID) lamps. Some lamps require the ballast to have thermal protection.

Fluorescent light: A long straight tube coated with phospher containing low pressure mercury vapor that produces white light.

Halogen: High pressure incandescent lamps containing halogen gases such as iodine or bromine, allowing filaments to be operated at higher temperatures.

Luminaire: A complete lighting unit consisting of a lamp, ballast as required with the parts designed to distribute the light, position and protect the lamp and connect them to the power supply.

Neon: A low pressure gas contained within a glass tube; the color emitted depends on the gas.

Light emitting diodes: Light emitting diodes (LED) are tiny light bulbs wihtout the filaments that would burn out on ordinary light bulbs, illuminated solely by the movement of electrons in a semiconductor material. " [11]

Compact fluorescent lamps: CFLs are emerging as a good alternative to incandescent lamps (bulbs) due to their lower power consumption and longer lamp life. CFLs consume 2-5 times less power, lasts 8-10 times longer and saves about $30 (Rs2500/year) over its life compared to a bulb.[12][13]