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DAVID WILDS PATTON LIGHTING DESIGN
David Wilds Patton
San Mateo, CA
650-544-3047
dwplightingdesign.com
How to light three Greek goddesses: Pandora, Aphrodite, and Hebe
I was contacted by a well-known Bay Area landscape architect, David Thorne, whose client had commissioned three life-
size statues of the Greek goddesses Pandora, Aphrodite, and Hebe to be carved and shipped from Italy," says David. "They
were unsure how to light them. I told them I would illuminate each statue using three-point lighting, a common technique
in photography, stage, and film. Each of the lights — a key, a fill, and a rim light — would be separately controlled to achieve
the best effect for each statue. These statues would surround a pool pavilion that also required lighting. For it, I up-lit the
columns, cross-backlit the upper balustrades, up-lit the inside of the pavilion in the corners, used long-throw step lights
with low-glare for the stairs, raised the pendants high enough to allow Aphrodite to be fully visible from a front viewing
position, and lit the surrounding trees. All of that was achieved using 2700° Kelvin fixtures. However, I used 3000°
Kelvin fixtures for the statue lights, keeping them whiter and cooler, while the pavilion and landscape have a warmer
tone. This subtle difference cleverly created contrast so the statues would stand out and become visually dominant. The
reflection in the pool was an unexpected bonus.
Photography courtesy of David Wilds Patton
