Chauvet LED entertainment lighting fixtures colorize runway at fashion show

WASHINGTON – Harry Truman famously said, “The buck stops here,” but when he visited the nation’s capital after he left the White House, the 33rd President of the United States invariably stopped at the Mayflower Hotel, a place he described as “the second best address in Washington.” Elegant and stately, the Mayflower has hosted a plethora of rarified events and functions, including every presidential inauguration party from 1923 to 1981. The graceful beaux-arts building provided an ideal setting for the Capital Bridal and Fashion Show. A springtime tradition, the show features a collection of stylish wedding attire, which was made all the more stunning this year by a versatile lighting rig anchored by Ovation E-910FC color mixing ERS-style LED entertainment lighting fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

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John Farr Lighting Design of Upper Marlboro, MD used 16 of the RGBA-Lime fixtures to bathe the bridal show’s runway in a flat even field of light from multiple directions. “Our goal was to light the runway from the front, and from either side, with a nice even wash,” said the company’s Eric Hertsch. “We wanted the wedding fashions to pop for guests and the video cameras. At the same time, we didn’t want to blind people in the front rows with light.”

The John Farr team was able to achieve the looks it wanted on the runway, while leaving the retinas of front row spectators undisturbed, thanks to the tight zoom angles of the Ovation E-910FCs and the adroit placement of the fixtures. “We built a total of four 12.5’ truss towers, each with four E-910 fixtures,” said Hertsch. “The front two truss were positioned at roughly 45° in each direction from the runway, about 10’ away from the edge. The two other towers were positioned roughly 15’ away, about halfway down the length of the runway. This arrangement allowed us to focus the light on the runway and cover it from all sides evenly.”

Each Ovation LED entertainment lighting fixture was addressed individually, and daisy chained to the three other E-910FCs on its truss tower. Depending the focal point of the Ovation fixtures and the location of the truss tower they were positioned on, they had a throw distance of 10’-30’ to reach the runway. They had no difficulty covering this area.

“The output of the E-910FCs was as good or better than any incandescent fixture, but since they were LED they were a lot cooler, which the models and audience appreciated,” said Hertsch. “Plus we didn’t need to worry about power draw.”

By generating less heat, the Ovation LED entertainment lighting fixtures also allowed the John Farr team to do more from a design standpoint. “We had a relatively tight space in the section of the ballroom where the fashion show took place,” said Hertsch. “Using the LED based E-910FC allowed us to place a large number of fixtures in the confined area, with minimal impact from heat. This made it possible for us to use the fixtures before and after the show to create some great ambience with a deep lavender wash. We used this wash to lend an extra touch to the ‘pre-game and post-game’ activities surrounding the actual show itself.”

For added color, 30 Freedom Par Hex-4 fixtures from Chauvet DJ were used to uplight walls and columns of the ballroom. “This is really a very elegant setting,” said Hertsch. “I’m glad we were able to do more than just functional runway lighting. We did a great job lighting the runway in whites that showed off the designs beautifully, but beyond that our lighting set a nice mood in the room.”

About Chauvet Professional
Chauvet Professional offers innovative professional lighting fixtures for the production and touring market as well as permanent installation in theatres, hospitality venues, cruise ships, clubs, television and architainment applications.

About Chauvet Europe
Chauvet Europe is the full service European branch of Chauvet, based in the UK. Chauvet is a leading manufacturer of professional luminaires, truss and related equipment headquartered in the USA. Chauvet products are supplied globally under four main brands: Chauvet® DJ, Chauvet® Professional, ILUMINARC® and TRUSST®. They share Chauvet’s unified strategy to pursue every market segment where it has a competitive advantage in terms of value, innovation and performance, with an emphasis on LED technology. For more information, please visit www.chauvetlighting.co.uk.