Outdoor lighting provides homeowners with the ability to make their property safe and easier to walk around at night. Not only will you feel more comfortable knowing what’s in your front yard, but you will also add visual appeal to your home too. If you want to improve outdoor safety through lighting, and at the same time add a little character to the outside of your home, then follow along to understand the potential upgrades you can make for outdoor lighting options.

This year I’m seriously jazzed about the 2012 Emmy nominees – especially for Outstanding Lighting Design. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for theatrics (dating back to long before those college stage makeup classes and my Cirque du Soilel-level Halloween costumes) but honestly, these nominees are amazing. Here’s what the Academy has laid out for us this year:

Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Series

So You Think You Can Dance

Last year’s winner is at it again, producing number after flashy number. Lighting designer Robert Barnhart along with lighting directors Matt Firestone, Pete Radice, and Patrick Boozer are ones to beat, for sure. Check out this dramatic jazz piece from the Season 8 finale, it’s truly unforgettable:

Dancing With The Stars

This show is a first time nominee in the category, but lighting designer Simon Miles and lighting directors Matthew Cotter and Suzanne Sotello are definitely ones to watch out for. Check out this Halloween-themed Paso Doble featuring Ricki Lake, and you’ll understand why this lighting team has earned a coveted nomination:

American Idol

This program won the title in 2009, and this year the same team of lighting designer Kieran Healy, and lighting directors Joshua Hutchings, George Harvey, and Matthew McAdam are at it again. This highly talented group might just have what it takes to win again. See for yourself in this clip of Phillip Phillips (season 11 winner) singing at the Idol finale:

The Voice

Another newcomer in the category, The Voice has really made a splash in its second season. Lighting team Oscar Dominguez (designer) and Daniel K. Boland (director) have made sure that the voices aren’t the only remarkable thing about this show. Check out this video of season 2 winner Jermaine Paul (from team Blake) and you’ll see what I mean:

Using a warm white or RGB COB (chips-on-board) LED, these flood lights emit up to 1,000 lumens of illumination in a wide 120-degree beam pattern. The weatherproof LED fixtures have a low-profile die cast aluminum housing with an integral heat sink and a tempered glass lens. An adjustable mounting bracket is also included to direct illumination where it’s needed.

This guy’s name is Humphry. He’s about 24 years old. A chemist. And, by the looks of him, pretty content with his accomplishments and station in life. He’s the boy wonder credited with creating the first incandescent light. He seems to be thinking, “I’m just a genius. No biggie.” It’s around 1802. England.

The incandescent light bulb is our homie. It has been with us, creating warm, flattering light, rendering colors beautifully, and making human life at least 45% more magical for almost 200 years. Even though 90% of its energy is emitted as heat, making the standard tungsten light bulb almost inexcusably inefficient, we’ll always have love for the incandescent light bulb and its flattering light.

Many brilliant minds have contributed to the incandescent lamps we have today, but Humphry Davy stands out to me for his ingenious invention that led to “the most profound invention since man-made fire.”