Barefoot Landscape Lighting

Let's talk business! Relationships matter more than the service you provide! Captain Matt here at a lighting job, we did a final walk through here. Got some bistros over the patio looking real nice, there's a maple tree over here with some well lights in the ground, and there's like four of them over there, there's an evergreen over here. This is why I do a final walk through, but the client did say they just trimmed it up so I'm gonna go check it over there. This is why it's always important to check your work. There's another one, this is the client's favorite one, it's another big maple tree, there's an area light over there, and also another uplight on a very small immature tree.  So, you know that anything in the service business is really about relationships, not so much about the specific thing you're doing because people can get lights anywhere from anybody. It's more important to build relationships and really master your craft

I love the new design! New Hats are Here! Captain Matt here, just got the new Barefoot Lighting hats. We got the blue and we got the pink with blue lettering because it looked better with the pink mesh. These are trucker caps, snapbacks, whatever the hell they're called these days. I love them more than the old hat, the old hat has the logo, it’s still nice and everything, but as you can see I think it looks a little bit more intense with just the lettering without the logo, when they embroid it kind of loses a little bit of its pizzazz, it's just like this one. Ryan Lee gave me this and I loved it so much so I made my own, so thanks Ryan for the help with lighting and your help with hats. So anyways, I think they're pretty cool, what do you guys think? Are they better than the old ones? Or do you like the old ones better? Let me know in the comments. https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1417

Tree mounted up lights and their placements. What is a Tree Mounted Up Light? Captain Matt talks about tree mounted up lights and why we place them higher on the tree sometimes. They are placed higher on the tree in areas that get a lot of snow so they're still visible in he winter. The other reason why is if the tree is in an area with a lot of wild growth, the light will have to be higher up so it isn't covered by foliage. https://barefootlighting.com/what-is-a-tree-mounted-up-light/

A new look for my truck! What Do You Think? Let Me Know! Wanted to show you guys how my truck turned out after having it wrapped in our signature Barefoot Lighting colors. Having a pink and blue truck is pretty cool, I even have my name under the drivers side and passenger side windows. https://barefootlighting.com/what-do-you-think-let-me-know/

Getting our goats from Farmer John at Beekman Farms! Picking Up Some Baby Goats! Captain Matt here at Beekman farms to pick up a couple of baby goats, I'm here with my Operations Manager Justin who is also getting 3 baby goats for his farm. They're not really babies anymore but we're excited to have them! https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1414

A new look for my truck! What Do You Think? Let Me Know! Wanted to show you guys how my truck turned out after having it wrapped in our signature Barefoot Lighting colors. Having a pink and blue truck is pretty cool, I even have my name under the drivers side and passenger side windows. https://barefootlighting.com/what-do-you-think-let-me-know/

Captain Matt here with a new pattern to show you for your Gemstone Lights system and this time it's for Saint Patricks Day! Last month we did an awesome cotton candy pattern, have you used that at all yet? Gemstone Lights Hub already has a bunch of great Saint Patricks Day patterns pre-built you can download from the downloads folder, but I like more of an architectural pattern most days myself. Without further delay, I present to you the Green Ice Pattern! ☘️ Saint Patricks Day Lights ☘️ | February Gemstone Lights Pattern Drop Clicking the button above will take you to the video walk-through on how to set up this color scheme tonight! It's super simple. As always thank you for supporting our small family business! We appreciate your support and referrals. Talk soon, Captain Matt and Maverick Mike https://barefootlighting.com/%e2%98%98%ef%b8%8f-saint-patricks-day-lights-%e2%98%98%ef%b8%8f-february-gemstone-lights-pattern-drop/

Hey guys Captain Matt here out in vermont on a landscape lighting job, we're uh trenching and running wire all day yesterday. So much work but I don’t have any lights yet? Why?! We've got a cool little machine we're trying out we're running wire all day again today. We'll be running wires some of the day tomorrow and so I just want to talk about that. As a client when you see the guys out there I understand how frustrating it must be that you see us out there all day two days in a row and you're not seeing any lights on yet. The most time-consuming part of any landscape lighting job is the trenching, is the running the wires, because when we get here we already have the design and the plan, but then tree roots and rocks and all that can really get in the way and delay it. Plus the most physical labor is the trenching of all the wires right I mean we're trenching all the way down to there all the way back up to there a lot ,a lot of hundreds probably thous

Captain Matt with another importance of lighting video Use your pool outdoor kitchen and outdoor living space anytime! You have a beautiful backyard you spent a hundred plus thousand dollars on, your pool, and your outdoor kitchen, on all the landscaping and then once the sun goes down it's gone, it doesn't exist. So, landscape lighting and a proper illumination portrait of your property allows you to enjoy your investment no matter what time of day or night it is. If you want to have a party till 2 in the morning and you want to have it in your backyard oasis you can. That backyard has so much potential it might be an oasis during the day, but at night time it's lackluster at best because no one wants to be out there, because you can't see anything. So that is the importance of landscape lighting, being able to use the space that is already yours. I'm Captain Matt, I'll talk to you later. https://barefootlighting.com/use-your-pool-outdoor-kitchen-and-outdoor-l

Captain Matt with the Christmas Guys, Elfperts inc, Barefoot lighting, just wanted to show you something I just picked up at this auction. Auctions and Buying Seemingly Random Things for Decorating I won them online I didn't exactly know exactly what they're going to look like but I saw the little picture of them I loved them. They're made of fiberglass and they used to be in the theme park. Clearly, this one was most likely some indian stuff I'd imagine based on the paintings on it and these were probably at one point, look like palm trees or something similar to that, and in an elephant enclosure, I got about eight of them, pretty cool. Some of them are 12 feet ,some of them are probably eight feet and yeah just wanted to give a little peek into some of the things that I do that you guys don't see. It has nothing to do with lighting, obviously has to do with decorating. Sometimes I see these cool things I don't even know exactly what I'm going to do w

Hey, guys Captain Matt here I want to talk a little bit about the wire that we use for landscape lighting. Virgin Landscape Lighting Wire What Is It? Here is a black wire this is what typically comes from manufacturers for their landscape lighting wire. I'm going to show you the same gauge wire but has different sheathing on it, you can see how thick this is compared to the black one, so much thicker. It's better, it's more durable right, it's less likely to break, and if it is ripped it wouldn't get down to the copper. Also the black wire these manufacturers make, this wire the black one they use a lot of recycled stuff so there's actually some nut oils in it and that's why chipmunks and squirrels and everything like that are so drawn to them because it smells like food so they're chewing on them, chewing on the wire! The wiring I use is 100% virgin so there are no nut oils, there's nothing like that in it so animals are much less likely to che

Hey guys captain matt out here with the installation and decorating crew we are in Vermont today it's a little chilly out here we're doing some atlas lights around this pond, around this grill area, this little gorgeous patio with the marble. Lighting Design for Star Gazing by Captain matt We got Justin, Jay over there doing some digging and trenching you got Sean and mark behind me getting lights put in. Now with this client here has the space they use they have a hot tub here so they don't want crazy bright lights so when doing a lighting design it's not always about just blasting the space with light so we're using these atlas lights over here which are. picture it as like under cabinet lights kind of. This a nice so we really don't need a bunch of them they're going to shine down off of this pond onto the rock create some really cool shadows that shine down down this marble and help light it up for a walking area same thing on the grill they have the

So cool! 🐘 Elephant Down spout! Captain Matt here at the Syracuse Zoo. Check out that gutter! It's an elephant trunk, that's pretty cool. That might be the coolest thing here so far! Just kidding, I'm not, I really like it. https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1411

How is our hallway coming along? Our Hallway Decor Hey guys Captain Matt here, this is the entry to the office here. We're trying to pretty it up, you know? We do everything else pretty but our hallway is not pretty. Anyway, here's a framed magazine that we're featured in, and then we got some canvas prints. We have about five of these, just jobs we think are really awesome between lighting design and installation. This is one of my favorite pictures, for this one I have the “Test lighting design, Valley Center, California” plaque. I do like the way that looks so I'll be getting them made for the other ones, but I just think this is cool. I want to see what you guys think? Also if you want your house added here, let's do an awesome design and or installation at your house. So anyways, what do you guys think about the canvas prints? I think they add a nice little touch to the hallway. https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1406

Playing with electricity and water again! What Happens When Our Low Voltage Soffit Lights Trip? Captain Matt here, wanted to run a few tests with low voltage, this is the Gemstone light system. Now all the connections and everything are water tight, so every time we snap on the light they're watertight. Well we're just running some tests, here's the direct power line stripped wire, you see the copper. - Still nothing, nothing at all happening. If you touch them together it'll trip right? Well, check this out, it tripped. The system's smart enough to try to restart itself. - Oh wait what happened? Boom. Smart enough to come back on to the last setting, so that's really cool. It just goes to show you how how awesome this is, outside and low voltage. So again, you can grab both sides, it's not going to hurt you it's only low I think this is about 12 volts, we all used to lick the 9 volt batteries as a kid, don't recommend that this time, this is not ni

That's a sign you should call me! Double Rainbow! Leaving the office today, check it out this gorgeous rainbow, what happened I want to ride that rainbow, see what's up there! Anyway just thought I'd share, I mean what's at the end of the rainbow? I know it's not really at the end, but it's a Barefoot Lighting truck! Hey, probably should call us and get some amazing outdoor lighting. https://barefootlighting.com/double-rainbow/

New work truck for the guys, exciting! Showing the New Work Truck for the Team! We got a new work truck for the guys after our blue one was totaled a couple weeks ago. It's equipped with a full ladder rack, tool boxes, and it is the perfect size for our team! It's just white right now but we are getting it wrapped soon with our Barefoot Lighting colors. https://barefootlighting.com/showing-the-new-work-truck-for-the-team/

Talking about the pricing process of getting Gemstones. How Much Does Gemstone Lighting Cost? Hey it's Captain Matt with Barefoot Lighting here one last time, in today's video I get to the ever so important question of “what is this going to cost me?”. Well in order to answer that question we're going to need to know a few things, mainly the measurements of your home, what kind of siding you have, what kind of soffits you have, and where you would like the Gemstone lights to be installed. We offer different options and levels based on your desires and budget, your biggest decision is going to be whether you do the front of your home, the back of your home, the sides of your home, or the entire thing. I like to help my clients by breaking it down like; this the front of your home is for the neighbors, and the back of the home is for your family, now that is a pretty simplistic breakdown but generally it's true. Now if you love decorating for Christmas or other holidays,

Lighting an Unsymmetrical Landscape Pulling Off Symmetry When It's Not Actually Symmetrical Captain Matt is back at the Beekman 1802 Farm explaining how he makes an uneven landscape look symmetrical with landscape lights so it doesn't look strange at night. https://barefootlighting.com/pulling-off-symmetry-when-its-not-actually-symmetrical/

How we are lighting this huge tree. If You Have The Budget Always Do Both! Captain Matt at the Beekman 1802 Farm again, we are lighting this huge tree which is going to be the centerpiece of their backyard illumination portrait. I talk a little bit about how we are going to make this tree really stand out and look beautiful! https://barefootlighting.com/if-you-have-the-budget-always-do-both/

Talking about uplighting trees. If Your Contractor is Doing One Light Per Tree, Just Do it Yourself. If you are getting landscape lighting installed and your installer is only putting one light on a mature tree, you should not hire them. You always need more than one light on a tree, unless it is a young tree, to get a proper portrait of the tree. https://barefootlighting.com/if-your-contractor-is-doing-one-light-per-tree-just-do-it-yourself/

Having your own space on a job site. Define Your Space on Job Sites! You'll Love It! Having a space for all of our tools and gear really helps us stay organized on a job site. It also helps separate our stuff from anyone else who might be working on the same job site. It's been really helpful for us to keep inventory of everything. https://barefootlighting.com/define-your-space-on-job-sites-youll-love-it/

Buckets are the secret to success. Set your crew up for success daily! Buckets are awesome. We give each of our installers buckets to keep some of their landscape lighting equipment in. The buckets are an easy way for them to stay organized, as well as the pack-out cases we have for their tools. They keep all sorts of things in their buckets as you'll see in this video. https://barefootlighting.com/set-your-crew-up-for-success-daily-buckets-are-awesome/

Behind the scenes at the Beekman 1802 farm Finishing up hiding wires and cleaning lights at the Beekman Farm! We're finishing up here at the Beekman 1802 farm, just putting some final touches on the house like hiding wires. We're so excited to show everyone the finished look very soon! https://barefootlighting.com/finishing-up-hiding-wires-and-cleaning-lights-at-the-beekman-farm/

Talking about view points at the Beekman 1802 farm. You Have to Pick a Few Key Points and Design From There. It's important when lighting a large property to think about all the different ways your clients use their space. I pick the areas they use the most and create a few different focal points and light from there so they always have a great view in their favorite spots. https://barefootlighting.com/you-have-to-pick-a-few-key-points-and-design-from-there/

Talking uplights, grass, mulch, and rock beds. Captain Matt Working on His Own Landscape Lighting. Working on my own landscaping project this past Sunday, I'm putting some Creator up-lights on my home. With the up-lights that stick out of the ground like this you would probably want to add some sort of perimeter, wether it be gravel or mulch, around your house so the lights don't get in the way of your lawn care. I'm probably going to add on to the gravel we already have at the front of the house and put it around the whole house. We do offer up lights that go into the ground so you don't have to worry about that or if you don't want to see any fixtures. https://barefootlighting.com/captain-matt-working-on-his-own-landscape-lighting/

Looking at my landscape lights at night. https://barefootlighting.com/i-like-to-avoid-wall-washing-and-use-artistry-of-shadows-and-light-for-character/

Doing some level 11 wire hiding along with our landscape lighting. Doing Some Wire Hiding I wanted to show you guys how we hide the wires for our landscape lighting. Obviously you don't want to see wires running all over the outside of your home when you get lighting installed, we've picked up a couple tricks so you won't even notice the wiring. Our Operations Manager Justin shows how we do it in this video. https://barefootlighting.com/doing-some-wire-hiding/

Showing you a recent landscape lighting job. Final Walk Through on a Lighting Job. I wanted to take a video of a recent landscape lighting job we did to show you guys. You can see all the depth that was added to their backyard with a couple of their trees lit up, as well as their beautiful fire place. Now their backyard actually continues past the fire place after dark! https://barefootlighting.com/final-walk-through-on-a-lighting-job/

A video Justin made about an issue. Have Your Crew Take Videos of Issues and a Full Walk Through. I have my crew take videos of problems on the job site so there is never any confusion about a problem they had. I also have them do a video walkthrough after a job is completed to make sure no mistakes were made. https://barefootlighting.com/have-your-crew-take-videos-of-issues-and-a-full-walk-through/

We want our power drivers to be basically invisible. Let's talk power drivers and blending in with the landscape. I wanted to show you one of our power supplies we use for landscape lighting, usually we use direct burial power supplies so you don't even see them. But, at this clients house they had a layer of gravel so we couldn't burry the direct burial. What we did instead is use on of our power supplies that is disguised as a rocks so it blends right in with the gravel. https://barefootlighting.com/lets-talk-power-drivers-and-blending-in-with-the-landscape/

Landscape Lighting Secrets awards. Since October 2021 I’ve Changed My Business Hey guys, Captain Matt here. I just got back from the awards ceremony and it's pretty cool, so I won some achievement stuff from Landscape Lighting Secrets and the Lighting Mastermind. I’m pretty proud because I started this back in 2009 as Christmas only, who would have thought it would turn into what it's turned into. I got this here, it's The Earned 1 Million With Landscape Lighting Secrets Award, and then we got an awesome plaque, it's been amazing. So, I've talked about it before, I'll say it again, coaches and mentors if you're an entrepreneur be willing to pay for them and listen to them. When you pay for somebody you're so much more apt to listen to what they say and do what they say. It's been an amazing few days here in Utah and I’m super excited for the future, and thanks again guys for watching talk to you soon. https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1280

Nothing says Christmas like 90 degree heat. Christmas in July?! I've been out doing Christmas estimates all day and it feels so weird doing them in 90 degree heat! We were out at a new clients house and the wife was making fun of her husband for calling so early, but thats actually perfect because as a new client there's no way to get you decorated before Thanksgiving unless you call now. We also have an early bird special going on through the end of August, so if you've been on the fence now would be the time to give us a call! https://barefootlighting.com/christmas-in-july/

I wanted to show you how I design for Christmas. Christmas Light Installation Design Mock Ups. I've had a couple people ask me how I design and do estimates for Christmas so I wanted to make a video to show you how I do it. I use MarkUp or Jolly Lights on my iPad, MarkUp is a little faster than Jolly Lights but Jolly Lights provides more detail. I use an Apple pencil for Jolly Lights because its more precise than my finger, I like all the different options Jolly Lights gives you for the design process. I usually use MarkUp on the computer, but I just draw on the picture where I want the lights to be, I use different colors for the roofline, trees/bushes, garland, and brach wraps. I hope you have a good weekend! https://barefootlighting.com/christmas-light-installation-design-mock-ups/

Mike Darling needs to come upgrade my outdoor kitchen! A Grill Fire I had to use my fire extinguisher on my grill today, it was pretty crazy and I've never had to do that before. It looks like I'll need Mike Darling from Upstate Backyard Kitchens to come and redo my outdoor kitchen. Remember to clean your grills! https://barefootlighting.com/a-grill-fire/

I'm meeting with some other amazing lighting guys. At Olympic Park in Utah I'm at Olympic Park in Utah with a bunch of other lighting guys from around the country with Lighting Mastermind. I can't do a lot of the activities they're doing because of the ankle injury, but it's been great to get to know these guys and talk shop with them! https://barefootlighting.com/at-olympic-park-in-utah/

He talks about what YOU can do to improve your business or your life today! A Talk with my Coach, Ryan Lee. If you're starting out in landscape lighting and you're not sure what to focus on or need coaching you should definitely check out Ryan. He says the most important thing to focus on when you're starting out is taking action and not worrying about perfection, progress over perfection. https://barefootlighting.com/a-talk-with-my-coach-ryan-lee/

Finally meeting Dustin in person out in Utah! Captain Matt meets Dustin from Lights at Wholesale. Dustin at Lights at Wholesale has a great selection of lights and clips for the Christmas season, definitely check him out if you're in the market. He's got an amazing shop over here, and he's taken great care of me! https://barefootlighting.com/captain-matt-meets-dustin-from-lights-at-wholesale/

The clients face when they see their lights for the first time. Talking with Mike Long Hey guys, Captain Matt here with Mike Long out doing service in Milwaukee and Chicago “Hello! Chicago and Milwaukee yeah, both of those areas. Absolutely”. We're at Lighting Mastermind together, he's awesome, he's been doing this for years and years. So if you're in that area and you're looking for an amazing landscape lighting designer give Mike Long a call, Mike what do you love about lighting? What makes you keep going? “I just love the satisfaction we create with lighting. We take people's yards that are dull and dark and we make it an area that they can use and enjoy at night time, and that's what I love doing and seeing. Seeing the clients face when they see the lights for the first time is how I keep going.” Heck yeah, okay another guy so super passionate about lighting. Real original name Mike's Landscape Lighting, so it'd be a really easy one to remember

Increase the fear factor at your home. Halloween Lights For Rent! I was messing around with our smart flood lights from Gemstones and wanted to see how the Halloween patterns look with them. They look amazing and will add a creepy factor to your home or business and Halloween decorations. https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1262

"Lighting is always the icing on the cake." Andy + Michelle with Sandy Beach Lighting in Indiana Michelle and Andy at Sandy Beach Lighting and Design in Indiana do landscape lighting, Christmas lighting, and even outdoor kitchens! Give them a call if you're in Indiana and in the market for some incredible landscape lighting! https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1259

Maybe I have a private jet? Where are They Taking Me? Had to leave the terminal at Salt Lake City International and get on a bus on the tarmac. What is happening SLC? https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1256

Out here with amazing designers, technicians, and industry leaders. UTVs in Utah I'm here at Lighting Mastermind in Utah riding UTVs in the mountains. It's a lot slower paced than the California desert, which I'm fine with! It's fun to put yourself out there and participate in a new experience. https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1253

With Nick from Glitter and Glow Lighting in Alabama. Riding in the Ski Lift at Olympic Park Nick and I are in a gondola on a ski lift here in Olympic Park in Utah. Nick does Christmas decorating and landscape lighting in Alabama, so if you call u from Alabama he is who we'll be referring you to! https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1247

I'm meeting with some other amazing lighting guys. At Olympic Park in Utah I'm at Olympic Park in Utah with a bunch of other lighting guys from around the country. I can't do a lot of the activities they're doing because of the ankle injury, but it's been great to get to know these guys and talk shop with them! https://barefootlighting.com/at-olympic-park-in-utah/

Finally meeting Dustin in person out in Utah! Captain Matt meets Dustin from Lights at Wholesale. Dustin at Lights at Wholesale has a great selection of lights and clips for the Christmas season, definitely check him out if you're in the market. He's got an amazing shop over here, and he's taken great care of me! https://barefootlighting.com/?p=1240