Photo: Courtesy of Raymond Thompson
How he got his start: Thompson founded Images by Lighting in 1982 after a career in electrical engineering with Hughes Aircraft—and the industry veteran quickly helped set the standard for how event lighting is handled today. Now, Images by Lighting's work can be found at many of LA's most high-profile entertainment and corporate events; the company's work has also taken it to global destinations like Dubai, Bora Bora, and Europe.
What sets his company apart: Thompson eloquently describes his projects as "emotional movement through light." "The biggest joy I’ve found in my work is working with light to not just illuminate, but to create the movement of emotion throughout an event," he says. "Lighting and color affect not just the physical design of an event, but the emotional and energetic design. How do you want guests to feel at different times of the event?"
He likes to refer to what he does as "color therapy," he adds. "For example, when someone wants a blue room, I tell them how people will react to walking into a room that is all blue. It will feel cold and not create that sense of excitement that will bring people together fast," Thompson explains. "I suggest it not as the only color, but shifting to the warm tones of red, which gets the blood going, and oranges and yellows that feel sexy and warm. These colors are put together like a song that flows throughout the evening, building toward a grand crescendo at the evening’s end."
What innovation means to him: Thompson explains that innovation in lighting has everything to do with the equipment and how it's used. "It’s not just about lighting some 'thing,' but creating a total enveloping environment," he says, noting that he often gets inspired by performances and concerts. "It shows how to take large-scale effects and bring them to an event space—and some of the technology from this world is now much more affordable for an event producer to bring in. We create worlds within events with intelligent lights, video screens, LED walls, and video projection and mapping."
Thompson also notes the importance of partnering with video designers and lighting programmers, who do what he describes as "wonderful magic." "We are only as good as our teams, and it takes a village to pull off these incredible shows," he says.
Career highlights: Thompson cites a few standout events from his long career, including his decade-long work for the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising's FIDM Debut runway shows. "It’s always a wonderful, collaborative experience and all about highlighting new, young talent," he says. "It takes place over two nights, each with an audience of about 3,000 potential students from all over the country, and each show features several segments that require very different aspects of intelligent lighting on the runway, projections, and screens." 
"Each [FIDM event] also includes a fully staged Boadway show-like production, during which they show off costume design," Thompson adds. "Setup and rehearsals are an intense two weeks, and the energy is awesome. The live aspect of it is invigorating!"Photo: Courtesy of Ray Thompson
Another highlight comes from one of the many Emmys Governors Balls that Thompson has worked on. "At this one, guests walked into the cavernous Los Angeles Convention Center ballroom through a lighted 20-foot-long tunnel into a world of light and fantasy," he recalls. "Under a night sky canopy of LEDs, a world like that seen in the film Avatar enveloped guests. The focal point was three 40-foot-tall trees. Surrounding the main stage, the trees glowed with vibrant blue and green 'leaves' that were illuminated from within."
Thompson and his team brought the trees to life using lighting that shifted throughout the night, timed to the performances and the evening's transition. A fine haze was piped in to cut the hard visual lines and make the world feel more dream-like—and during the main performance, Images by Lighting backlit the area so only the performers' silhouettes would appear.
"As the evening progressed, the trees’ leaves modulated between colors, becoming a full sequence of color shifting and animation at the height of the night—going from blue and green to amber, then orange and pink, red and amber, and finally, a light rainbow filtering through the trees," he continues. "The color changes moved and danced to the music and the energy of the room." 
"The result was an exciting event from start to finish," says Thompson of the Emmys event. "The design—so much of it through lighting—resulted in the world our client sought, one that straddled fantasy and reality in a beautiful, vibrant manner that was alive with energy."Photo: Nadie Froger Photography
His favorite thing about working in events: Thompson is invigorated by the creativity that each project requires. "It’s all about finding new ways of bringing a designer’s vision to light," he says. "Rather than relying on what we’ve always done, we search deeper for the next 'right answer, right feeling.' It’s how we continue to find the wonder and excitement that we as creative beings search for."
He continues, "Working with light and color is to be living a life that only gets more vibrant as time goes on."
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