01.08.2022 | Proteus in paradise

Eggshell Light's dependable Proteus Hybrids weather another season at Honolulu's Waikiki Shell.

Bob Harmon, CEO and President of Eggshell Light Company of Honolulu, has had success using his stable of Proteus Hybrid luminaires to light shows at the Waikiki Shell ever since he acquired the multi-functional weatherproof lights in 2017. Still going strong after five years, Elation's market-leading IP65 moving heads are reliably weathering another season at Honolulu's renowned outdoor venue.

"I use a variety of manufacturers' products but by far the most robust in holding up outdoors and dealing with heat and humidity are the Proteus Hybrids," commented Harmon, noting that Eggshell has added more Proteus Hybrids to inventory since that first acquisition. "At the Waikiki Shell, they stay outside for four months at a time and work just flawlessly. They have been very reliable for us over the years."

Five years in paradise
Eggshell handles lighting for a large number of one-off shows at the Waikiki Shell, so many in fact that they tend to leave the Proteus lights at the venue because they get so much use. "We do shows there almost weekly and clients like the results so much that we know we'll need them for the next show," Harmon says. "They are exposed for long periods but just keep working." The Proteus Hybrid made its Hawaiian Islands debut on a pair of Jack Johnson shows at the Waikiki Shell in summer of 2017 and have just been employed for a pair of summer shows by the same artist at the same venue, exactly five years later. "They've been on many, many shows in-between," Harmon said.

"Home in the Islands"
Eggshell Light Company has handled professional lighting needs on the Hawaiian Islands for decades and designs many of the shows for which it supplies lighting. In June, Harmon designed and operated lighting for "Home in the Islands: A Henry Kapono & Friends Concert" at Waikiki Shell, a TV special that provided another opportunity to let the Proteus Hybrids shine. Tyler Joyce served as assistant lighting designer and master electrician on the show.

Positioned in stacked pairs, four per side about 80 feet from each side of the stage, the Proteus units were used for anything from key light for video to audience lighting to pattern projection along the inside of the shell. Additional fixtures worked from the ends of finger trusses over the stage for specials, a position that was especially exposed to weather. Harmon commented, "Their versatility allowed me to use them to light the arch then cross them to light the audience for camera when I knew the artist was interacting with the crowd."

Designed to excel under any weather conditions, the multifunctional Proteus Hybrid moving head helped establish Elation's IP-rated Proteus series as the market's leading line of weatherproof moving heads for outdoor events. Harmon says that due to their ingress protection and internal thermal cooling system, he no longer has to shut fixtures down due to weather like rain, humidity or the heat of Hawaii's Kona winds.

"The Kona winds can get quite hot and when that occurs a light that is susceptible to thermaling out will," he says, "but even with its discharge source we haven't experienced that with the Proteus Hybrids. Also, we've had other fixtures that get the terrarium effect where water condenses on the inside of the lens, but we don't have problems with that with these lights either."