We have joined together in this unique collaborative effort, so that we may best serve this industry and art form. Together, we both bring complementary strengths and years of unparalleled experience of almost 50 years to this specialty discipline. We have international recognition for our published works and with several award winning projects.
Michael Gambino and Mark Carlson were first introduced to one another in January of 2001 at a trade lighting seminar in Southern California. Ever since then they have kept in contact and their friendship has become what it is today.
Michael Gambino began his landscape lighting business in 1990 after starting his career in the landscaping trade. He received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 1986 from Adelphi University, Garden City, NY. In 1990, Mike received his landscape contractor’s license in CA. Today, his business continues to thrive and it is one of the most successful landscape lighting-only operations in North America. Mike has always been on the forefront of technology and at leading this specialized industry with his advanced knowledge base. He continues to write weekly blogs to help develop other practitioners and the public. Michael prefers to specialize in landscape lighting installations and the technology of building high performing, long lasting professional landscape lighting systems.
Mark Carlson originally started as a landscape contractor, too. He received his bachelor’s degree in Botany in 1987 from California State University, Long Beach, CA. His original interest was in the landscape architecture discipline, where he worked with several different firms primarily in S. CA. In 1992, Mark received his landscape contractor’s license in CA, just as Mike did. It wasn’t until 1999 when he became 100% dedicated to his landscape lighting business. Mark’s path has deviated from operating a corporate business into that of a sole-proprietorship operation once again, so that he can be flexible enough to travel to any location. He now specializes in landscape lighting design and prefers to utilize his skills as a project manager. Mark too, writes a weekly educational blog geared to the trade practitioner, so that further learning and advancement can be achieved.
In 2011, both Mike and Mark began putting plans together to build and create a specialized professional practice that would serve the entire lighting industry and the consumer alike. After about a year’s worth of discussions, a decision was made to proceed forward with a unique dream to better the industry, the craft and art of what we do, and to preserve the facts and history, as it should be.
The development of this website and the highly specialized collaboration called, High Performance Landscape Lighting, was launched in 2013. Through this unique portal, we will be able to provide educational content to both the public, in the form of Consumer Guides, and to the trade, in the form of Standards, Specifications, and Guidelines. We will support this discipline by offering videos, articles, blogs, webinars, and educational retreats, in the form of mini-conference settings.
Additionally, both Mike and Mark will provide access to specialized publications that they have written through this site. Currently, there are three books that are written and will be made available to the public from 2013 to 2015–each is related to this profession, the professional business that this is, and to the history of the man who first created it, Mr. Frank B. Nightingale in 1933.