While many of Camp’s traditions and events remain the same from year to year, we’re always brainstorming ways to make each summer and each session unique and memorable. This session, a creative idea from our Camp Director led to an innovative activity for the whole Camp. The project was affectionately dubbed “Operation Nightlight.”
Sheila, our Director, came up with the concept for Operation Nightlight after reflecting on how magical our tipis look when they are lit up at night. Many of our campers and staff bring string lights, flashlights, lanterns, and other sources of illumination for their canvas living spaces, all of which emit different shades and strengths of nighttime lighting. No two tipis look alike when lit up from within. Sheila’s idea was simple: Let’s light up every tipi at the same time and get some photos of what the whole Camp looks like illuminated at night!
Every tipi looks different when illuminated at night, lending a magical effect to Camp.
Our campers, as well as our Camp photographer and videographer, jumped on board with the idea, excited to see what images might emerge from our coordinated efforts. And so, last Saturday night, all of our campers and staff hurried back to their tipis after the conclusion of Opry House to light up every tipi in their units as brightly as they could.
Operation Nightlight offered a unique perspective of Camp; rarely do we get nocturnal shots of Camp from the water!
As the tipis were illuminated, our photographer took to the waters surrounding Johns Island, capturing shots of the glowing tipis by boat. He also sent up a drone to take photos and video of the units from above. Meanwhile, our videographer captured the scene on foot, traveling from unit to unit to get a closer look at the brightly-lit canvas.
It was a fun and memorable evening, and our campers loved playing a part in the “Operation.” There are still more images to come from our efforts, but the initial photos have been exciting to see. We hope that our Second Session campers fondly remember 2017 as the summer of Operation Nightlight!