So I planned to do maquettes for both of my proposals, but I honestly had so much fun with the light painting that I spent most of my time on that and am keeping the LED grid as a backup.
Light Painting Maquette
The Good
I liked how Lily interacted with the light in these. The environment needs to be darker, and I want to keep the lens open for longer. That said, as they were on my phone and not my Nikon, I didn’t have nearly as much control over how the light was captured by the camera. I like the dynamics of the images though and see a lot of potential with what was done.
The Not So Good
While I like the concepts behind these images, they would need a lot more work than the ones in the previous section. I still feel like they are worth keeping for reference. I liked the way the colored LED’s changed the ambiance of the image, but they were too bright to do long exposure with, especially on my phone camera. I also noticed just how much Lily likes to move in these images, so I may look into photoshopping her into the images after I take the actual painting images.
The Really Not Good
Lily moves a lot. So long exposure images tend to catch that, especially with how bright the lights are. I liked the movement of the lights in these, but either the movement of the cat or my lack of ability to get behind her makes it nearly impossible to get good shots. Having something behind her or taking the painting images separately may be the only way to solve this issue.
Shopping List
I honestly don’t have much to but since I already have LEDs, a cat, and a camera. I am looking into borrowing a robot arm from either the RBE 3001 lab or the RBE 4815 lab, but can use the motors and materials I already have to build something impromptu if needed.
Here is a link of how to connect camera to a monitor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeMKOcALVXs&ab_channel=FASTTECH
All of your photos are so adorable, and you have a very photogenic cat. even if she doesn’t sit long enough for you to capture her. Also, I like the idea of photoshopping her in her afterwards if she is not cooperating. It might be cool to take multiple photos from the same spot and have a few Lilies all interacting with the same light.
I am absolutely in love with the fact that you are using your cat in your project. I am a huge cat lover. I also think that because you are using a live subject, you will be able to get some really unique photos. I know you have some things in the very not good section, but I think that the light in them is actually so amazing. It might be worth looking into photoshopping your cat from a still frame into the piece with the movement from the light. Are you planning on having more static light or more fluid light for the light painting?
If your cat won’t freak out too much, I’d definitely be interested in seeing how photos with the lights attached to the cat would turn out. A cat with the zoomies would be hilarious to track. I also really like the way the colored LEDs affected the image, would you be able to program a multi-color pattern into the LEDs as you move them? It could add a cool effect.