So this project has been lying around for a while and I finally found some time to write it up. I was inspired with several of the other popular microcontroller based laser instruments that have been floating around on the web over the last year. Ultimately I wanted to put together a project that was more compact and portable and this is the end result of my first attempt. While I had a lot of fun building this project I honestly learned more about how I would make it different in the future. There are many different ways to design the interface a musician would use and by far its more interesting to design new and experimental ways to expand this concept. Permalink

This project is the next in a series of DIY Photography Studio Equipment projects we are doing to improve the quality of the imagery on our site as well as in preparation for the launch of our new sister site dedicated to photography equipment projects. The next major component I needed was a few good quality reflective umbrellas. Commercially these umbrellas can range in cost from $35 - $80 USD for a 42” umbrella. In my opinion that is to high of a price tag for any self respecting DIY enthusiast. So after a little research and some trial and error we were able to do our umbrella with the same quality materials for only $13.00 with very simple construction techniques that any photogeek should be able to replicate.

For our first photography oriented project we are putting together a 40” silvered reflector. Reflectors are extremely handy for providing fine control over lighting in a wide variety of shots. And while most reflectors cost 25-50 USD to purchase we have been able to achieve the same quality (by use of the same common materials) for a mere 8.00. While most geeks other than the lilypad geeks may not be skilled with a sewing machine, this is both a great introduction to simple sewing as well as our photography project line. - Permalink