Neptune Studio Revamp

Imagine If Planets Were As Close As The Moon
http://media.talkingpointsmemo.com/slideshow/if-planets-were-as-close-to-earth-as-moon
Neat idea.

Currently I'm rebuilding my studio set up so I can get more even lighting. This includes building a table strong enough to hold my tank, and setting up a white box out of foam board (or science fair display boards) to help bounce light to get a more even illumination.  In the spare time I've been reading Drifting on Alien Winds which just came in a few days ago and managed to catch an interesting documentary on the weather channel about other planet's weather.

This week I'm submitting Jupiter and Mars series to IEEE VIS 2013 (July 15 http://visap2013.sista.arizona.edu/) and Science Inspires Art: The Cosmos (July 21 http://www.asci.org/artikel1187.html)

Neptune Update

I was able to get in contact with an artist and scientist at JPL, and I was able to get some feedback as well as some great resources. One resources was the book Drifting on Alien winds, fortunately the Neptune chapter was available online so I could use it in my research right now, but I did order the book. This book has been the best resources I've come across, the author is an artist that specializes in space illustrations, so his book is very descriptive on the atmospheres across different planets and moons.

I've put off shooting for two reasons, one I was waiting on a timer to come in for a better dslr (the t3i's had too much noise to my liking, so I was waiting on the 5d timer to come in) and second was to get feedback/advice from a scientist that studied the planet. I haven't had much luck getting in contact with a scientist, I imagine summer is difficult to get a hold of people. But I did design an experiment, and I will be doing Neptunes first test shoot Monday, July 1st. Right now I'm looking two methods. First is a tank full of water with a layer of oil at the top, and dropping condensed milk through that way there's more of a cloud effect. Second method is to suspend cotton using fishing line off of mesh in a water tank to get a cloud effect. That will give me more control.

In addition I've been submitting to contest, galleries, proposals etc. I did hear back from one that I did get selected for, which is Peripheral ARTeries magazine which is an art review of new artists.