Lovely image, Karl
For once I'm actually getting a nice 3D effect from M42, and it is with THIS photo!
It comes from the lower extensions, where the dusty, darker, more "brown" filaments that cross over the background brighter, more ruby filaments. The darker ones are foreground ones. This photo really gives that cosmic bubble appearance!!
Too many photos try to make these foreground filaments look more like the background ones - it confuses the image and shows the photographer has no idea what they are looking at or what they are doing.
This may have been intentional or not on your part, but you have got yourself a cracker piece, Karl. Keep looking for the 3D nature of DSO's. That is the mark of a photographer who knows what is going on. Not flat, homogeneous 2D. And sometimes it WILL look "dirty". You are looking through dirt after all...
Stars on the far outer edge, much improved
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Freaking, blooming lovely photo mate.
Alex.