Have a cigar...

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Thanks also DJT and skysurfer - for some reason I can't quote either of your comments!
THanks also to Colin and Rick who provided some pixinisght insight. I've experimented a bit today with the local normalisation and have concluded that it doesn't add much when you have very blotchy and changing background gradients. Using TGV more aggressively and then the MMT to fill in the black holes using a luminance mask seemed to improve the background a lot. smoother and more clipped background version here!
http://www.astrobin.com/314169/B/

[atalas]

Very nice Andrew

[Paul Haese]

Thanks nice detail in the galaxy Andrew. It's reminded me I really need to image this galaxy again.

[alpal]

Hi Andrew,
that's a great picture.
I wouldn't worry about the noise but I would say
that it's easy to process out with Photoshop.
Just making a mask & reducing the colour in the dark areas would go a long way.
You could even add noise in Photoshop in the same mask to make it finer noise & then a slight blur would nuke it.

Look at many Hubble images -
they don't care about the noise -
it's even more scientifically valuable to show where the noise floor is.

cheers
Allan

[alocky (Andrew lockwood)]

Originally Posted by atalas

Very nice Andrew

Thanks Louie!

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Thanks nice detail in the galaxy Andrew. It's reminded me I really need to image this galaxy again.

Cheers Paul, what with 253, 55 and 300 all within a close distance it's easy to run out of clear nights!

Originally Posted by alpal

Hi Andrew,
that's a great picture.
I wouldn't worry about the noise but I would say
that it's easy to process out with Photoshop.
Just making a mask & reducing the colour in the dark areas would go a long way.
You could even add noise in Photoshop in the same mask to make it finer noise & then a slight blur would nuke it.

Look at many Hubble images -
they don't care about the noise -
it's even more scientifically valuable to show where the noise floor is.

cheers
Allan

Thanks Allan - I do like to see the noise floor too, as it means I haven't left anything there to squeeze out, and there's such a range in calibration of monitors as well. If I can see the noise on my PC monitors, I know most iphones and ipads will have a crisp black background. It's a personal choice, but I'm always willing to hear other people's views :-)

[alpal]

Originally Posted by alocky

Thanks Allan - I do like to see the noise floor too, as it means I haven't left anything there to squeeze out, and there's such a range in calibration of monitors as well. If I can see the noise on my PC monitors, I know most iphones and ipads will have a crisp black background. It's a personal choice, but I'm always willing to hear other people's views :-)

Hi Andrew,
I agree - too many photographers polish over their noise -
I prefer to see it - it tells me more.

cheers
Allan