I went to Astrofest for 5 days and had the best time. On the Wednesday morning I imaged the horsehead nebula and shot 14 x 8 minute ISO 800 with Canon400d unmod through W/O 110Flt and guided with PHD. Full calibration was done.
The issue I am having is when I boost my levels the main star really blows out so it consumes the image when the horsehead appears. I am really happy with my data but wonder if any processing tips could reduce this or am I stuck with this.
the first image is the unprocessed raw showing the star and a little one next to it and the second is the very quick processing job to show my blown out star.
when stretching with curves, if you try to keep the upper end of the curve fairly linear, whilst only stretching the dimmer areas, you should be able stretch out the nebulosity without blowing out the star as much.. I've posted a screenshot of the type of curve you could try...
I've had the same problem with alnitak before in one of my horse head images.. Its definitely a tough area to process...
if you have MAXIM take the Tiff into it, make sure its got the MIN/MAXvalue correct( it does try to stretch it when imported on mine) then do a digital development. tinker with the settings.
