New image and web site redesigned - IMAGE UPDATED

[marco]

Dear all, I took advantage of my last holidays to revamp my website with a completely new look and to process a new image.

The image is of an evergreen I still have to image, Omega Centauri. I took a deep luminance to reveal the faint cirrus in the area as well as some short 5 mins subs to recover some data of the core. I opted for a not too equalized image of the core, to maitain the overall natural looking, I hope the result is pleasant. The link:

NGC 5139 (http://www.glitteringlights.com/Images/Open-and-Globular-clusters/i-7SjVj9d/1/X3/NGC5139_LRGB-X3.jpg)

Luminance extended to 430 mins, with RGB adding 90 mins each to the stack.

Update 8/8: updated the image with a newer version with darker core thanks to more data blended in from the shorter exposures

I have also took advantage of the new customization tools of smugmug to completely redesign my website, please have a look at it at this link:
http://www.glitteringlights.com/

Let me know if you have comments or suggestions, I am keeping twinkling it and any input is very welcomed!

Clear skies
Marco

[IanP]

Hi Marco,
That is something, absolutely stunning version of the NGC5139 ..
To my taste, the core is a touch to bright, but that is your interpretation of the image, which I accept with all due respect to an artistic soul …
LUV IT !!!
:thumbsup:

[RickS]

Very nice rendition of Omega Cen, Marco! Nice to see something a bit different.

[strongmanmike]

Lovely deep version of this cluster Marco, well done :thumbsup:

The new site... well? not sure I like it as much as the previous one :question: but perhaps that is because I got so good at navigating your previous site the change is throwing me off a little :P :thumbsup:

Mike

[johnnyt123]

That is a great capture. I love it.

Well done!!'

[John Hothersall]

Lovely depth you achieve, I agree the core is a little bright for my taste.

Great gallery, the colours you show stand out in the Gallery, you have a fine collection.

John.

[Ross G]

A beautiful looking photo Marco.

I love the colours.

Ross.

[ChrisM]

Hi Marco,
I'm with a few others in that the core is a little bright but nonetheless, a good deep image with great colours.

I had a quick look at your website and was very impressed with your collection of astro pics. I definitely go back for another look!

Chris

[Shiraz]

Wow! applaud your willingness to allow the core to come close to saturation Marco - this thing has a huge dynamic range and flattening out the image too much would reduce the fidelity and impact of the result. Love it. regards ray

[gregbradley]

I overall like it. The core could possibly be tamed a tad more but I also like it as it is. Great capture of the cirrus.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Very nice Marco. I really like the field of view, better than the field I have. Colours look great too.

[multiweb]

Great colors Marco. Well done on the website too. :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Looks spot on to me Marco! Beautiful! I think the core is fine and you're most definitely "respecting the light" as David Malin is fond of saying.

Cheers, Marcus

[marco]

Thanks Ian for your comment, I am still in doubt about the core, I will very probably reduce its brightness a bit compressing the overall dynamic range, it is not easy though find the right compromise between a natural look and full core detail but I will give it another try!



Thanks Rick. Well, considering it is Omega Centauri not sure I am showing something really different :P however it was fun trying to pick some of the nebulosity in the background, with so many stars in the background could not stretch further without having the field totally filled by them!



Thanks Mike! My compliments to you also for your shortlisted image at APOY competition, a serious candidate to be the winner!



Thanks Johnny :)



Thanks John, as for the core brightness I will work on it a bit further, I am also not 100% satisfied with the result. Thanks for the appreciation on the new web look!



Thanks Ross



Thanks Chris for the appreciation!



Thanks Ray! Definitely the dynamic range of Omega Cen is a challenge, I found it difficult to compress correctly but I will try to reduce the brightness a tad and recover more details of the inner parts. The short exposure images have plenty of details, let's see if I am able to blend them in a bit better than this first attempt without reducing the overall natural look of the image :question:



Thanks Greg :thumbsup:



Thanks Paul! Congratulation to you as well for your APOY shortlisting and good luck!

Clear skies
Marco

[Andy01]

Beautiful work, nice clean website - well done - you've set the bar very high indeed :thumbsup:

[jase]

Splendid image, Marco! Really enjoy the depth. Others have commented on the core but it has grown on me. Lets face it, the cluster is bright anyway! I like the scattering of dust in the image too. This was once deemed a challenge to extract but these days its old hat with everyone capable of nailing it. Well done.

I like your web site too. The text overlay as the mouse pointer hits a image thumbnail could be more clearer. I'm not sure if its the font size or the re-sampling of the frame but the text is not easy to read. Also once you've clicked on an image, how do you go back to the gallery again. Is the only way via browser back button? Minor points in the grand scheme of the site. It does look clean and fresh, did you make it browser independent so it can be access from mobile devices with ease?

[alpal]

Hi Marco,
Great shot of NGC 5139.

I also like your website.
The picture of M83 is fantastic:
http://www.glitteringlights.com/Images/Galaxies/i-vHKgwNm/O

The field is so wide & full of other galaxies too.
I wasn't aware of that tidal arm.

cheers
Allan

[atalas]

Hi Marcus

Very nice refreshing wide view of omega me think!and the new web site is up to date with today's new look....my new site is similar too.

[Leonardo70]

Really deep Marco .. great color.
New site is ok for me ... better to see in one page all images for category.

All the best,
Leo

[marco]

Thanks Marc, happy you liked it!



Hehe, nice definition by "the Master" ;) I will however reduced it a bit as I have time to see if I can get a better dynamic, respecting the light in any case :D



Thanks Andy!



Thanks Jase for the appreciation. About your points: the font used could be an issue, I will try different fonts to see if readability can improve. Not sure though. About the image, you simply close it clicking the "X" top right of the image and you get back to the gallery you were viewing.

The website is optimized to be cross platform, when I checked it with my smartphone the site was reorganized to be easily seen on the smaller screen with navigation bar and images adapted (shape and size) as well. As far as I can say the guys at smugmug did a great job about that, better than the former version..



Thanks Allan :)



Thanks Louie! I just checked your website, didn't see the new layout, very nice indeed :thumbsup::thumbsup:



Thanks Leo for your appreciation!

Clear skies
Marco

[SkyViking]

A stunning view of this fabulous cluster Marco, and nice touch with the cirrus. I actually really like the bright core, but yes a slightly dimmer version would be nice too, looking forward to seeing it.

Re your new site I found the font difficult to read too, it doesn't seem to render properly on my screen. My experience is that it is best to stick with standard fonts for web, like Times, Arial etc. because you can be sure that all your visitors will see the same.
I'm thinking of giving my own site a makeover too, but will have to look into it in detail as I have made quite a few customisations. They may not be necessary with the new options though :)

Regards,
Rolf

[marco]

Thanks Rolf, I have just uploaded a new version with the core a bit darker with more data from the shorter exposures blending it. I believe to have now the right mix between the two images and result is still pretty natural as I like..

I have the same issue on the fonts, I need to double check with SM support since it seems to be a problem of their design. On the Iphone all fonts look perfect, only on the PC browser they are clumsy..
Anyway, migrating from the old system to the new one was quite simple, I also had several customizations but none of them was necessary anymore on the new gallery style..

Regards
Marco

[jase]

The subtle improvement has done wonders, Marco! Much prefer this rendition, though the brighter core was growing on me. Good luck with the web site mods.

[strongmanmike]

Sorry, can't agree with Jase this time :shrug: the blend has imparted a darkened ring around the very core, this is not real, the core of Omega is bulbous and uniform.

Still a great shot but if you can improve the blend it will be much better :thumbsup:

Mike

[gregbradley]

Omega despite being widely imaged is a tough one. There aren't many good versions around. I agree with Mike its still not quite right, almost but not there yet - perhaps half way between the 2 versions? I prefer the original even though its a bit bright in the core it looked natural and matches what I have seen in scopes.

Greg.

[marco]

Thanks Jase, I have further improved it after the imput of Mike and Greg :)




Thanks guys for the remark, after spending time on the same image eyes+brain tend to accustom with the result and are not able to judge the result objectively any more! I have fixed the subtle "darker ring", now the image on the site should be OK!

Regards
Marco

[RB]

Marco That's Stunning !
Excellent work.
Web site's looking great, I'm mesmorised by that shot of Henize2-111 and Alpha Centauri.

Will be visiting back to go through the rest of the site and soak it all in slowly.

RB