The Fenrir Nebula

[marc4darkskies]

Recently Paul Haese found this little gem. Rolf (SkyViking) noticed that it bears a striking resemblance to the monster wolf in Norse mythology - Fenrir. See a brief description of the myth here - http://www.pantheon.org/articles/f/fenrir.html

So, here is my rendition of the Fenrir Nebula (SL17) in Scorpius. Not surprisingly, given it's quite a faint Ha signal embedded in a dense star field, this was quite a tough subject to process. Getting the right balance between neb and stellar profiles was a challenge. I also wanted to be careful not to let the Ha blend obliterate the subtle colour tones visible in the LRGB version. I think I got the balance right (there's nothing out there to compare with other than Paul's rendition). I'm pretty happy with it anyway. :)

Small:
http://upload.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/151189317/large

Large: (Use <Cntrl +> and <Cntrl -> in your browser to zoom in and out)
http://upload.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/151189317/original

Cheers, Marcus

[Larryp]

Nice image, Marcus-certainly looks like a wolf! Well done :thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

A sensational image Marcus.

I love your images, they are so well executed and processed. Top notch.

Greg.

[marc4darkskies]

Thank you Larry!



Cheers Greg - you're too kind. I still find Ha blending to be the most challenging aspect though. In fact, this is the first time I've used a new technique for Ha blending - based on gradient mapping.

[multiweb]

Great rendition. Lovely colors. :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Yep....EXCELLENT Smithers EEEEXCELLENT :thumbsup:

Looks lovely Marcus, very well executed..just shown'em how it's done ;)

Mike

[dvj]

Outstanding color rendition. Great stars, color and processing :thumbsup:

[RickS]

A lovely image as usual, Marcus :thumbsup: Great colours.

[jase]

Onya Marcus! The beast is starting to make a name for itself of late. Good display of colour confidence with rich saturation. Thoroughly enjoyed the candy-like look and feel. The shock wave filaments in front and below the head are super cool. Nice work on the Ha blend too. A top shelf image.

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks Marc!



Cheers mate! I still have to refine the new Ha gradient mapping technique but I think it makes it easier to achieve a good colour result.



Thanks a lot John!



Thanks Rick!



Much appreciated Jase! I knew I must have been close with the colour when I went back the day after I finished processing ... and I didn't change anything! :lol: It's quite uncanny how the image compares with the myth. The rock is there, the chain is hard to see (it is magical after all) and the shock fronts can represent the drool from his mouth as he howled after being chained up. :)

[Octane]

Gradient mapping is very powerful. I've been using it for my landscape work for about 4 years now. :)

Beautiful image. :)

H

[Bassnut]

Excellent Marcus, a bit different :).

[DJT]

Thats a really nice image. Detail in there is quite something. Nicely done:thumbsup:

[Paul Haese]

Nice Marcus, good rendition.

As far as the name is concerned. I named it first though with the Wolf. Rolf came along the other info after I said it looked like a Wolf.

[SkyViking]

That is exquisite Marcus, an outstanding image. Colours and processing are top notch and the resolution is great - it's a joy to wander around the full size image. Great work :)
I'm glad you liked the Norse mythology reference. As a Dane familiar with those old tales I immediately found Paul Haese's first image of this target quite striking.

[Leonardo70]

Wonderful image

All the best,
Leo

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks H! Yes indeed, I hadn't realised how powerful the technique was until now. I'll be looking at other ways to use it too.



Cheers Fred! Maybe next time a close up shot of the head?! :D



Thanks very much David. The detail is unforced too - no sharpening at all. I just did some unsharp masking to highlight some coarse contrast.



Thanks Paul, glad you liked it. Not quite sure where you're going with the name reference though, it's real name is SL17. I think the reference to Norse mythology is much more evocative though.



Cheers Rolf! Yes, I lived my early years in Holland, so the mythology of the germanic cultures of Europe strikes a chord with me.



Thanks a lot Leo!

[gregbradley]

Ok I'll bite. How do you do gradient mapping with Ha? I looked up gradient mapping and there are tutorials on it so I get the idea of making a gradient map of the image and assigning Ha to it - is that right?

Why would a gradient map though show where the Ha is? Or is it a gradient map based on Ha rather than luminance?

Greg.

[cosmophoton]

Outstanding!

[marc4darkskies]

I'm still experimenting so I don't have the final workflow nailed down yet Greg, but it's based on layering in your Ha as a Luminance layer on top of your RGB (or LRGB for that matter) with a one or more gradient maps as clipping masks (normal blend) on top. I'm preferring the Ha layer blend be luminance as opposed to lighten at this stage. I've created a few gradient maps based on http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/explain/optics/rendering.html) - the result critically depends on setting the gradients up properly. Oh, and don't forget to add some Ha to the Red and Blue channels as normal before you start adding Ha. Add any (lots of? ;)) additional processing on top of that to taste! :)



Thanks cosmo!

[Ross G]

Amazing photo Marc!

Ross.