Horse Head in NB

[johnnyt123]

Hi..

I have collected some data of the Horse Head primarily in NB for the moment.
I was too excited and couldnt wait for the RGB data to I had a go at processing it...

The first one is in NB Hubble Palette which I didnt think was very easy on the eyes so i decided to make another version where Ha was mapped to R channel instead of SII

Gear:
William optics 110 Megrez ED Doublet
Televue 0.8x reducer/field flattener
QSI 683wsg-8
Guide scope and cam
Heq5 pro

exposure:
Ha: 10x 20 min subs
SII: 8x 20 min subs
OIII: 8x 20 min subs

All comments are welcome....

[Placidus]

Very nice, John. Suggestion: I think that much of the uniform blue background is processing artifact, not [OIII], and I would therefore set the black point much higher in the [OIII] channel. That would emphasize the important bits of [OIII]. Best, Mike.

[johnnyt123]

Hey Mike...here is an update
I adjusted the levels.....

tell me what you think

Cheers..

John

[Placidus]

To me, the [OIII] is now hugely better. Ignoring the H-alpha and ignoring the question of the palette, and going for the last 5% in the [OIII], it is a bit burned out in the core of the Flame, but there is room for very slightly more push in the [OIII] mid-tones before it gets too gritty. You might therefore be able to reprocess it with a stronger curve, but less linear stretch (less white point clipping), so that the mid-level [OIII] generally is as bright or even brighter than you have it, without burning out the extreme highlights. Avoiding burning out the [OIII] in the core of the Flame is most easily done if you can temporarily turn off the H-alpha channel so it isn't distracting you. Then turn the H-alpha back on again when you've finished. Narrowband images are most easily optimised one channel at a time. Hope that helps. :thumbsup:

[johnnyt123]

Thanks Mike.

That advice is very helpful.
I will work on it when I gather more data and take your advice.

Cheers.

John.

[Ross G]

Nice looking photo John.

Sharp and detailed.

You're doing well.

Ross.

[johnnyt123]

Thanks Ross