The Galactic Core fixed the car crash image!

[gregbradley]

The first version of this image went a bit off with the processing so I redid it.

This is the first image I have done using PixInsight almost exclusively. Its been an interesting learning curve and I am warming to PI quite a bit. It certainly has some great tools and the thing about PI is the tools are the latest and greatest for that particular tool whereas Photoshop has stagnated a bit.

CCDstack would not do an accurate registration of the original images (its not particularly DSLR friendly). That threw a lot off.

PI did a great job.

This is the look I was trying to show in the original image. I find it a very dramatic image and shows the turbulence and drama of the centre of our Galaxy and also has dark and brooding the Pipe Stem Nebula is.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/161651557/large

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/161651557/original larger size

Greg.

[SimmoW]

lovely Vista Greg. The larger image show a tad too much sharpening imho, but that may be my monitor/eyesight!

[gregbradley]

Thanks Simon. I didn't do any sharpening though. The Zeiss FE 55mm F1.8 is a super sharp lens though. Its one of the highest rated lens on DXOMark.com which rates lenses. Its one of the best lenses of any make you can get and only 1 point less in its rating than the Zeiss Otus 55mm (which is essentially a perfect lens). I have the Zeiss Loxia 21mm F2.8 on preorder as it will be another incredible lens for nigthscapes.

Greg.

[Slawomir]

Very dynamic photo and lively colours, well done Greg :thumbsup:

P.S. Congratulations on joining PI cult, now there is no going back to using old tools... ;)

[Atmos]

That's looking really nice Greg!
I've just gotten lost on that website looking at lens' haha

[Shiraz]

startling image Greg - it really looks like a normal galaxy core in this view!!

[Peter Ward]

Colour balance is, sorry, not right.

M8 is not magenta.

As an "A-list" astrophotographer I suspect you would know the colour needs to be correct ;)

That said, there are many nice things about this image...wish I had the time to access similar skies :thumbsup:

[RickS]

I'd dial back the purple a little as Peter suggested but looks great otherwise, Greg. There's a script I wrote called ColorMask that will help: http://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php?topic=7751.0

Cheers,
Rick.

[gregbradley]

How do you download that script Rick?

Greg

[RickS]

There's a link at the bottom of the post, Greg: http://pixinsight.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=775 1.0;attach=10616

You'll need to use the Script>Feature Scripts dialog to install it.

Cheers,
Rick.

[blink138]

regardless of the colour thing, that lens is amazing from corner to corner
(sorry for commenting on the pro's page ha ha!)
pat

[gregbradley]

Thanks Rick.

I ran it and it produces a mask in a separate window. What do you with that?

Greg.

[Placidus]

Hi, Greg,

It's not a standard, King's English rendition because it's very saturated and the whites and blacks seem clipped, so perhaps its dismaying some viewers. I'm guessing you're doing all of that on purpose.

As a work of art - something to print at A1 and put on the wall in the spirit of Blue Poles - I rather like it. You've met your goal of producing something that shows the drama and violence of the centre of the galaxy.

Best,
Mike

[gregbradley]

Thanks Mike. I like that - a Blue Poles rendition of the Centre of our Galaxy!

Greg :lol:

[RickS]

As discussed elsewhere, you just drag and drop the mask on the left bar of the image, underneath the image name.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Pat. I think I got to the bottom of the colour issue. I just recalibrated my monitor and it was way off. I can see what others are referring to now. It looked fine before!:eyepop:

I thought this would be a simple and fast processed image. Wow.

Greg.

[gregbradley]

OK, a few processing offroad trips on this one and a few potholes but back on track now.

This is the image I intended to show and didn't do so well on:

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/161651557/large

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/161651557/original

I knew the data was there but the processing and the monitors calibration were badly off. Thanks for the tips and suggestions.

Adobe Lightroom and PixInsight plus a slight tweak in Photoshop still.

PI did the best job of aligning and stacking these images compared to CCDstack which failed. CCDstack doesn't come across as one shot colour friendly.

Greg.

[SimmoW]

Wow then!

Yes have fun with PI. I find it's excellent, and in partnership with Lightroom and Startools, hard to beat

[strongmanmike]

Ah huh! Yes, much better Greg :thumbsup:...perhaps even just ever so slightly too far even?...maybe re-up the contrast juuuust a teensy bit and then it will look perfect :D

Mike

[gregbradley]

\

I have Startools as well. The actual installation process on mine is a bit bugged where it never created a desktop icon to start up so its clumsy to start up. I should sort that.



Cheers Mike. Yes its a bit conservative. I upped it a tad and brightened it a small amount. I think its about right now. I have a few others to process now I have a system.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Ok = perfect :D

[gregbradley]

Cheers.

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

The linked "original" image looks good now Greg. A softer looking version to the previous ones. Maybe just a little too blue, but only just.

[gregbradley]

Thanks Paul. I reposted it with the blues pulled back a little. The nice blue tones are one of the features I like about the image. I think the Zeiss lens has performed really well here with colour. Usually those nice blues are something I associate with Canon cameras. Its funny we show our distant galaxy images as quite bluish yet images of our own galaxy often don't show much blue at all.

Greg.

[Rod771]

Ah yes!! Now this version is just magic!

I thought the first version was a bit "hammered", but probably to be expected when one is getting used to new powerful tools. :)

Cant wait to see more, Greg! :thumbsup:

[Ryderscope]

Good to see you embracing PI Greg.
You've got a keeper image there now.
R

[gregbradley]

Thanks Rod. Despite being an experienced image processor I think from time to time its possible to have failures. Using a poorly calibrated monitor here on a relatively new laptop was part of it, part of it was not not watching the histogram enough. Anyway this site can be quite educational.
I have a few more from that series.



Thanks Rodney. I am enjoying the learning curve.

Greg.

[cazza132]

Love this section of sky and well captured. A tad blue maybe, but that can be a subjective thing.

Would be really pop with some Ha added, but difficult with a DSLR without astro or full spectrum modification - it would be interesting how a modded A7r would go.

Nice details in the pipe nebula and resolved the snake nebula well!

[gregbradley]

Thanks Troy. Just so you know I have not accentuated the blue in processing particularly. I think it may come from the lens's colour throughput. But more images will tell over time.

A modded a7r could be pretty good. I am thinking of upgrading to a7rii so keeping the a7r and getting it modded is an appealing idea. This 36mp Exmor sensor is still one of the best of all time.

Greg.