Ugly duckling ... or a Swan?

[marc4darkskies]

And now for something completely different! My first ever NB image - the Swan nebula (M17).

I won't complain about the poor seeing encountered when gathering the data - because I could :mad2: - or that I'm posting prematurely because I haven't acquired all the data yet (still need RGB and another 10 hours of NB), but what the hay! In any case, despite the poor seeing I teased out some reasonable structure I think.

Now I know why people like NB - it's so easy to process! :lol: No need to be a stickler for colour - just make it look good ... to yourself!

Full res cropped for composition (zoom out on your browser to avoid scrolling):
http://www.pbase.com/gailmarc/image/161139215/original

Cheers, Marcus

[Andy01]

Well done Marc :thumbsup:
Some VERY nice detail there - maybe add in some RGB stars as well?
Cheers :)

[strongmanmike]

Colour?!! DID YOU SAY COLOUR? :eyepop: now look here Davies.. about the colour, well I don't know if I like it :question:, it looks drab :question:, it looks over the top :question: it looks insipid and bloody garish :rolleyes: aaand your stars are..?..all red..?......sorry:face::rofl:

Nah, nah, seriously, some good details inside her feathers there mate aaaand welcome to the dark side...aaaalways knew you'd arrive...eventually :hi:

Mike

[Peter Ward]

Well who's been a busy lad (in semi-retirement ) then ??

Indeed... processing NB is a doddle....that said...some delightful details in this one.

A very nice take on a perennial favorite :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Atmos]

A lot of lovely details coming up there, this is still on my todo list, you're giving me more of an incentive to get to it :P

Nicely done Marcus.

[gregbradley]

Nice one Marcus.

A very good first time narrowband image. I don't know about it being a doddle. The last few I have done were rather complex. Adding in rgb stars can be easy or hard and with so many layers keeping things nicely aligned can at times go off.

If anyone knows a great way to select all the stars in an image I'd like to hear it. Selecting most is easy but all, I have yet to see.

Greg.

[RickS]

Nice work, Marcus. Good detail and contrast. There's more latitude to play with colour in narrowband but I'm not convinced that makes it any easier.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Bassnut]

Top work Marcus, yes NB is easier to process than RGB, and anyway RGB is always more boring than NB, you have the colour balance nailed, and the stars look OK, thats usually hard. Presentation is clunky though. The IIS thumb nail is too small, and the original link is too big with tedious scrolling straight up (even on 4k). clicking on medium is too small and then clicking on that gets back to the nebula catalog. It would be nice to click on a link and get a full screen pic 1st up.

[DavidU]

Impressive image there Marcus.

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks a lot Andy. Yup, stay tuned - just need to gather some RGB!



Hehe ... thanks Mike! Glad you thought it was drab, garish, insipid and over the top all at the same time. The average of all that must be pretty darn good then, eh?? :lol: I'm not really joining the dark side by the way - just infiltrating it!:D



Thanks very much Peter. Yes, not having to obsess over questions of "correct" colour (as in LRGB) takes much of the pain out of processing.



Cheers Colin! So get on with it then! ;) :) It is Swan season right now!



Thanks Greg. Selecting stars in a complex / detailed / contrasty nebula field is a challenge. I use my PS action to do it and the Astronomy Tools actions also have a star selection action. You invariably have to make a mask and then, sometimes painstakingly, erase bits of the nebula out of the mask that the action included.



Cheers Rick! Processing is never easy, that's not really what I meant to imply. But you have to admit that not having to worry about accurate colour rendering takes a difficult element out of the workflow.





Thanks a lot Fred!

Hmm yes, I used a thumbnail that was too small but - c'est la vie! Besides, no true aficionado of astrophotography should be satisfied viewing the tease image anyway. As for the full res - srcoll to see the detail and/or <cntrl> minus to zoom out in your browser. A piece of pi .....e, and I don't have to post different sized images. And no, SmugMug is rubbish :P :lol:



Glad you liked it David!

[TR]

Looking good Marcus. I would have to agree with you. The narrow band stuff is much easier to process. The hardest thing is to get a large enough hole in the clouds to get a sub.

Terry

[Retrograde]

Great image there Marcus - even more so given that it's your first narrowband image.

[David Fitz-Henr]

Well, I'm not a NB expert but the detail here looks good to me :thumbsup:
So which palette / mappings did you use for colour processing?

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks very much Terry. I guess you could say that colour processing is pretty well unfettered. You can personalise the motif to tour own tastes - almost completely. Some thought has to be given to broad appeal though IMO.



Cheers Pete. There's a lot of how-tos out there on the web and I've been studying them for a while.



Thanks David! SHO with some experimentation with Bob Frankes technique (http://bf-astro.com/hubblep.htm) to produce a gold and turquoise motif.

[Placidus]

Marcus, the sharpness of this image is completely stunning. The fine, delicate tracery of detail is most absorbing. Magnificent.

Very best,
Mike

[marc4darkskies]

Thank you kindly Mike! I obsess over detail and it's nice to have it appreciated :). Decon is your friend! :D

[Ross G]

Your first NB image Marcus.......

you have crossed to the Dark Side.........Nooo!!

The brightest beacon of "Real Colour" has succumbed.....
..
You know many will now follow, especially those of us stuck in light polluted Sydney...I'm dusting off my Ha and OIII filters as I type....

....the march of the Lemmings has begun!....

What a great looking photo!

So sharp and so much detail on all scales.

Excellent!...looking forward to many more.

Ross.

[marc4darkskies]

Hehe ... cheers Ross! Fear not, the Force is strong within me! :lol:

[Gvarouha]

Very nice image mate, lots of colour and lots of detail.

George

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks very much George!

[multiweb]

Very well done indeed. Great colors. :thumbsup:

[marc4darkskies]

Cheers Marc! I'm encouraged that people seem to be agreeing with the colours.

[PRejto]

Hi Marcus,

Looks quite good to me (but then I've yet to succeed with a tri coulur NB image yet!). I hope it doesn't mean you will give up RGB!! You inspire me to try again!

Thanks for pointing out how to scroll the browser. Works great! Maybe I (we?) should state that info along with the Pbase image info for people that don't know how to do it.

Peter

[marc4darkskies]

Thanks a lot Peter. Nope, no intention of forsaking RGB! Stay tuned.