Along came a Spider...

[Andy01]

Hi folks, here is my latest take on NGC 2070 - The Tarantula Nebula in Narrowband.

3nm Astrodon Filters mapped O3 = Red, N2 = Green, S2 = Blue
1800sec subs, 11x O3, 8x N2, 21xS2 & some RGB stars.

Data captured both at a desert dark sky site in Nhill, Victoria & from my backyard in Melbourne.

I always wanted to fit most of the nebula and it's wispy spider web tendrils in the frame, so the little SV70T has allowed me to do that at last. :)

Tone mapped using a variation of J-P Metsavainio's method.
The colour palatte was deliberately chosen for a more "spooky/spidery" look, and the image was inspired by Bert's from a few years ago.

HighRes HERE (http://www.astrobin.com/271620/)

Hope you like it, thanks for looking! :D

Andy

[Placidus]

Andy, that's amazing, new, refreshing, and different. We can't recall having seen a widefield shot of the area that includes NII and SII like this. And not just a hint, but strong and clear. Will have to think about what it all might mean. Most impressive.

Best,
MnT

[Stevec35]

Lovely image Andy! The palette is quite unusual but I really like it.

Cheers

Steve

[Atmos]

It is a very interesting take on the area colour wise... I like it! It certainly has that spooky look you were going for :)

[FlashDrive]

Great Outcome ... like the colours and detail.

Col.

[billdan]

Most definitely a scary monster you have there Andy, don't let the children look folks.

[RickS]

I like the colours and the composition, Andy, but where did those diffraction spikes come from? :)

Cheers,
Rick.

[strongmanmike]

Hmmm?...yeeeeah I guess it kinda looks alright Andy colourful and artisticy :P... :confuse3: as an artwork but I think your previous effort (http://www.astrobin.com/full/222782/0/?nc=user) looks more like an astroimage..? :shrug: I think there is a fine line between an astroimage looking like a graphic artwork or painting rather than an ïmage/photograph...meah, perhaps I am just old fashioned...? ;)

Still, nice work and a great field of view there! :thumbsup:

Mike

[Andy01]

Cheers M&T, I'm having a great time with widefield astro atm - et me know if you figure out the meaning of it all, may not be 42 after all! :D



Thanks Steve, yes, it was nice to try something different. :)



Cheers Colin, we are all influinced by colour & mood, so heck, as they said in "The Right Stuff" why not push the envelope even further...



Thanks Col, appreciate your feedback :)




Mmm - and there's a boogie man up there in Orion as well :)



Thanks Rick, appreciate the feedback - what are saying, you don't like diffraction spikes?

I think they're kinda pretty, when used discreetly - fyi - for those not in the know - it's an Astronomy tools 1.6 PS action, heavily diluted.



Cheers Mike - yep that'll be me pushing those boundaries again - and even though Van Gogh didn't sell any paintings in his lifetime doesn't mean that one has to always sick to the proven and well trodden roads of AP.

An interesting side note - the recent AIPP Australian Photographer of the year winners folio by Lisa Saad (http://www.aippappa.com/appa-2016/2016-aipp-appa-category-winners) -, which many others in the trade decried as being illustration, not photography!

But hey, as Lincoln said, "You can please some of the people, some of the time..."

Really appreciate your input & taking the time to comment, as always :)

[strongmanmike]

I agree AP is continually evolving and who knows where creativity will take us as time goes on...to me though capturing an astronomical scene has to have some semblance of realism or be scientifically relevant at least and the structures and features need to evoke what they are and not just become gratuitously manipulated coloured patterns that are just visually appealing for the sake of it. Being visually cool to look at is great, don't get me wrong, but it has to at least feel real, like the matter that it is made of ie gas, stars and dust etc :shrug: as I said a fine line and somewhat personal interpretation too I guess...? :)

Yeah Lisa's work does indeed look far more like illustrations than photographs to me too. Cool visual scenes though and quite creative :)

Mike

[topheart]

Hi Andy,

I like it!

Guys,thanks for the interesting discussion.

Cheers,
Tim

[SimmoW]

I reckon it's pleasing to the eye, like me you try different looks and effects, always worth trying alternatives to present a unique view.

But now im confused, you always mention the mantra of respecting the light. Or does it only apply to the Malin entries? Just interested if you are changing artistic track, releasing the shackles?

How are you finding the N2 filter Andy? Would love a comparison to your 5nm Ha filter on the same target. Though really, i do not need an excuse to get another bloody Astrodon filter!

[JA]

Wonderful colour and detail ! Thanks for Sharing:thumbsup:

Best
JA

[Camelopardalis]

Wow, what a firecracker Andy :thumbsup:

[Andy01]

Mike, I question that - You & Paul H. are doing the scientific community favours with your own amazing deep space imaging, discovering galaxies etc. but unlike yourselves, I'm purely in it for the aesthetics.

Don't misinterpret that as a desire to cut corners as "One cannot be an artist unless one is a craftsman first".

So my intent to to make visually impactful, unique images that are technically strong as well. (as a relative newcomer to the craft, that's the bit I'm still working on).

For me there is no challenge in being the 35,000th person to capture the same type of image of say M42 with the outcome limited only by one's experience and equipment.

However, I continue to try harder, pushing back the boundaries of tradition & hopefully grow in my image making- thanks to the helpful & constructive criticism from experienced imagers like your good self. :thumbsup:



Thanks Tim, appreciate the comment :)



Thanks Simmo - the core is still blown out, but not as much as a Malin entry granted.

This is my first image with the N2 filter - hopefully now that I've sold my 5nm O3&S2 filters I can invest in a 3nm Ha to complete the set and experiment with N2/Ha/O3 combinations. :D



Cheers JA, thanks for your positive feedback! :)

[Atmos]

I have thought of getting a 3nm NII filter but luckily I don't have a spare filter slot for that ;) :lol:

[RickS]

Hi Andy... I think they're cool as an artefact of image capture. Adding them during processing is tampering with the data in a way I wouldn't do personally but I'm happy to live with a divergence of opinion on that :D

Cheers,
Rick.

[strongmanmike]

All fair enough Andy :thumbsup:. My enjoyment radar is pretty fluid and I can scan it in both directions, from pure art to pure science but within certain limits and personal preference of course. I was just musing about the "look" of images (particularly with the well travelled objects) and how they stay within my radar band limits :lol: that's all. everyone is free to hammer and contort their own data in any way and as much as they like...aaaand we are all free to react to what we see too...makes it fun :D

Mike

[Placidus]

More about why I like this image:

- There are great big giant whorls of SII bubbles or shock fronts about 2/3 of the way to the bottom of the image, and occupying much of the width. I've never seen those before, and they are new, interesting, and telling me something about the grand structure of the region.

- The high colour saturation, while trade-mark Andy, does seem to have some meaning here. There are structures that are almost totally different in their emission characteristics from other structures. An example is the large rose-like structure toward the top of the image. Again that is telling us something about the dynamics of the region.

I'm used to the idea that in Hubble palette, the shortest wavelengths in real life (here OIII) should be the bluest. That's a bit like driving on the left in Australia, just a helpful convention.

Overall, I really like the image because of what it is telling me about the region: as well as all the familiar bits, there are truly huge structures of relatively pure emission spectrum that I did not know about, which are different to other huge structures of different emission spectrum, and therefore different mechanism of creation, that I also did not know about.

[alistairsam]

hi Andy,

That is a nice FOV and you've framed it well.
But apart from that I think its pushed a bit too hard, kind of harsh, especially the yellows and purples, but as you said its your play with aesthetics.

Would make for a great image with traditional LRGB or even the traditional NB palettes with that FOV and framing.

Cheers
Alistair

[willik]

Very nice image

[gregbradley]

You are certainly showing all the structures there Andy. Very colourful and impactful in that colourful way and I think you achieved that.
Different, niiice.
Greg.

[Andy01]

Wow! that's very cool - so glad you found those areas of interest Mike.
Sometimes a different view yields unexpected results.
That's the beauty of this hobby - we as amateurs can occasionally surprise one another with our efforts.
If we never step outside our comfort zones occasionally, we would all have very predictable experiences imo.

I really appreciate your in depth analysis :)



I guess we'll have to agree to disagree regarding aesthetics Al, but that's why we all journey together on this venture and learn from the sum of our varied experiences. :)

Not every image we produce is going to be an APOD, not every image is going to please everyone - but at the same time, if we don't try something different, and push the envelope, and defy the established norms - we risk becoming a Borg-like assimilation of uniformity and predictability.

..and that's why we are well suited to being individuals :D



Cheers Willik - Thanks for your positive feedback :thumbsup:



Thanks Greg, as said above - this region has so much going on, maybe it needs a radical approach to do it justice :D

Folks, I really appreciate ALL your input & constructive critisicm - it's the only way to learn and grow as an image maker.

Hopefully some will benefit from this discussion and plot their own course in their AP - I for one am really enjoying the journey here on IIS and really appreciate everyone's honesty and taking the time to comment on this image.

Stick around folks, for who knows what will be the next amazing image posted on this forum by someone else trying something new.

Cheers everyone - clear skies to all :)

[Ryderscope]

Stunning Andy. I can see a comedy/tragedy mask lurking about in there.

[Andy01]

Cheers Rodney - one the joys of AP is our imagination and one's ability to create recognizable shapes in nebulae. A bit like lying on your back looking up at the clouds I guess. :)