Eagle Nebula

[xelasnave]

The Moon and the wind has me going thru stuff that I was going to throw out and have a play:D.

This is a stack of HA on high to super high gain using 30 second subs and lots of them..maybe 200? thru 80mm on heq5 unguided zwo mono cooled camera ..stacked in Deep Sky Stacker with 3x drizzle cause the polar was so off the thing drifted half way across the screen during the session so I figure that counted as a good dither:D and lots of subs so why not try 3x drizzle..and I outlined in DSS the crop I wanted which was only about a quarter of the original frame...anyways I had to colour it in using photo shop (cause I had to throw out the RBG ..all out of focus)And the colour is probably off so anyways after a quick process in Startools...and a slight level adjust in Gimp which I use to downsize the image for here;)here is my nights effort..besides three acrylic abstract black and white abstract painting I did while waiting for the stacking to take place...clearly worth a fortune as they are magnificent in my humble opinion;)...
Alex

[Startrek]

Spectacular Eagle Alex
Looks like it could be used in the intro of a horror movie
Well done considering your issues

[xelasnave]

Thanks Martin...here is my attempt at a cheerful Eagle via a quick edit on my phone.
Alex

[Anth10]

Great result Alex, very clear detail in the pillars and surrounds.
The variable colour really gives the image distinguishable contrast.
Well done
Anth

[muletopia]

Good one Alex, I must have a go at it but I am sure my result will not match yours.
Chris

[xelasnave]

Thank you Chris.
Of course your result won't match mine as you will do much much better of that I am sure...
Alex

[paul71]

Nice one Alex plenty of detail in the there.

[Paulyman]

Wow Alex that is awesome, I love the inner details and the colour works nicely.

[xelasnave]

Thanks Paul and thanks Paul.
I point out again that this was a HA image .

.the RBG subs could not be used as they were out of focus and to use them would have corrupted the detail. I deleted them.

But having so time on my hands and trying to test rather than keep building the observatory... and a determination to save the image and to use Photoshop to full advantage I created the colour.

That's right I created the colour..it did not come from deleted subs.

I did this by making copies of the one startools proceeded image and "colouring" each to end up with various colours blue red etc..I then using the layers and the "rubber tool" I brought colour into the main black and white image a piece at a time until I had in effect coloured in the black and white image.

It is not the right way to do it is what I want to emphasis and hopefully next month I can reshoot my colours and introduce them in the conventional proper manner.

I really wanted to see what I could produce using my creativity and the tools available in photo shop..perhaps I should issue a warning ..don't do this at home boys and girls...
Alex

[mynameiscd]

Fantastic eagle Alex.
You have a really good image there with lots of cloud details and the pillars are quite clear.
The colours are great in the first image and the contrast detail in the second is really good so maybe a mix of the two.
Cant wait to see the paintings
Cheers
Andy

[Paulyman]

Might not be the “right” way Alex. But it still looks awesome. Sometimes you just have to work with what you have, and you’ve worked it well. Can’t wait to see what you produce once you have some more complete data.

[xelasnave]

Thank you Andy.
The paintings can be viewed in this thread.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=177304

Unfortunately their true magnificence can only be appreciated in their physical presence...the down size was rather cruel but I hope you get the idea.
Alex

[xelasnave]

Thank you Paul.
Alex

[Fernando]

Just beautiful!!! Regards, Fernando

[Sunfish]

Yes. Very good. I like the remix.

[xelasnave]

Thank you very much Fernando and thank you very much Ray. I appreciate your encouragement greatly.
Alex

[LostInSp_ce]

Ha ha, very clever of you on turning a negative into a positive by using the drift as a form of dithering. Despite this you have still captured a lot of fine details. The pillars really show this. It's a shame the RGB didn't pan out but depending how out of focus it is it may still be usable. Did you consider a LRGB composite? With LRGB the RGB data doesn't need to always be razor sharp of course it's better if it is, but it's not critical. So if you think that the RGB data isn't up to par with your other data, then perhaps try using it for saturation rather than definition. Then use your luminance data for the details and if you didn't capture any then the HA data can be used instead.

To get this to work you may have to do a bit more Photoshop wizardry. However, it would be no more than having to painting everything in and since you're already experimenting, it just might be something fun to play with.

[xelasnave]

Thank you.

Yes perhaps you are right.
I could mask the stars in the rbg and still use the colour template.
I may do this as an exercise in furthering my understanding of what tricks one can pull off with photoshop ..after all this image was really only about doing that...I will perhaps find time on my hands and try what you suggest. Thank you for your comments.
alex