AP imaging book recommendations?

[RussellH]

This sub forum is for AP questions as well as images, isn’t it?

I’m looking for a good AP beginners book on the workflow to go through after image capture. Martin recommended the Jerry Lodriguss digital books, and they look very nice, but at around $65 each, and being a little confused as to which one is best as they seem to overlap a bit, I don’t want to spend $200 getting the 3 main ones and have lots of redundancy. He also focusses on Photoshop, which is good common ground, but I don’t see many people using photoshop as their primary imaging tool, with all the custom AP software available.

I see lots for sale on Amazon, so I’m hoping some pointers to weed out the chaff and find the gems can be provided. I want to avoid ones that are out of date with modern processing, and ave more than just a basic one that says “stack, contract, brightness, levels.. you’re done!”. I love a good long user manual and technical information, so I’m not afraid of big words and long explanations if it gives me a full understanding of why things are done, not just the how.

Suggestions appreciated without breaking the bank.

Thanks. Russell.

[Merlin66]

Russell,
What about:
https://starizona.com/store/the-handbook-of-astronomical-image-processing-2nd-edition

Wodaski's book is also pretty good.
https://www.amazon.com/New-CCD-Astronomy-Capture-Backyard/dp/0971123705

[glend]

Hmm, you can't be looking very hard. Photoshop is probably still the primary application used by the majority of beginner astrophotographers. With good reason I might add because it has so much support through tutorials and how to pieces online. Coupled with DSS you have everything you need.

Of course if you want to torment yourself there is PI but in my experience that is something some people move to, not a beginners tool.

As to books, look at "The Deep-Sky Imaging Primer" by Bracken, still the best starting point in my opinion.

https://www.angusrobertson.com.au/books/the-deep-sky-imaging-primer-charles-bracken/p/9780999470909?zsrc=go-nons&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuZjH15aB5AIVwrWWC h0XCwo1EAQYASABEgLhCvD_BwE

Note, Bracken covers Photoshop and PI.

The Hubble Imaging Team have used Photoshop from the start, do you need a better endorsement?

[Merlin66]

Glen,
I agree that Photoshop unfortunately has become a defacto standard, BUT it's a VERY expensive solution for the amateur. There are other alternatives which are "similar" enough to make use of the various tutorials (and lot's of the plug-ins) without the cost....PaintShopPro for instance.
You still need an image acquisition software, AstroArt, Maxim, PI etc etc.

Steve's book is well regarded in the UK....
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books.html

[LewisM]

There are these tutorials too - very easy to follow: https://starizona.com/tutorial_categories/image-processing-basics/

[Startrek]

Another book I purchased 3 years ago is -
Getting Started - Long Exposure Astrophotography
By Allan Hall
This book is comprehensive and easy to read , the A to Z of Astrophotography
I purchased the book as a paperback but in hindsight should have bought the colour version as it’s full of photographs both equipment and images

For a beginner I’d give it an 8/10

Worth considering

[bojan]

I never used PS.. because I never needed it - Canon's Digital Photo Professional application (comes free with every Canon camera) is sufficient for adjusting curves (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=478944&postcount=37), and of course DSS rules for stacking.

[RussellH]

Thanks folks.

The books by Wodaski and Hall are available cheaply for Kindle, so I might start with those and then see how I go from there. The Starizona package looks nice, but it'd convert to something over $150 I'm thinking delivered. Their tutorials looks like a a good quick read too, so thanks for pointing those out.

I guess there's lots of different options, so I'll just have to pick a route to follow and see where it leads me.

Thanks again.
Russell.

[peter_4059]

If you are going down the Pixinsight route then have a look at :

https://www.ip4ap.com/inside_pixinsight/inside-pixinsight-by-warren-a-keller

and/or

http://www.deepskycolors.com/mastering-pixinsight.html

[RussellH]

No I’m not looking at Pixinsight at this stage. I have nothing against Photoshop and have it already. PixInsight recommends specs exceed my machine anyway. I was thinking about Nebulosity, but haven’t read much about it.