IC434 + Flame Nebula - My first horse head

[multiweb]

Here's 10x10min wide field on the horse head. I should have got more subs as there's a bit of noise but I didn't realise how faint it was as I never imaged it before.

The full field is at http://www.multiweb.com.au/astro/IC434.jpg

I had the same halo problem as Rob but I managed to remove most of it in in Photoshop. I posted two crops with halo and without. Got to perfect the technique but it looks promising.

You clone the Red channel in photoshop as a grayscale layer on top of your light frame. Make a selection around the halo in the grayscale image, feather the selection slightly then copy paste in a new layer. Hide the greyscale layer. Set the new layer blend to Linear Light then Fill down to 4%, then slowly set the opacity until you're happy with the picture. The only give away is the edges of the halo but I'm working on this last bit and will post when I have a solution.

If anyone has a good method of removing halos please let us know. Thanks.

[Astrod00d]

Another great image Marc, I like the wide field, it does help show the grandeur of this region of the sky. Good work getting rid of that halo. I'll have to try your technique on my horsey, thank you heaps for the advice!

Cheers,

Rob

[multiweb]

Thanks Rob and no worries. See how you go with your flare. The method's not perfect but it certainly tones it right down. In most cases I reckon it's good enough. I don't mind a bit of reflection or spikes. It adds to the final picture too. :)

[winensky]

Beautiful image. Like your work on the halo though I don't mind them too much.

[multiweb]

Thanks Matt. Yeah I don't mind them too much either but this one was big and hiding the flame. Plus you could see the ghost of my focuser draw tube sticking out on the side. Not pretty. :whistle:

[peeb61]

beautiful Marc...just love all of that detail...stunning!

Paul

[multiweb]

Thanks Paul. I didn't put enough exposure time into this and I should do much better next time. Glad you liked it though. :)

[Hagar]

Looks realy good and you got rid of the halo. Well done

[multiweb]

Thanks for the comments Doug.:thumbsup:

[Craig_L]

Nice one Marc and lots of detail in the Flame. Maybe you lift it a little with curves to brighten the image - my taste though.

[multiweb]

Thanks Craig. My focus is a bit soft and I have a fair bit of noise in the subs, and also not enough subs. That was my first go at it. In all it didn't help SNR so this one's on my list of things to redo with a lot more data next new moon.

[gregbradley]

Nice image especially for a first attempt.

Thanks for the tip. I shot it recently myself and I got the same heavy halo except mine was much worse.

I'll try out your technique. I was wondering how I was going to handle it!

You can get rid of the last little bits there using the sponge tool set to dodge to dim it out or desaturate 5% and rub on the affected areas.

Another way would be judicious use of the healing tool but that is riskier. Probably best to use it as a layer and fade it out a bit to hide some of the distortions it often leaves behind.

Greg.

[multiweb]

Thanks Greg. I'll try that.

[Ric]

Hi Marc, they are lovely images, the Flame and the Horse have come up very nice indeed.

A great capture.

[sjastro]

Nice image Marc.

Regards

Steven

[multiweb]

Thanks for the comments guys.

[Matty P]

Excellent image Marc, it has come out great. :)

This is an object I would really like to image but I don't think I would do it justice with an unmodded DSLR.

Thanks for sharing. Very well done. :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Thanks Matt. With a DSLR my guess is that you'd need some serious integration time and 5min subs at least to bring out the HH. I don't think I would have got anything on my Pentax although I never tried.