Ngc2070 / M42

[monoxide]

hi guys,

i've been waiting a while to give the Tak a good test run and i finally got the chance :thumbsup:

not under ideal conditions sadly, seeing was awful and the wind was gusting a bit but everything seemed to soldier on...
not really a final version of either of these just yet (i took some shorter subs for m42 but havent used them yet)
so excuse the 5 min run through photoshop (i havent slept yet)

i got sick of everything turning red through the UHC-S filter and red halo's around stars so i left it out this time but that means gradients from the light pollution, cant win..
i was pretty happy with how the tarantula shot turned out anyway, lots of faint globs in there.

NGC2070 = 12x10min
M42 = 10x10min


**high res**
http://users.on.net/~monox/M42.jpg (http://users.on.net/%7Emonox/M42.jpg) (3.5mb)
http://users.on.net/~monox/NGC2070.jpg (http://users.on.net/%7Emonox/NGC2070.jpg) (5.5mb)

comments/critique welcome..

[Garyh]

Looks very good! I ex like the M42 shot!
You must have done a good job at processing as I can`t see any sign of a gradient!
cheers

[RB]

I really like your M42, very smooth and v.nice detail.
Also like your 2070, I like the image scale and the good detail and colour.

Well done Tj.

[multiweb]

Two great shots Tj. Your focus and tracking are spot on. Love the Tarantula shot. Crisp as... You nailed it! :thumbsup:

[monoxide]

thanks Gary, Andrew and Marc.

i had a go at re-processing M42 and masking the core area, i dont know if i've overdone it or not but i guess you guys will soon let me know :)

i havent done any masking in photoshop before so it didnt really work how id hoped but its better than nothing i guess :shrug:

i'm happy with the tarantula shot for now, its got to be my deepest shot yet ;)

http://users.on.net/~monox/M42v2.jpg (http://users.on.net/%7Emonox/M42v2.jpg) (4.5mb)

[AlexN]

Tj, the M42 is fantastic... I personally prefer the original to the repro, as the color balance seems much more natural and graduated..

Everything about the image is A1+

2070 is great too, Im yet to capture a good shot of this one...

[gregbradley]

Great images. You gotta love Tak scopes. They are among the very best you can get.

Greg.

[monoxide]

thanks Alex and Greg,

Alex, i wasnt too sure about the repro.. it shows more depth but somethings not quite right about it :shrug:

Greg, not wrong.. i couldnt be happier with my lil Tak, i was worrying that i'd need the reducer to get flat images and lose the focal length but its only showing a touch of curvature in the very corners and thats only noticable if your looking for it really, very happy..
i just need to learn the ropes better in photoshop so im not letting it down.

[AlexN]

mmmmmm T a k a h a s h i .... . ** drools.

[monoxide]

heres another version of NGC2070..
the colour balance was all over the place so i tried something different and went with RRGB to try to give it some more impact..
again, havent done any synthetic L before :shrug:
i think it looks better anyway..

http://users.on.net/~monox/NGC2070v2.jpg (http://users.on.net/%7Emonox/NGC2070v2.jpg) (3.1mb)

sorry for re-doing everything again but hey, im still learning ;)

[spearo]

Tj,
good work,
I like the reprocessed M42, very smooth, the Tarantula looks to me like somewhere between the first and the reprocessed one would lie the sweet spot.
cheers
frank

[marc4darkskies]

Two lovely shots there Tj! :thumbsup::thumbsup: Nice colour, depth & detail. To be expected though ... when you're using a Tak! :D

BTW, I think your originals are better than the repros.

Cheers, Marcus

[monoxide]

thanks Marcus, geez i dunno hard to please this crowd ;)

heres my last try for now, somewhere between the last 2:
http://users.on.net/~monox/NGC2070v3.jpg

btw, thats not vignetting in the bottom right, thats my house eating into the frame lol

[winensky]

Great detail and not much harm from losing the filter. Nice work.