Lagoon Completed

[Paul Haese]

Well I think so. Maybe some more subs needed but this image seems to cover all the colour requirements and detail.

I must say this image has taken a lot of processing and required me to use all the tricks I have learnt. There is some Jpeg artifacts present in the image but I will sort this later.

Click Here (http://paulhaese.net/M8Lagoon.html)for image.

Comments and critique welcome.

[h0ughy]

some interesting colour changes - i think you did pretty good. there is always a tweak here and there, but it has impact

[allan gould]

Paul
That is just stunningly beautiful. It's like I've not really seen this oft image region before.
Just sublime.
Allan

[TrevorW]

Very rich colour and great detail

[Hagar]

Very nice Paul, Captured and processed that 3D effect from the core out without blowing it out at all.
Well done.

[desler]

Yes Paul, really grabs you, good dedication and application of lots of processing tricks!

Well done!

Darren

[multiweb]

I think it's a very nice rendition and the colors and blend work well. The contrast and the details are outstanding. Obviously a lot of work went into it and the end result is just superb. :thumbsup:

[malp]

Wow, another stunner. Amazing colour.

[seeker372011]

lots of impact in that image

I do see some distinct star colouration difference though-stars on the left and right are golden , stars in the middle are white/blue..is this how it should be or is it a processing thing?

[RobF]

Has a beautiful silky 3D effect to it Paul. Lovely.

[strongmanmike]

Well done on capturing this Paul.

It is certainly a rather dramatic looking image :thumbsup:

Mike

[gregbradley]

A stunning rendition of the Lagoon. Wonderful saturated colours and exceptional detail. Fabulous.

Greg.

[Peter Ward]

Paul... The Lagoon is often imaged, so don't take this to heart too much...but...(you probably already know I call a spade a shovel :) )

Stars don't have dark rings around them

The edges of the nebulosity are not really blue/purple (in fact there is quite a bit of reddening dust there)

The core of the nebula is quite bright and compressing this relationship to the outer edges is not quite right...

That said, focus, guiding & noise all really well handled... a good effort.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks all,

Narayan, for some reason the orange stars on the right and left had their colour before I really got into the processing but the other stars below which are also orange or red stars did not show this as well. I need to investigate why this occurred, and yes I knew this was an issue. ;)

Peter, I knew you would see the flaws that were there. To be fair not all the stars have rings around them. Some of the blue ones have darker blue than others.

Yes the blue/purple tinge is enhanced but even Wolfgang Promper has blue showing where mine is. ;) Maybe the purple tinge needs backing off a bit.

Are you saying the core of my image is too bright or should it be brighter? Not sure what you mean here. I think you mean that it should be brighter than it is at present that having it all even here is causing it to look wrong.

Appreciate the critique, always good to improve. I thought this was a vast improvement over the last rendition of this image though.:)

Thanks all once again.

[Paul Haese]

Ok I think I have corrected some of the issues. Certainly looks a little different, but still similar.

[Hagar]

Sorry Paul, I liked the first rendition, it had some depth to it that has been lost in this image. The core for one is now appearing flat across the image now. It's very easy to forget that the images we take are really done for asthetic reasons (Pretty pix) and in most cases would only be able to be used scientificly to highlight some event or similar. You have managed and covered all the other requirements of a good image, just enjoy what looks very good.
First image for me.

[mexhunter]

Hi Paul:
Beautiful and great detail.
Grettings
Cesar

[gregbradley]

I too preferred the earlier edition, it had more impact.

As to the edges of the lagoon being red that is not entirely true. There is a blue haze that only shows on some images taken from very dark sites. Its easily lost in light pollution. You image in very dark skies.
I have seen it occassionally in my images at my very dark site and try to show it in my images (not always successfully) and also Thomas Davis picked it up here:

http://www.tvdavisastropics.com/astroimages-1_00004f.htm

But your hue is a bit off - its a very lightish blue rather than a magenta.

Ha added to colour often causes these magentas in place of the actual blue. Selective colour in PS using the magenta slider can help correct that.

Greg.

[Bassnut]

Striking image Paul, I liked the 1st edition more too.

[multiweb]

I don't think they're issues more preferences. Every rendition is in the eye of the beholder and you're never going to please everybody as long as you're happy with it. Agreed about the blue hues. I've seen them often in a lot of different shots and I think they add to the overall picture. Again personal preference. Bit of variety colour wise is always pleasing.

[Peter Ward]

Handling the dynamic range of objects like M8 can be tricky....I've yet to acquire an A+ M8 image, so please don't think I was picking on you. As I've said elsewhere, I'm simply not your Mum saying "that's nice dear" then put the crayon sketch on the fridge :)

Rob Gendler I think got the colour pretty right with this one:
http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/SagittariustrioNML.html

But I think it's important to realise there is nothing set in concrete here, whatever floats your boat often works.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. For now due to popular demand I have returned to the original image. I will do more exposure on it and get more out of it. I appreciate all your comments and suggestions.

No problem Peter, your words are worth absorbing. :)

Greg I see what you mean and I will look at the saturation levels to bring the blue back on the next processing run. Thanks for the words. :thumbsup:

Doug you are right, aesthetics for each of us is what is important.

[richardo]

Nice going Paul. very rich, vibrant colours.

Been some fickle weather in the last week, good you were able to get this baby finished.

Rich