Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex

[jjjnettie]

Last one for the evening. :)
I didn't have any success last night with this lens, a Tamron 180mm Prime, while it was on the 20D. So I swapped back to the Canon 550D and voila. Live View is AWESOME!!
I wasn't guiding, (there's trailing of the stars if you look closely) so I stuck to 2 minute subs. And who would have thought it, all the colours that the 20D denied me, just popped out. :D
I shot at ISO800 and F4.5.
I've processed with very very tired eyes so the colour balance may be a little skewiff.


Higher res version here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/astro_jjj_unprocessed_data/7402603762/sizes/l/in/photostream/

[cybereye]

Jeanette,

I love these wide-field shots you do. They're fantastic and to think you're using an "off the shelf" camera lens! I think you've done pretty well processing, even with tired eyes.... well that's what my tired eyes say anyway!

I was up imaging last night and managed about 4 hours sleep - and on a school night as well! I can't believe the nights we're having in SEQ at the moment - clear, crisp and no Moon!!!

Cheers,
Mario

[Shark Bait]

Beautiful photo JJJ. Thanks for sharing it.

[Lester]

Top view JJ.

[rmuhlack]

Great stuff Jeanette. :thumbsup:

I actually shot this subject last night too, using a Nikkor 135mm prime I picked up recently. Will be good to have something to work against when I process it this evening. (I actually used your 90mm shot of this from a few days ago to assist with framing :) )

[RickS]

Another great image, JJJ!

[DavidU]

Awesomeness !

[SkyViking]

A great view of a beautiful piece of sky, nice and sharp. I think you can probably up the saturation a bit without problems, looks like the colours are there.

[jjjnettie]

Thanks.
I'll work more on the colour balance too. :)

[rcheshire]

Wow JJJ. You really have the touch with these wide fields. I love that area and try and try to get it right, but that's a beautiful rendition.

[cometcatcher]

Fantastic result.

So the 550D used to take the pic was not modded? Is that right?

[jjjnettie]

Unmodded, that's right. The temperature has been in the low single digits, so it's performing beautifully.

[MrB]

Very nice JJJ, I'm not sure if I should post my effort now ;)

[jjjnettie]

Why on earth not?? The only contest here is with ourselves. Improving our personal bests. We share the journey with the rest of the forum. :)

[CoolhandJo]

That is lovely - loads of depth!

[naskies]

Nice work, jjj. Lots of potential in the data.

How do you find the stock 20D for astro? I tried mine out last weekend and found that it has terrrrible amp glow :(

[jjjnettie]

Amp glow is pretty bad I agree. But you can deal with that in Photoshop or just frame the image around it.
It's the focussing that is most painful.
I'm so spoiled with the 550d's Live View.

[naskies]

I completely agree about Live View! Last time I used my 5DII to focus the RC8, screwed the focuser down tightly, then swapped it over for my 20D. Close enough :)

[strongmanmike]

That's a super image Jeanette, looks quite sharp. What does it look like with the colours beefed up just a tad?

Mike

[jjjnettie]

I'm working on that right now. Been too crook to process the last day or so.

[jjjnettie]

Is this Tutti Frooti enough for you? :lol:

higher res here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/astro_jjj_unprocessed_data/7424109746/sizes/l/in/photostream/

[Paul Haese]

Looks good JJJ. Maybe if it were me I would up the green and blue via curves and drop the red a bit to even that out. Then I would add another 27% to te saturation. I always love looking at images of this region and your image is no exception.

[jjjnettie]

As per your suggestions Mr Haese. :)
It certainly toned down that red didn't it.

I desaturated the yellows in the second image as the dust was too orange.

[jjjnettie]

The image is well and truly pushed to it's limits. Once it clears I'll try to nab a few more hours of data.