M8 - The red Lagoon

[whzzz28]

First shot that turned out successful.
Had to do a mix of sub lengths to get the detail without blowing out the core.

Been playing around with local histogram equalization in PI, second image has had the tool run over it. Not sure if i like the look of it though.

Exposures: 120x5, 300x16, 600x5 @ 1600 ISO.
Camera: Canon 1100d

100% available here: http://core-au.net/astro/m8/take2/

Comments or criticisms are welcomed. :)

[stevous67]

:thumbsup:Hi Nathan, your shots look quite good indeed. Using a HDR technique is often challenging so well done. Next time you my like to add some much shorter subs to retain some more star colour. the second image looks okay too showing more contrast in the object which is quite typical.

Cheers

Steve :thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

the second go seems to have brought out some more structural detail - i like what you have done

[jjjnettie]

There's always many ways to process your image each giving slightly different results. No one way is the correct way. Sometimes a mix of two techniques give you the result you desire.
What I'm trying to say is.....well done. I like what you've achieved.

[RickS]

Nice work, Nathan. Have you tried playing with HDRWavelet as well as LHE? LHE is supposedly useful for restoring contrast after HDRW. I have been experimenting with a mix of the two and so far I think the results have been worthwhile.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Ross G]

Very good photos Nathan.

The second has a bit more contrast and shows more detail.

Ross.

[whzzz28]

Thanks everyone.

Not sure how to deal with the oversampled stars. They are extremely over sampled at 120seconds so maybe i'll have more luck with 60 or less second exposures.
Sort of brings back the pixel size debate in my mind while im trying to decide on one CCD over the other..

Hmm.

[strongmanmike]

Looks good Nathan, colour is spot on too :thumbsup:

Mike