Hi all
I've never been entirely satisfied with my M42 images, so I gave it another night last week up near Lithgow. This is a very slight exposure blend in PS between two stretches mostly edited in PI. The differences between the two were minimal; the one with details in the core was just a bit "flat" contrast wise so I kept the non-HDR image and blended it in.
Anyway, I'm happy with this one and maybe I'll take a break from Orion next season and start looking at other targets.... but you never know, it's a very inviting part of the sky! I'd actually like to photograph it with perhaps a 400mm (or maybe 500mm) focal length scope one day.
2600MC + Esprit 120 + 0.77x reducer
Some of the background stars are a bit blown. I have some 15 and 30 second subs I might add in one day to get some colour back. Not today though, too tired
As always,
a larger version is here
Comments and criticism welcome.