|
Hi Chris
Nice effort on a tricky target. Stars are nice and you’ve picked up some good detail as well. With regards to post processing, with a bit of time and patience you’ll find your groove and there’s plenty of people who get really nice results with startools. I really struggled with it which is why I’ve stuck with APP for the moment. APPs about as simple as it gets and with some trial and error you can get some pretty decent results with only a few clicks. As Alex mentioned Martin’s got a really nice process worked out for Startools and I’d be happy to help you if you needed any advice with APP.
Just a quick note on the data- you still seem to be having some issues with your flats calibrations. I looked back to your previous helix in November and unless I’m mistaken the dust motes showing in the same places. Are you taking fresh flats? If so it’ll pay dividends if you spend some time using different exposure settings to get this right. Even the best post-processing will hit a brick wall if calibrations aren’t working properly. Also just be careful with the saturation and/or exposure as it seems that you’ve blown out the bright core of the galaxy. APP saturation sliders need to be used lightly and then being the image into PS or GIMP to finish it off. Same goes for sharpening. I’ve found that any more than a light touch can cause problems.
Hope some of that helps.
|