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Originally Posted by rcheshire
It's getting a bit that way, isn't it. Most people would probably have moved on from this, but that's not my way. I'll keep plugging away until I get it right.  |
A most commendable personal trait in my opinion - the only way to learn stuff and master your trade/art/hobby.
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Originally Posted by rcheshire
I would appreciate comments about any artifacts that might be present after this processing - the core image seemed more relevant at this stage.
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Ok, here's my honest opinion (for what it's worth); it's actually quite good!
The four stars in the trapezium resolve nicely - no overexposure there at all. You could do with a bit of contrast enhancement and sharpening - there's more detail hidden in that core. No compositing artifacts, banding, etc. that I can see in the core.
Your overall image could probably also use contrast enhancement and sharpening - there is more detail to be had in the seemingly 'opaque' areas. The background levels are somewhat high, not aiding contrast and shrouding faint wisps of gas (that's what the Great Orion Nebula is all about!). A bit of local contrast enhancement should take care of that.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you did a star bloat reduction. Most algorithms start producing square stars when taking this too far on small stars - maybe use a slightly less aggressive bloat reduction. Also, as a result of the aggressive bloat reduction, Iota Orionis is a nice bright white point, but now has a grayish halo, fading to blue. IMHO that is somewhat unnatural looking, though I see it all the time in other images.
There's just one thing I don't completely 'trust' in the overall image, and that is the reddish hue/gradients in the top and bottom right corners. I've scrutinized quite a few Orions and I'm not sure that should really be there in an LRGB image (I'm always open to being wrong though).
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I'm still using Linux - I use Pixinsight for all my processing, unless I need a little refinement in GIMP, with EAW Sharpen or Smart Redux - hard to beat.
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Great! Hey, would you mind beta testing something for me in a few weeks?
