Dear all, I took advantage of my last holidays to revamp my website with a completely new look and to process a new image.
The image is of an evergreen I still have to image, Omega Centauri. I took a deep luminance to reveal the faint cirrus in the area as well as some short 5 mins subs to recover some data of the core. I opted for a not too equalized image of the core, to maitain the overall natural looking, I hope the result is pleasant. The link:
Luminance extended to 430 mins, with RGB adding 90 mins each to the stack.
Update 8/8: updated the image with a newer version with darker core thanks to more data blended in from the shorter exposures
I have also took advantage of the new customization tools of smugmug to completely redesign my website, please have a look at it at this link: http://www.glitteringlights.com/
Let me know if you have comments or suggestions, I am keeping twinkling it and any input is very welcomed!
Clear skies
Marco
Last edited by marco; 08-08-2013 at 01:20 PM.
Reason: update
Hi Marco,
That is something, absolutely stunning version of the NGC5139 ..
To my taste, the core is a touch to bright, but that is your interpretation of the image, which I accept with all due respect to an artistic soul …
LUV IT !!!
Lovely deep version of this cluster Marco, well done
The new site... well? not sure I like it as much as the previous one but perhaps that is because I got so good at navigating your previous site the change is throwing me off a little
Wow! applaud your willingness to allow the core to come close to saturation Marco - this thing has a huge dynamic range and flattening out the image too much would reduce the fidelity and impact of the result. Love it. regards ray
Hi Marco,
That is something, absolutely stunning version of the NGC5139 ..
To my taste, the core is a touch to bright, but that is your interpretation of the image, which I accept with all due respect to an artistic soul …
LUV IT !!!
Thanks Ian for your comment, I am still in doubt about the core, I will very probably reduce its brightness a bit compressing the overall dynamic range, it is not easy though find the right compromise between a natural look and full core detail but I will give it another try!
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
Very nice rendition of Omega Cen, Marco! Nice to see something a bit different.
Thanks Rick. Well, considering it is Omega Centauri not sure I am showing something really different however it was fun trying to pick some of the nebulosity in the background, with so many stars in the background could not stretch further without having the field totally filled by them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Lovely deep version of this cluster Marco, well done
The new site... well? not sure I like it as much as the previous one but perhaps that is because I got so good at navigating your previous site the change is throwing me off a little
Mike
Thanks Mike! My compliments to you also for your shortlisted image at APOY competition, a serious candidate to be the winner!
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnyt123
That is a great capture. I love it.
Well done!!'
Thanks Johnny
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Hothersall
Lovely depth you achieve, I agree the core is a little bright for my taste.
Great gallery, the colours you show stand out in the Gallery, you have a fine collection.
John.
Thanks John, as for the core brightness I will work on it a bit further, I am also not 100% satisfied with the result. Thanks for the appreciation on the new web look!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ross G
A beautiful looking photo Marco.
I love the colours.
Ross.
Thanks Ross
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisM
Hi Marco,
I'm with a few others in that the core is a little bright but nonetheless, a good deep image with great colours.
I had a quick look at your website and was very impressed with your collection of astro pics. I definitely go back for another look!
Chris
Thanks Chris for the appreciation!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiraz
Wow! applaud your willingness to allow the core to come close to saturation Marco - this thing has a huge dynamic range and flattening out the image too much would reduce the fidelity and impact of the result. Love it. regards ray
Thanks Ray! Definitely the dynamic range of Omega Cen is a challenge, I found it difficult to compress correctly but I will try to reduce the brightness a tad and recover more details of the inner parts. The short exposure images have plenty of details, let's see if I am able to blend them in a bit better than this first attempt without reducing the overall natural look of the image
Quote:
Originally Posted by gregbradley
I overall like it. The core could possibly be tamed a tad more but I also like it as it is. Great capture of the cirrus.
Greg.
Thanks Greg
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese
Very nice Marco. I really like the field of view, better than the field I have. Colours look great too.
Thanks Paul! Congratulation to you as well for your APOY shortlisting and good luck!
Splendid image, Marco! Really enjoy the depth. Others have commented on the core but it has grown on me. Lets face it, the cluster is bright anyway! I like the scattering of dust in the image too. This was once deemed a challenge to extract but these days its old hat with everyone capable of nailing it. Well done.
I like your web site too. The text overlay as the mouse pointer hits a image thumbnail could be more clearer. I'm not sure if its the font size or the re-sampling of the frame but the text is not easy to read. Also once you've clicked on an image, how do you go back to the gallery again. Is the only way via browser back button? Minor points in the grand scheme of the site. It does look clean and fresh, did you make it browser independent so it can be access from mobile devices with ease?
Looks spot on to me Marco! Beautiful! I think the core is fine and you're most definitely "respecting the light" as David Malin is fond of saying.
Cheers, Marcus
Hehe, nice definition by "the Master" I will however reduced it a bit as I have time to see if I can get a better dynamic, respecting the light in any case
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy01
Beautiful work, nice clean website - well done - you've set the bar very high indeed
Thanks Andy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jase
Splendid image, Marco! Really enjoy the depth. Others have commented on the core but it has grown on me. Lets face it, the cluster is bright anyway! I like the scattering of dust in the image too. This was once deemed a challenge to extract but these days its old hat with everyone capable of nailing it. Well done.
I like your web site too. The text overlay as the mouse pointer hits a image thumbnail could be more clearer. I'm not sure if its the font size or the re-sampling of the frame but the text is not easy to read. Also once you've clicked on an image, how do you go back to the gallery again. Is the only way via browser back button? Minor points in the grand scheme of the site. It does look clean and fresh, did you make it browser independent so it can be access from mobile devices with ease?
Thanks Jase for the appreciation. About your points: the font used could be an issue, I will try different fonts to see if readability can improve. Not sure though. About the image, you simply close it clicking the "X" top right of the image and you get back to the gallery you were viewing.
The website is optimized to be cross platform, when I checked it with my smartphone the site was reorganized to be easily seen on the smaller screen with navigation bar and images adapted (shape and size) as well. As far as I can say the guys at smugmug did a great job about that, better than the former version..
but perhaps that is because I got so good at navigating your previous site the change is throwing me off a little 
I will however reduced it a bit as I have time to see if I can get a better dynamic, respecting the light in any case 
