The Lagoon Nebula (M8) in Sagittarius

[Octane (Humayun)]

Hi all,

Read and view here.

Warning: file is approximately 1.19 MB in size.

As always, comments and critique welcome.

Regards,
Humayun

[montewilson (Monte)]

Top stuff. For mine its a bit warm but that´s probably IMO only.

Well done!

[leon]

Humayun, that is a work of art, beautiful image, congratulations.

Leon

[h0ughy (David)]

wonderful work H, and sharp too

[Ric]

A fantastic image Humayan, it's very rich in detail and has a lot of depth to it as well. The dark lanes are quite spectacular as well.

Cheers

[iceman (Mike)]

That's a beautiful image, H. I'd probably agree with monte but otherwise it's upi to your usual standard. Congrats.

[venus (Lydia)]

Great pic Humayun.
I like the way you present your work

[Garyh]

Good to see another of your lovely images Humayun!!
Very nice..like monte says, maybe a bit on the warm side but its a beauty!!
cheers

[jase (Jason)]

Humayun, I really enjoy this image. Well done. I spent a good 20 minutes studying it. The processing displays subtle details and the core (Hourglass nebula) isn't burnt out, not easy to achieve when the object has such a large dynamic range. However, I feel you could have exploited the dynamic range a little better. The nebula appears to take on a mono tone appearance throughout the object. The Hourglass nebulosity to the upper left of the open star cluster NGC 6530 is typically much brighter. This will then display the dark dust details and provide the image with more dimension. I feel your star colour balance is looking good, but do agree with the others that the image looks warm. Looking at the image in PS, the red histogram data is quite strong. You could perhaps drop this with curves on that channel only - then boost it back using colour balance. The image warmth doesn't appear to be coming from the nebula itself, but the background star clouds. So if you don't want to change the nebula tones (which I think are good), you could simply use the colour range tool to select the background only, then drop the red curve. Doesn't need much that’s for sure.
A quick tip that I use to determine how the background colours flow is in PS, use the image | adjustments | equalize tool. It will show you which colours dominate the background and assist in determining gradients. If you shoot from sky polluted areas, this is a helpful in detecting green/yellow shifts. The tool works best for wide field shots, so if you're going to use it, do so before you crop your object of interest. The narrower the field the more analysis is required to determine the background colour shifts.
Keep up the good work and look forward to seeing more from you

[Octane (Humayun)]

Monte,

Cheers for the critique. I'll have a go at reprocessing it another time and see if I can make it a bit less warm.

Originally Posted by montewilson

Top stuff. For mine its a bit warm but that´s probably IMO only.

Well done!

Leon,

Thank you.

I was quite happy with it when I first processed it but now after reading the critiques, am not so sure of myself!

Originally Posted by leon

Humayun, that is a work of art, beautiful image, congratulations.

Leon

David,

Thanks.

I think the focus could have been a tiny little bit better, but, that's for next time!

Originally Posted by h0ughy

wonderful work H, and sharp too

Ric,

Thanks, mate! I do like how the Bok globules stand out.

Originally Posted by Ric

A fantastic image Humayan, it's very rich in detail and has a lot of depth to it as well. The dark lanes are quite spectacular as well.

Cheers

Mike,

The more I look, the more I realise that you and Monte (and Jase) are right. I'll have to sort it out next time. For now, it looks a bit too artsy. But, that's alright.

Originally Posted by iceman

That's a beautiful image, H. I'd probably agree with monte but otherwise it's upi to your usual standard. Congrats.

venus,

Why, thank you.

Originally Posted by venus

Great pic Humayun.
I like the way you present your work

Gary,

I've been out of action for a while. The last image I took was at the end of January. It's good to get back into the swing of things again!

Cheers, mate.

Originally Posted by Garyh

Good to see another of your lovely images Humayun!!
Very nice..like monte says, maybe a bit on the warm side but its a beauty!!
cheers

Jase,

That is exactly what I needed to read: a detailed critique. I am most appreciative of your efforts in explaining what it is that is good and what is lacking in this first attempt at this difficult target.

I agree with you; after having looked at this image long enough, it does appear to have a bit of a monotone look about it. I'm not happy!

I did bring out the background a bit more than the rest of the image to pronounce the dark lanes (as can be seen to the left-edge of the frame). I may have gone overboard on it. Once I lower the curves of those regions again, the image has a less washed-out look.

I have taken your comments and critique on board and will endeavour to do better next time. Thanks, heaps!

Originally Posted by jase

Humayun, I really enjoy this image. Well done. I spent a good 20 minutes studying it. The processing displays subtle details and the core (Hourglass nebula) isn't burnt out, not easy to achieve when the object has such a large dynamic range. However, I feel you could have exploited the dynamic range a little better. The nebula appears to take on a mono tone appearance throughout the object. The Hourglass nebulosity to the upper left of the open star cluster NGC 6530 is typically much brighter. This will then display the dark dust details and provide the image with more dimension. I feel your star colour balance is looking good, but do agree with the others that the image looks warm. Looking at the image in PS, the red histogram data is quite strong. You could perhaps drop this with curves on that channel only - then boost it back using colour balance. The image warmth doesn't appear to be coming from the nebula itself, but the background star clouds. So if you don't want to change the nebula tones (which I think are good), you could simply use the colour range tool to select the background only, then drop the red curve. Doesn't need much that’s for sure.
A quick tip that I use to determine how the background colours flow is in PS, use the image | adjustments | equalize tool. It will show you which colours dominate the background and assist in determining gradients. If you shoot from sky polluted areas, this is a helpful in detecting green/yellow shifts. The tool works best for wide field shots, so if you're going to use it, do so before you crop your object of interest. The narrower the field the more analysis is required to determine the background colour shifts.
Keep up the good work and look forward to seeing more from you

Regards,
Humayun

[Dr Nick (Nick)]

Amazing clarity!

[Lester]

Hi Humayun,

glad to see you are back producing great images again. Love the transparencey of the Lagoon in your image.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Nick,

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Dr Nick

Amazing clarity!

Lester,

Long time no see.

I hadn't taken a photograph since the end of January, so it was fantastic to disappear for a few days and start capturing again.

Cheers for the compliment.

Originally Posted by Lester

Hi Humayun,

glad to see you are back producing great images again. Love the transparencey of the Lagoon in your image.

Regards,
Humayun