Hello all...
Seems a very long time since I last posted any images - life and weather conspiring to stop me imaging.
Moved into a new place and acquired a HEQ5 Pro in the downtime.
So here's the first light from this new rig/location. My new place allows me the luxury of setting up outside then doing all the monitoring etc indoors...sweet. This has allowed more critical focusing in between each frame - hope it shows!?
Eta Carina Complex - 20.3.09
Canon 40D (modded)
Canon 70-200mm f4L lens + Canon 1.4x Extender
Hutech IDAS LPS2 filter
HEQ5 Pro Mount
Autoguided with PHD
18x600 second exposures (3 hours total)
iso1600, f5.6, ICNR on, Flats applied.
Processing: ImagesPlus and Photoshop CS4 (...love that Smart Sharpen filter!!)
Very sharp Doug - maybe the new mount?
Thanks Craig, new mount eh!? At least it's working!!!!
And nice colours. Low noise from that 40D by the looks too, even at 1600 ISO.
Not too garishly red is it?
Funny, I've found iso1600 images a lot smoother than one might expect - stacking 18 of them might help too. Minimal noise reduction applied in PS too.
Wow that's a super image Doug. Only improvement I could suggest would be to tease out some more colour in the stars which are whitish which is a common DSLR image problem.
Try colour range tool on a star, use the + eyedropper and add more stars and keep the fuzziness slider low at first (4) and then slide it over until you've got the bulk of the stars.
Now once selected you can use curves, hue/saturation on the stars to bring up the colour.
You can also set the sponge tool to saturate and 10% and rub on stars that have a bit of colour in them to bring them up.
Wow that's a super image Doug. Only improvement I could suggest would be to tease out some more colour in the stars which are whitish which is a common DSLR image problem.
Try colour range tool on a star, use the + eyedropper and add more stars and keep the fuzziness slider low at first (4) and then slide it over until you've got the bulk of the stars.
Now once selected you can use curves, hue/saturation on the stars to bring up the colour.
You can also set the sponge tool to saturate and 10% and rub on stars that have a bit of colour in them to bring them up.
Greg.
Great tips Greg - Thanks.
I'll try that over coffee in the morning.
Doug
Its a really impressive image Doug, I mean really nice. Its worth that little bit of extra processing to bring up the colours.
Star colours are easier with CCD cameras I presume because they are 16 bit and 4 different filters. With DSLRs it can be a bit of a fight. If the image exposure is too long it seems the colour washes out. The 40D is 14bit so I bet a lot of that colour data is still there ready to be brought out.
Sometimes with CCD shots the stars seem to go all white too. But there is usually a bit of colour data buried in them that can be brought out. Othertimes the stars can be very colourful.
Tom Davis on this list is one processor who has mastered star colours. Look at his images and you'll see perfect star colour processing and notice how much it makes the image interesting.
I like your reddier color better than my widefield one! See what you mean about being a "reddy" person! Very sharp and good shot!
BTW did you get your 40D modded locally? I thought of doing the same and keep the EOS 5D in original state - I think it's more advantageous to mod the 40D as it has LiveView and more suited to my setup with the Vixen 6.4 FR
Nice work Doug. Very smooth image and contains a wealth of information. Perhaps could do with a little more contrast boost, but that is only a tiny thing with this lovely image. Well done.
Thanks all for the comments - I will try reprocessing the stars soon.
This really appeals to me as I've felt that my DSLR images have always needed a little tweak in that regard.
Thanks all
Doug
Wow Doug, what a lovely image and at ISO 1600 no less !!!!
That is a great result.
There is nothing like more exposure, that's what I've been aiming for too, you just can't beat the results, but sometimes the weather has other plans.
Well done, you have controlled the noise well and colour is lovely.
. This has allowed more critical focusing in between each frame - hope it shows!?
See what you mean about being a "reddy" person! Very sharp and good shot!
nice going mate, seems like your new location has some nice clear and unobstructed skies.
