Lagoon Nebula

Lester · #1 16-09-2009, 03:05 PM

HI all,

This is my first stacked DSO image for nearly 2 years, so any tips/ comments will be appreciated.

Captured 15 x 2 minute exposures at iso 1600 with Astro 40D camera at 0 degrees, shooting through the Takahashi Epsilon 160mm F3.3 Astrograph. I have not got the auto guiding working yet, so the 2 minute subs were with the Titan at sidereal rate and no corrections.

Used DSS and Photoshop for the processing.

Thanks.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...inDSSfinal.jpg

bloodhound31 · #2 16-09-2009, 03:15 PM

That's lovely Lester.

I am amazed at what can be captured with a consumer DSLR.

Great work mate.

Baz.

renormalised (Carl) · #3 16-09-2009, 03:24 PM

Very nice piccie for an unguided set of subs

toryglen-boy (Duncan) · #4 16-09-2009, 04:03 PM

nice image Lester, i would darken the background slightly, and maybe give the colours a bit more vibrance, but given the fact that its unguided, its a very very good effort

Lester · #5 16-09-2009, 04:20 PM

Thanks Baz, Carl and Duncan for your comments.

I darkened the image slightly and added some vibrance in Photoshop. Helped to give the image some more life.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...SSfinal2nd.jpg

toryglen-boy (Duncan) · #6 16-09-2009, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lester

Thanks Baz, Carl and Duncan for your comments.

I darkened the image slightly and added some vibrance in Photoshop. Helped to give the image some more life.

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...SSfinal2nd.jpg

yes Lester, thats better, although the original was good to !!

Lester · #7 16-09-2009, 08:59 PM

Did a colour balance and slight unsharp mask.

Did I go too far?

http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...SS3rdfinal.jpg

Moon (James) · #8 16-09-2009, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Did I go too far?

Not for me, but hey it's subjective! I like this one the best.

desler · #9 16-09-2009, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Did I go too far?

Not for me lester, that Titan must really be doing it's job!
Well done.

Darren

Lester · #10 17-09-2009, 07:53 AM

Thanks for your comments, James and Darren.

All the best.

Hagar (Doug) · #11 17-09-2009, 08:39 PM

Hi Lester, Nice first one. You could probably do a few minor tweaks which will improve the image quite a bit.
1. Adjust the levels slider until the histogram is close to the left side.
2. Increase the contrast slider a little.
3. Increase the Saturation slider in Adjustment, Hue and saturation.
4. small adjustment in Shadows and highlights.

Hope this helps a little.

Lester · #12 18-09-2009, 01:14 AM

Thanks Doug for your tips, I will try them in the morning.

All the best.

Octane (Humayun) · #13 08-10-2009, 11:52 PM

Lester,

Great effort for coming back from such a long break (I know all about them!).

Looking forward to seeing what you can do with your gear once you've got autoguiding going.

Just a word of advice -- stay away from ISO-1600. Go back to ISO-400. You'll be well pleased with the results.

Regards,
Humayun

Lester · #14 09-10-2009, 09:23 AM

Thanks for the comments/tips Humayun. When I get auto guiding working I will try lower ISO. JUst that the weather has been against me for many months to even get a handle on auto tracking. Have only been able to get a few hous at the most before cloud comes.

mill (Martin) · #15 09-10-2009, 06:37 PM

Aha finally imaging again Lester

Looks very good to me and dont stop imaging now

Lester · #16 09-10-2009, 08:37 PM

Thanks Martin; seems like it has taken forever, but there has been a lot of progress and changes that have taken place in the past 22 months.

All the best.

strongmanmike (Michael) · #17 10-10-2009, 02:43 PM

Yeh that's bluddy good Lester, nicely processed, bit small image though but enough to tell it's a keeper

Mike

RB (Andrew) · #18 10-10-2009, 02:54 PM

Lester the links aren't working atm.

Lester · #19 10-10-2009, 06:49 PM

Hi Mike, I appreciate your comments, thanks.

Hi Andrew, the first image I deleted in photobucket, but the other images are still there.

spearo (Frank) · #20 11-10-2009, 10:07 AM

Greta shot,
As Doug said a few tweaks and it'll pop right out
cheers
frank