Data captured both at a desert dark sky site in Nhill, Victoria & from my backyard in Melbourne.
I always wanted to fit most of the nebula and it's wispy spider web tendrils in the frame, so the little SV70T has allowed me to do that at last.
Tone mapped using a variation of J-P Metsavainio's method.
The colour palatte was deliberately chosen for a more "spooky/spidery" look, and the image was inspired by Bert's from a few years ago.
Andy, that's amazing, new, refreshing, and different. We can't recall having seen a widefield shot of the area that includes NII and SII like this. And not just a hint, but strong and clear. Will have to think about what it all might mean. Most impressive.
Hmmm?...yeeeeah I guess it kinda looks alright Andy colourful and artisticy ... as an artwork but I think your previous effort looks more like an astroimage..? I think there is a fine line between an astroimage looking like a graphic artwork or painting rather than an īmage/photograph...meah, perhaps I am just old fashioned...?
Andy, that's amazing, new, refreshing, and different. We can't recall having seen a widefield shot of the area that includes NII and SII like this. And not just a hint, but strong and clear. Will have to think about what it all might mean. Most impressive.
Best,
MnT
Cheers M&T, I'm having a great time with widefield astro atm - et me know if you figure out the meaning of it all, may not be 42 after all!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stevec35
Lovely image Andy! The palette is quite unusual but I really like it.
Cheers
Steve
Thanks Steve, yes, it was nice to try something different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atmos
It is a very interesting take on the area colour wise... I like it! It certainly has that spooky look you were going for
Cheers Colin, we are all influinced by colour & mood, so heck, as they said in "The Right Stuff" why not push the envelope even further...
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlashDrive
Great Outcome ... like the colours and detail.
Col.
Thanks Col, appreciate your feedback
Quote:
Originally Posted by billdan
Most definitely a scary monster you have there Andy, don't let the children look folks.
Mmm - and there's a boogie man up there in Orion as well
Quote:
Originally Posted by RickS
I like the colours and the composition, Andy, but where did those diffraction spikes come from?
Cheers,
Rick.
Thanks Rick, appreciate the feedback - what are saying, you don't like diffraction spikes?
I think they're kinda pretty, when used discreetly - fyi - for those not in the know - it's an Astronomy tools 1.6 PS action, heavily diluted.
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
Hmmm?...yeeeeah I guess it kinda looks alright Andy colourful and artisticy ... as an artwork but I think your previous effort looks more like an astroimage..? I think there is a fine line between an astroimage looking like a graphic artwork or painting rather than an īmage/photograph...meah, perhaps I am just old fashioned...?
Still, nice work and a great field of view there!
Mike
Cheers Mike - yep that'll be me pushing those boundaries again - and even though Van Gogh didn't sell any paintings in his lifetime doesn't mean that one has to always sick to the proven and well trodden roads of AP.
An interesting side note - the recent AIPP Australian Photographer of the year winners folio by Lisa Saad -, which many others in the trade decried as being illustration, not photography!
But hey, as Lincoln said, "You can please some of the people, some of the time..."
Really appreciate your input & taking the time to comment, as always
Cheers Mike - yep that'll be me pushing those boundaries again - and even though Van Gogh didn't sell any paintings in his lifetime doesn't mean that one has to always sick to the proven and well trodden roads of AP.
An interesting side note - the recent AIPP Australian Photographer of the year winners folio by Lisa Saad -, which many others in the trade decried as being illustration, not photography!
But hey, as Lincoln said, "You can please some of the people, some of the time..."
Really appreciate your input & taking the time to comment, as always
I agree AP is continually evolving and who knows where creativity will take us as time goes on...to me though capturing an astronomical scene has to have some semblance of realism or be scientifically relevant at least and the structures and features need to evoke what they are and not just become gratuitously manipulated coloured patterns that are just visually appealing for the sake of it. Being visually cool to look at is great, don't get me wrong, but it has to at least feel real, like the matter that it is made of ie gas, stars and dust etc as I said a fine line and somewhat personal interpretation too I guess...?
Yeah Lisa's work does indeed look far more like illustrations than photographs to me too. Cool visual scenes though and quite creative
I reckon it's pleasing to the eye, like me you try different looks and effects, always worth trying alternatives to present a unique view.
But now im confused, you always mention the mantra of respecting the light. Or does it only apply to the Malin entries? Just interested if you are changing artistic track, releasing the shackles?
How are you finding the N2 filter Andy? Would love a comparison to your 5nm Ha filter on the same target. Though really, i do not need an excuse to get another bloody Astrodon filter!
to me though capturing an astronomical scene has to have some semblance of realism or be scientifically relevant at least
Mike, I question that - You & Paul H. are doing the scientific community favours with your own amazing deep space imaging, discovering galaxies etc. but unlike yourselves, I'm purely in it for the aesthetics.
Don't misinterpret that as a desire to cut corners as "One cannot be an artist unless one is a craftsman first".
So my intent to to make visually impactful, unique images that are technically strong as well. (as a relative newcomer to the craft, that's the bit I'm still working on).
For me there is no challenge in being the 35,000th person to capture the same type of image of say M42 with the outcome limited only by one's experience and equipment.
However, I continue to try harder, pushing back the boundaries of tradition & hopefully grow in my image making- thanks to the helpful & constructive criticism from experienced imagers like your good self.
Quote:
Originally Posted by topheart
Hi Andy,
I like it!
Guys,thanks for the interesting discussion.
Cheers,
Tim
Thanks Tim, appreciate the comment
Quote:
Originally Posted by SimmoW
I reckon it's pleasing to the eye, like me you try different looks and effects, always worth trying alternatives to present a unique view.
But now im confused, you always mention the mantra of respecting the light. Or does it only apply to the Malin entries? Just interested if you are changing artistic track, releasing the shackles?
How are you finding the N2 filter Andy? Would love a comparison to your 5nm Ha filter on the same target. Though really, i do not need an excuse to get another bloody Astrodon filter!
Thanks Simmo - the core is still blown out, but not as much as a Malin entry granted.
This is my first image with the N2 filter - hopefully now that I've sold my 5nm O3&S2 filters I can invest in a 3nm Ha to complete the set and experiment with N2/Ha/O3 combinations.
Thanks Rick, appreciate the feedback - what are saying, you don't like diffraction spikes?
Hi Andy... I think they're cool as an artefact of image capture. Adding them during processing is tampering with the data in a way I wouldn't do personally but I'm happy to live with a divergence of opinion on that
Mike, I question that - You & Paul H. are doing the scientific community favours with your own amazing deep space imaging, discovering galaxies etc. but unlike yourselves, I'm purely in it for the aesthetics.
Don't misinterpret that as a desire to cut corners as "One cannot be an artist unless one is a craftsman first".
So my intent to to make visually impactful, unique images that are technically strong as well. (as a relative newcomer to the craft, that's the bit I'm still working on).
For me there is no challenge in being the 35,000th person to capture the same type of image of say M42 with the outcome limited only by one's experience and equipment.
However, I continue to try harder, pushing back the boundaries of tradition & hopefully grow in my image making- thanks to the helpful & constructive criticism from experienced imagers like your good self.
All fair enough Andy . My enjoyment radar is pretty fluid and I can scan it in both directions, from pure art to pure science but within certain limits and personal preference of course. I was just musing about the "look" of images (particularly with the well travelled objects) and how they stay within my radar band limits that's all. everyone is free to hammer and contort their own data in any way and as much as they like...aaaand we are all free to react to what we see too...makes it fun
- There are great big giant whorls of SII bubbles or shock fronts about 2/3 of the way to the bottom of the image, and occupying much of the width. I've never seen those before, and they are new, interesting, and telling me something about the grand structure of the region.
- The high colour saturation, while trade-mark Andy, does seem to have some meaning here. There are structures that are almost totally different in their emission characteristics from other structures. An example is the large rose-like structure toward the top of the image. Again that is telling us something about the dynamics of the region.
I'm used to the idea that in Hubble palette, the shortest wavelengths in real life (here OIII) should be the bluest. That's a bit like driving on the left in Australia, just a helpful convention.
Overall, I really like the image because of what it is telling me about the region: as well as all the familiar bits, there are truly huge structures of relatively pure emission spectrum that I did not know about, which are different to other huge structures of different emission spectrum, and therefore different mechanism of creation, that I also did not know about.
That is a nice FOV and you've framed it well.
But apart from that I think its pushed a bit too hard, kind of harsh, especially the yellows and purples, but as you said its your play with aesthetics.
Would make for a great image with traditional LRGB or even the traditional NB palettes with that FOV and framing.
... 
as an artwork but I think your 
I think there is a fine line between an astroimage looking like a graphic artwork or painting rather than an īmage/photograph...meah, perhaps I am just old fashioned...? 
