ngc 2264

[casstony]

Here's a small part of my Xmas Tree image from last night. As always I have trouble getting the pic small enough to post.
This is a fairly tough target for me and I had to push it a lot in processing.
The cone shows up nicely.
25x3 min, iso 400, Nikon d5600.

[xelasnave]

Great photo Tony.
Alex

[raymo]

Nice job Tony; incidentally, as long as your image is under 2Mb IIS will
automatically reduce it to the required size.
raymo

[casstony]

Thanks Alex. Looks clear again tonight so I'll try to add adding a couple of hours exposure and see how much it helps.

I'll give the auto resize a go - thanks Raymo.

[casstony]

that's easier.

There's a lot of nebulosity in the area - hopefully more time will give me more detail.

[RyanJones]

My missus an I were going through some targets last night and she suggested Chritmas tree and Cone neb and sure enough, the next day .....

Nice image Casstony. Good work

[casstony]

Thanks Ryan. Now that I'm getting into slightly tougher targets it seems that my lack of processing skills is becoming a hindrance, so I'm going to look into Startools.
I took another 90 minutes last night but my haphazard processing isn't bringing out the best.

[xelasnave]

Tony do yourself a big favour and get Startools honestly you will not believe the difference and it works a little at a time...I swear most steps just dont seem to change anything but at the end you really notice...
Are use using photoshop?
If so try the dodge tool and the burn tool...dial them right down but you can lightwn or darken stuff which can really help.
If you have something blown out it can often bring it back.

And star tools seems to really fix noise... I never really noticed noise or worried about it but that is one thing you really do notice in the before and after....

Again great photos. .. $60 = Startools= better photos.

We go to souch effort to get the data so it doesnot make sense to be half hearted with processing.

Alex

[casstony]

Thanks Alex, I tried the trial version of Startools on the Xmas tree and it didn't turn out as well as I can do with PS, but I'll give it another go with a second image.

I might also look a PI if there's a trial version.

[xelasnave]

Tony I tried it and gave up.
The auto develop got me...
But keep at it and man when it finally works for you, and it will, you will be impressed.

I use it for initial images but take them to photo shop as I like the layer tools...

I must say the more I look at your image the more that I like it...your set up is really producing great results.
Alex

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Tony I tried it and gave up.
The auto develop got me...

Hi Alex, if you use develop instead of auto develop there is a "home in" button that gets you to something that looks good. Ball park. I find the strecth in startools works well if you have a good SNR to start with otherwise YMMV.

[casstony]

Originally Posted by multiweb

. I find the strecth in startools works well if you have a good SNR to start with otherwise YMMV.

That was possibly my problem with Startools - noisy, lights only image. I've been taking shortcuts all this time, mitigating image flaws in PS.

[casstony]

Added another hour tonight and the image looks a bit better - might get another few hours on this.

[RyanJones]

Making a lot of progress there Tony. So much clearer and more detail. The noise has diminished significantly too. Well done

[casstony]

Thanks Ryan. It's a lot tougher target than others I've tried, except for m78.
Some of what appears to be noise turns into nebulosity with more exposures; it's a lot fainter than the Rosette.