light pollution problem

[huckabuck]

i am attempting to use GIMP as a processing tool but i don't have any idea what i am doing. will this program help the problem? if so, what steps should i follow? or....is there another FREE program i could use?

here is an example of the problem. the milky way around cygnus. shot with my wide-field suitcase on fuji 400 asa. exposed 3 mins.

[luka]

Iris can remove sky gradients and it is free.
Under processing -> remove gradient.

[bojan]

Any program that does "unsharp masking" will remove gradient more or less successfully..
However, it is better to move out of the city lights.. because any processing , including this quite innocent procedure, is actually, "doctoring" the data..
Also, the details, lost to light pollution background can not be retrieved by whatever method of processing you use.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Eeeek!!! How do you image anything in a sky like that?
Is there any darker sky not too far from your place?

[Dr Nick (Nick)]

Wow, its times like this I feel that I'm lucky o live 5kms away from the nearest town, a town with a population of 6000 people....