M104 and a few jewels

[Garyh]

Well, it`s still cloudy lately and after a wait my copy of Imagesplus finally turned up . So got busy having a play and in processing some pictures which have been waiting for some attention..
Still trying to master the digital development and Convolution...but making progress. Must say it does a pretty decent job of it too..

Ok here`s M104 with that beautiful little star grouping to the right which I just love for the colors..Image is a stack of 31 images at 5min @ iso 1000.
Calibrated, DDP and some convolution in Imagesplus ans finished in PS..
Still had some minor banding issues but nothing PS couldn`t fix..
Cropped and reduced to around 75% in size for viewing..
Must admit it would be one of my best attempts, only wish the seeing was a little better!
Cheers and clear skies

[Mighty_oz (Marcus)]

Looks good, always enjoy m104, how did u get iso 1000 ?

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Excellent and unusual composition with the stars on the right, made it very pleasent to view, and the processing is smick. Colour and diffraction spikes top it off nicely.

Thats a lot of exposure time, worked well.

[telecasterguru (Frank)]

Great image and well put together.

Frank

[RobF (Rob)]

Beautiful work Gary. Looks like IP is starting to pay for itself already!
I'm surprised at the detail and scale you have there, even with cropping. Was this with the 8" Newt? No barlow used?

[Paul Haese]

One image that I have balked at attempting. I really like this image, detail in the dust lanes too. Like Fred I like the composition with the stars to the right, especially since at least one star is a different colour.

Nice going Gary.

[RB (Andrew)]

Very nice shot Gary !
I too like the composition on this.
Like Fred and Paul said, it makes a very pleasing view.

Love the luminosity (and detail) in M104 too !

[allan gould]

Really love the composition of your shot as it gives a new dimension to an oft photographed galaxy. Well done.

[Garyh]

Thanks Mighty-Oz, Fred, Frank, Rob, Paul, Andrew and Allan!
I love that little grouping of stars to the right so thought I would make it a part of the composition. I think it works pretty good for M104..

Still a lot to learn in Imagesplus, so hopefully things shall only get better!

Mighty-Oz, With the 40D you can set the iso to 1/3 stop or 1/2 stop via the menu.

Thanks again for the positive comments..

[multiweb (Marc)]

Pretty unusual framing. Looks very cool to see both in one field. Beautiful details in the galaxy too.

[gregbradley]

I would have thought M104 would be challenging for a DSLR but you have pulled it off nicely. Also some very arty framing which always makes for a spectacular image when done well.

Greg.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Nice shot Gary...well framed.

The Ol' Sombrero looks real spicky

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

I have to admit.! looks pretty darn good.!

[lacad01 (Adam)]

Ripper shot, like others have said the framing is super

[iceman (Mike)]

Nice Gary, I really like this!

[spearo (Frank)]

Gary,
I love it
top framing i think
well done
frank

[cybereye (Mario)]

Gary,

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... in the case of your take on M104 I think it should be "a thousand superlatives"!! Wow!

Mario

[tonybarry (Tony)]

A really nice image. Thank you for posting. Unfortunately my envy index is rising :-)

Regards,
Tony Barry

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

GARY!!! fabo image mate!!!

I saw Scott Hamonds recent shot of this field using his AP and 16803 chip so I put it on my (loooong) list of possible targets for my new PL16803 and my AP...your shot has spured me on even more now

Here is Scotts incredible image:
http://creatorsview.com/pages/gallery/messier/m104.html

[mill (Martin)]

Very nicely framed (i like).