Recently Paul Haese found this little gem. Rolf (SkyViking) noticed that it bears a striking resemblance to the monster wolf in Norse mythology - Fenrir. See a brief description of the myth here - http://www.pantheon.org/articles/f/fenrir.html
So, here is my rendition of the Fenrir Nebula (SL17) in Scorpius. Not surprisingly, given it's quite a faint Ha signal embedded in a dense star field, this was quite a tough subject to process. Getting the right balance between neb and stellar profiles was a challenge. I also wanted to be careful not to let the Ha blend obliterate the subtle colour tones visible in the LRGB version. I think I got the balance right (there's nothing out there to compare with other than Paul's rendition). I'm pretty happy with it anyway.
Nice image, Marcus-certainly looks like a wolf! Well done
Thank you Larry!
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Originally Posted by gregbradley
A sensational image Marcus.
I love your images, they are so well executed and processed. Top notch.
Greg.
Cheers Greg - you're too kind. I still find Ha blending to be the most challenging aspect though. In fact, this is the first time I've used a new technique for Ha blending - based on gradient mapping.
Onya Marcus! The beast is starting to make a name for itself of late. Good display of colour confidence with rich saturation. Thoroughly enjoyed the candy-like look and feel. The shock wave filaments in front and below the head are super cool. Nice work on the Ha blend too. A top shelf image.
Looks lovely Marcus, very well executed..just shown'em how it's done
Mike
Cheers mate! I still have to refine the new Ha gradient mapping technique but I think it makes it easier to achieve a good colour result.
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Originally Posted by dvj
Outstanding color rendition. Great stars, color and processing
Thanks a lot John!
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Originally Posted by RickS
A lovely image as usual, Marcus Great colours.
Thanks Rick!
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Originally Posted by jase
Onya Marcus! The beast is starting to make a name for itself of late. Good display of colour confidence with rich saturation. Thoroughly enjoyed the candy-like look and feel. The shock wave filaments in front and below the head are super cool. Nice work on the Ha blend too. A top shelf image.
Much appreciated Jase! I knew I must have been close with the colour when I went back the day after I finished processing ... and I didn't change anything! It's quite uncanny how the image compares with the myth. The rock is there, the chain is hard to see (it is magical after all) and the shock fronts can represent the drool from his mouth as he howled after being chained up.
That is exquisite Marcus, an outstanding image. Colours and processing are top notch and the resolution is great - it's a joy to wander around the full size image. Great work
I'm glad you liked the Norse mythology reference. As a Dane familiar with those old tales I immediately found Paul Haese's first image of this target quite striking.
Gradient mapping is very powerful. I've been using it for my landscape work for about 4 years now.
Beautiful image.
H
Thanks H! Yes indeed, I hadn't realised how powerful the technique was until now. I'll be looking at other ways to use it too.
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Originally Posted by Bassnut
Excellent Marcus, a bit different .
Cheers Fred! Maybe next time a close up shot of the head?!
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Originally Posted by DJT
Thats a really nice image. Detail in there is quite something. Nicely done
Thanks very much David. The detail is unforced too - no sharpening at all. I just did some unsharp masking to highlight some coarse contrast.
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Originally Posted by Paul Haese
Nice Marcus, good rendition.
As far as the name is concerned. I named it first though with the Wolf. Rolf came along the other info after I said it looked like a Wolf.
Thanks Paul, glad you liked it. Not quite sure where you're going with the name reference though, it's real name is SL17. I think the reference to Norse mythology is much more evocative though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkyViking
That is exquisite Marcus, an outstanding image. Colours and processing are top notch and the resolution is great - it's a joy to wander around the full size image. Great work
I'm glad you liked the Norse mythology reference. As a Dane familiar with those old tales I immediately found Paul Haese's first image of this target quite striking.
Cheers Rolf! Yes, I lived my early years in Holland, so the mythology of the germanic cultures of Europe strikes a chord with me.
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Originally Posted by Leonardo70
Wonderful image
All the best,
Leo
Thanks a lot Leo!
Last edited by marc4darkskies; 09-08-2013 at 10:32 PM.
Ok I'll bite. How do you do gradient mapping with Ha? I looked up gradient mapping and there are tutorials on it so I get the idea of making a gradient map of the image and assigning Ha to it - is that right?
Why would a gradient map though show where the Ha is? Or is it a gradient map based on Ha rather than luminance?
Ok I'll bite. How do you do gradient mapping with Ha? I looked up gradient mapping and there are tutorials on it so I get the idea of making a gradient map of the image and assigning Ha to it - is that right?
I'm still experimenting so I don't have the final workflow nailed down yet Greg, but it's based on layering in your Ha as a Luminance layer on top of your RGB (or LRGB for that matter) with a one or more gradient maps as clipping masks (normal blend) on top. I'm preferring the Ha layer blend be luminance as opposed to lighten at this stage. I've created a few gradient maps based on http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/explain/o...rendering.html) - the result critically depends on setting the gradients up properly. Oh, and don't forget to add some Ha to the Red and Blue channels as normal before you start adding Ha. Add any (lots of? ) additional processing on top of that to taste!
It's quite uncanny how the image compares with the myth. The rock is there, the chain is hard to see (it is magical after all) and the shock fronts can represent the drool from his mouth as he howled after being chained up. 
