I got some reasonable seeing so I started doing a fresh M83.
I got some nice data. I added to it over several nights.
I liked the detail and the colour that came from it. I have always liked that nice blue shade M83 images sometimes capture. I think the blue response on this SX694 is superb and I managed to get that blue that has been elusive in other versions I have done.
I got some reasonable seeing so I started doing a fresh M83.
I got some nice data. I added to it over several nights.
I liked the detail and the colour that came from it. I have always liked that nice blue shade M83 images sometimes capture. I think the blue response on this SX694 is superb and I managed to get that blue that has been elusive in other versions I have done.
Very nice Greg,
The bright stars might looks a little better if you select them in Photoshop -
expand & feather then adjust curves.
cheers
Allan
Thanks Allan.
I don't mind the stars and they are very natural with no processing applied to them. In fact I quite like the stars in this image. They are quite tight and pretty spot on at over 2 metres focal length. I took many hours of this object and only used the very best seeing subs to get the best stars. That PS technique can work on some images (perhaps better on widefield images) but it also can leave dark rings around the stars which is a step backwards. To my taste I prefer the more natual less processed look where I can get it and strive for better basics for tighter stars etc. Corrected Newts seem to have the tightest stars for the same image compared to other scopes. The CDK is quite good as well but at 2-3 metres seeing is everything. An AO unit is something that would be nice at times (well all the time with this scope!).
The stars look a little hard to me too, at least with the image at "original" size. Also looks like a bit too much noise reduction up close? Could be my crappy laptop screen though... The data looks great but maybe a little more tweaking is needed?
The stars look a little hard to me too, at least with the image at "original" size. Also looks like a bit too much noise reduction up close? Could be my crappy laptop screen though... The data looks great but maybe a little more tweaking is needed?
Cheers,
Rick.
Ah yes I see it now. Its the dreaded decon! I've softened the stars and muted them a tad using a different approach. Yes better now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnyt123
I think its fabulous.
However i see what Allan and Rick are saying.
perhaps just tone down the brightest stars to add a little depth to them.
but i still love this image especially the colour of the galaxy and nebulae...
well done
John
Cheers John. Adjusted, it does look better now. Decon can give stars a hard edge sometimes, the downside of it.
I was very happy with the colours, much better than I have captured before. I am wondering if the blue response of this Sony chip is superior as I have seen that lovely blue colour before but only from very large telescopes. Usually the colour is bit more cyan.
Some great things about this image Greg, as usual the image scale is great, the HII regions stand out nicely and those two distant companion galaxies always look good when revealed as clear spirals . To my (err?..red biased ) eye though I also think the noise reduction/smoothing may be contributing to giving the details a bit of a broad brush painted look, this is less obvious at the smaller size though.
Some great things about this image Greg, as usual the image scale is great, the HII regions stand out nicely and those two distant companion galaxies always look good when revealed as clear spirals . To my (err?..red biased ) eye though I also think the noise reduction/smoothing may be contributing to giving the details a bit of a broad brush painted look, this is less obvious at the smaller size though.
Mike
Thanks Mike. Tbe only noise reduction was done on the very outer dim spiral, nothing on the main body of the galaxy. Its relatively short exposure despite taking several days of it (most was thrown out). More exposure as usual would improve things. I have some other data from earlier times I might try to add to it if the data is good enough.
But I do see what Mike is talking about - the inner portions look a bit over smoothed. Not sure why it would look that way without noise reduction though Did you apply sharpening, unsharp or other filtering to the central bits?
Interesting...some other processing technique must be causing that look then?..do you know what I am refering to?
Either way plenty of good in the image too
Mike
I had another look at it more carefully comparing it to an earlier version in the processing sequence and you are right something has smoothed out the galaxy unintentionally. The earlier versions before that step were sharper.
So I have taken on the various comments about softening the brightness and edges of the stars, making it sharp etc and put it all together and I think this final version seems to address them all. Overall I think this is the best M83 I have done so far even though it was less data.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marc4darkskies
Overall this is a lovely image Greg.
But I do see what Mike is talking about - the inner portions look a bit over smoothed. Not sure why it would look that way without noise reduction though Did you apply sharpening, unsharp or other filtering to the central bits?
Cheers, Marcus
Cheers Marcus. As mentioned above I looked again and you are both right there had been some smoothing that entered in unintentionally at some point. Corrected all the various points now.
I really like it Greg, I like the Ha particularly and the core. It does look natural.
IS this the new trend in processing?, a more organic feel?
Even holistic!!!
Here comes the essential oils and the chanting !!
OK at the Pbase "large" size it does look pretty cool, colours look good and the HII regions look amazing really..but at "original" size the processing does show up but ya know what?.. who cares..a great shot of an amazing galaxy
I really like it Greg, I like the Ha particularly and the core. It does look natural.
IS this the new trend in processing?, a more organic feel?
Even holistic!!!
Here comes the essential oils and the chanting !!
All organic foods consumed whilst processing this image!
Quote:
Originally Posted by strongmanmike
OK at the Pbase "large" size it does look pretty cool, colours look good and the HII regions look amazing really..but at "original" size the processing does show up but ya know what?.. who cares..a great shot of an amazing galaxy
Mike
I see, yes. I removed one high pass filtering step and it holds up better at original size now. Essentially that is how it came down from the setup.
Greg.
Last edited by gregbradley; 11-07-2014 at 04:09 PM.
I've softened the stars and muted them a tad using a different approach. Yes better now.
Did you apply sharpening, unsharp or other filtering to the central bits?
