ic2177 - Seagull Nebula

[h0ughy (David)]

Originally Posted by EddieT

Thanks Hachi, Kisa and Houghy!



No problem mate! Some of these popular nebula names deserve questioning And now that you've turned it around and given me a reference, I can see that you weren't joking anyway! Totally...

Yes, after years of blending Ha with RGB and other narrowband forays, I'm making an effort to try for true colour and a more natural appearance of things. And finding it very difficult due mainly to the Gold Coast conditions. The light dome here extends up to about 80 degrees so there is always skyglow and gradients to contend with except for that 40 degree sweet spot overhead...

As for the stars, I think the opposite is true. The FSQ is so sharp and produces such small stars that they are always mega-bright and they really subdue the already dim bits that are down around the skyglow level in 10 minutes....So yes, I did some dimming of the stars, using Photoshop CS4's Highlight compression when converting from 32-bit HDR to a 16-bit image.

Going to Duckadang this year ?

thanks for the Description Eddie, yes I will be attending this year. Now what is a highlight compression? - maybe for another thread probably for us novices and intelligence challenged Imagers (i place myself here) there could be a discussion on how you processed this

[EddieT (Eddie)]

Originally Posted by h0ughy

thanks for the Description Eddie, yes I will be attending this year. Now what is a highlight compression? - maybe for another thread probably for us novices and intelligence challenged Imagers (i place myself here) there could be a discussion on how you processed this

No worries mate. Well, a description yes maybe in another thread.

But basically Photoshop CS4 supports 32-bit images, though it lacks a lot of standard functions when processing a 32-bit image. If you try to convert a 32-bit image to 16-bit, Photoshop by default wants to know the conversion method. It gives you 4 to choose from and one of those is "Highlight Compression", which compresses the brightest parts of the image down. When the brightest parts are stars, it works well.

[h0ughy (David)]

thanks Eddie

[Octane (Humayun)]

Eddie,

That is sublime. I've really enjoyed the different colouring in this one, compared to other images of the same object. I know my one looked like a lady of the night (bright red lipstick).

Excellent work.

Just one thing, the 1800x1200 link on your page is the same as 1200x800.

Regards,
Humayun

[EddieT (Eddie)]

Originally Posted by Octane

Eddie,

That is sublime. I've really enjoyed the different colouring in this one, compared to other images of the same object. I know my one looked like a lady of the night (bright red lipstick).

Excellent work.

Just one thing, the 1800x1200 link on your page is the same as 1200x800.

Regards,
Humayun

Thanks Humayun!
I find good colour very easy to obtain with the QHY8 for some reason. It's my first OSC camera, maybe thats why.

Thanks for mentioning the page, I'll fix that tonight.

[atalas]

Nice work Eddie!

[Tamtarn]

Superb image for your return Eddie. Colour balance and processing just perfect. Can't wait to see more

[EddieT (Eddie)]

Thanks again Louie. Good to see you around the traps...!

[EddieT (Eddie)]

And thanks to you again also David.