Paul,
didn't get the snaps of the pier today, one of those days.
It will be good to have you out of the gutter so to speak as well.
Not sure of the cluster you mean, but it will be getting higher as the months go, so will be in view for you soon no doubt.
Gary
Just did some changing of the curves and colour adjustment to the Eta Carina shot. More of the red showing and the dust lanes are more visible. What do you all think, is it better or should I stay with the original.
I think they both look great Paul. Each has something the other isn't showing. Not that that's in any way a detraction.
IMHO splitting the difference between the two might keep the deep colour of the original, keep the additional red you've brought out but remove some of the"washed out" or lack of colour intensity from the from the centre of the image.
I'd be interested in the process you went through to achieve these images. Especially if you posted your unprocessed original, as a comparison
Yes I tend to think that I need to go somewhere in between. See what I can do. Beefing up the curves does tend to show the vignetting a little more also. Thanks anyway chaps.
I then process in photoshop the levels, curves (open the curve in the centre), adjust the colour balance ( you need to adjust all areas with a concentration on Red, Magenta and blue due to the natural colours of the nebula). Next I address the brightness and contrast. Brightness I reduce a little (2 or 3 points) and increase contrast by 5 or six. Then I increase the saturation to 25 and this gives the result below.
This shot is the in between shot from the original post and the more extreme shot. I am not sure about the result, and tend to think that the original was the best. Anyway I would appreciate everyones opinion as I can sometimes get bogged down in the final process and start second guessing myself.
It really looks more natural, more "life like" if you will. I'd like to see shots in this colour grade in more astonomy mags and books so that people just starting out would get a more realistic expectation at to what they might see. Rather than the high colour images (which definately still have their paramount place as visual mind blowers )
I think you've really captured the visual aspect of the gas and dust cloud exceptionally well. Which is not taking anything away from the other two great works.
Keep up the inspiring work Paul.
ps how about a review of what you do to capture and process the images over in the Tips and Techniques forum
Last edited by [1ponders]; 11-01-2005 at 01:19 PM.
fellas, gbeal and rumples, you're both brilliant! Now that settles it
I was thinking about what ponders said about trying to get an inbetween shot of your carina nebula shots. So I tried combining your second shot (the one with the curves and colour adjustments, which I also thinks looks a bit like skyglow) with your 5th shot (the one you posted as being the original, before the levels and curves) in photoshop. I came up with this:
There's slightly more nebulosity but the colour seems a bit washed out. But you're right, we could just go on processing and reprocessing everything but in the end, it's up to the eye of the beholder - if it looks good to you, then keep it. Personally, I like your 5th shot, the original. The balance between the colour and the nebulosity is good. My fiance agrees too, he said he like your image over the processed one I tried, which is fair enough since I agree too! Well, they are all great images so keep it up!
Hey thanks Silvie for the input. Always good to get another opinion on how things look. I can get really caught up in what looks good and what does not.
Incidently, your processing is quite good and I think that I will keep your shot. Thankyou for your imput and thank your fiance too.
Congrats on the fine images Paul 
![[1ponders]'s Avatar](../vbiis/customavatars/avatar45_9.gif){kind=avatar}
You and I must have been posting at the same time Paul. 
Thanks for the info on your processing
