Hi Dave,
I used Photoshop to process my Milky Way Panorama http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=87303 as well and it was a real pain. I (after much experimentation) found that the "Reposition Only" option produced the best result for the horizon. It kept it nice and flat. I then had to play around with the individual layer masks it created on each frame to fix the misaligned Milky Way. Be warned- it took me only 10-15 minutes to shoot the shots, and it took me about 5 hours to get it the way I wanted.
Good Luck. Hope this helps.
Cheers
Greg
Quote:
Originally Posted by naskies
I did actually record enough data above the Milky Way - but I can't for the life of me figure out how to make Photoshop do a rectilinear instead of fisheye projection.
If I add the extra frames in (about 50-60% of the full night sky), then it automatically becomes a fisheye projection - like Stellarium when completely zoomed out (see attached pic - or larger version here).
EasyHDR can bring out the dust better without saturating the brighter parts of the image.
There seems to be more blue around Crux due to less extinction by the atmosphere as it was most probably far higher.
Bert
Thanks Bert - that's a superb improvement! I think I might print out the EasyHDR version to hang up on the wall. I'll definitely have to give your processing tricks a go with a new set of stacked subs and accurate polar alignment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marc4darkskies
Nice images Dave! That first star trail is an absolute ripper though!
Thanks Marcus!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Starcrazzy
Fantastic. !!!! Love the first one especially.
Cheers!
Quote:
Originally Posted by obsidianphotos
Hi Dave,
I used Photoshop to process my Milky Way Panorama http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=87303 as well and it was a real pain. I (after much experimentation) found that the "Reposition Only" option produced the best result for the horizon. It kept it nice and flat. I then had to play around with the individual layer masks it created on each frame to fix the misaligned Milky Way. Be warned- it took me only 10-15 minutes to shoot the shots, and it took me about 5 hours to get it the way I wanted.
Good Luck. Hope this helps.
Cheers
Greg
That's a fantastic panorama! Yep, I know what you mean about the Photoshop Photomerge feature being fiddly. Given how I shot it, it doesn't look like the reposition mode works very well on my frames, unfortunately.
I did some searching of the IIS forums, and saw that AutoPano Giga was very highly rated. I've just downloaded and tested the trial version on my panorama here. The default settings weren't as good as Photoshop's defaults, but I was able to tweak the projection and control point selection very effectively.
Here's an example of a straight-horizon Mercator projection where I managed to fit in all of Scorpius. I'm very impressed with the software - it's all point-and-click and GPU accelerated for instant/real-time feedback.
I may have to give it a go on some of my other panorama efforts that I couldn't previously stitch the way I wanted it (e.g. this one of the Summer Milky Way).
The only downside that I've seen to AutoPano Giga is the price: 199 Euro!
Getting a little carried away with AutoPano Giga... it's a beautiful piece of software. All of the frustrations that I've previously had with stitching panoramas (getting the right projection, angle of view, control points, etc) don't appear to be an issue here.
As a stress test, I attempted to stitch all the frames I had of both the Scorpius and Orion halves of the Milky Way. The end result is HERE.
My favourite feature: it's trivially easy to switch between straight-horizon and straight-Milky Way projections.
Getting a little carried away with AutoPano Giga... it's a beautiful piece of software. All of the frustrations that I've previously had with stitching panoramas (getting the right projection, angle of view, control points, etc) don't appear to be an issue here.
As a stress test, I attempted to stitch all the frames I had of both the Scorpius and Orion halves of the Milky Way. The end result is HERE.
My favourite feature: it's trivially easy to switch between straight-horizon and straight-Milky Way projections.
Sweet! Methinks I will just have to bite the bullet and pay that $199 Euro price tag. I'm going to be doing a lot more of these panorama type shots in the future and I will need something that does not cause me to tear my hair out each time. Thank for the product testing Dave. I'm going to download the trial version soon and have a play.
Wow, they are all very cool images! I keep trying this stuff but never get good at it. Well done!
Cheers! I personally subscribe to the infinite monkey theorem as it applies to photography... eventually one of them will work!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ric
Wonderful images Dave.
It's truly amazing what can be captured with a camera and tripod these days.
Thanks Ric! I particularly enjoy the digital stacking approach to star trails - far less risky. There was a car that drove past half way through the shoot, which completely wrecked the foreground of the 30 sec frame in question. Luckily these were only 30 sec frames!
Quote:
Originally Posted by multiweb
Congrats on IOTW. Your colors are superb. I have to try harder on my processing.
Thanks Marc! The colours were all recorded "in camera" - very little processing except for stacking, vibrance/saturation, and curves.
Here are a few frames (unedited - exported straight from Lightroom) taken about 20 mins apart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Bock
Well earned Dave, and good choice Mike. As soon as I laid eyes on number 1 at Moogerah Dam last week, i thought.."Now that deserves an IOTW"!!
Thanks Greg! Here is the full resolution version in case you or anyone else is interested (for non-commercial purposes).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lester
Outstanding images Dave, many to aspire to. All the best.
I keep trying this stuff but never get good at it. Well done!
