Honest input please.

[xelasnave]

I wont bother listing the stars names..in passing..isnt it mind blowing the stars out there..just a small section of an ordinary galaxy which is one of billions or perhaps trillions...

ANYWAYS....I am working hard to get my act together, centered mainly on getting the RASA to work for me but I have actually been learning stuff about what goes into a good photo..Things like ADU and Histograms and signal to noise, and calibration and well depth etc...so now that I know everything I have started trying to incorporate calibration into my approach.

Not only have I been working on the RASA but also a widefield set up and last night gave it a run...mainly because I thought the perfectly clear night would cloud in once I got the RASA fired up...plus running this enabled me to do much needed work in the observatory cause the floor vibration does not interfere with imaging at this focal length...

So using a Nikon D5500 camera, on EQ5 mount, 20 second subs..I forget how many ( took 650 of stuff all over) and on this one ISO 3200.

But the big deal for me was I did darks, flats and dark flats (no bias) and stacked in Deep Sky Stacker and processed in Startools and Photoshop.

I am colour blind so I tried controlling the colour by the using the graph in Startools and dialing back individual colours in Photoshop ...My idea was to dial back on say green and purple approach..I have no idea if it works but perhaps better than before where I just saved what I liked.

So a little section in Sagittarius.

So please tell me what I am obviously doing wrong in your view and anything you can offer to help me improve...

Forgot to mention exact focal length but maybe 150mm but the key point is it was a 70/200 mm lens that cost only $200

alex

[multiweb (Marc)]

Looks like M7 and the colors are spot on IMO.

[xelasnave]

As I said I captured over 600 but 300 were thrown out...


SO ALWAYS LOOK AT YOUR FIRST COUPLE OF IMAGES BEFORE YOU LET THINGS RUN FOR AN HOUR WHILE YOU HAVE DINNER AS FOCUS COULD HAVE BEEN STUFFED WHEN YOU PUT ON THE DEW SHIELD AND VALUABLE IMAGING TIME IS LOST....

Here is one with no calibration but at 30 seconds and 1600 iso...

ALEX

[AdamJL]

Honest feedback: hard to tell with a small image. Is there any place you could post a higher resolution file, Alex?

[iborg (Philip)]

Hi Alex


Overall, I think I very nice shot.



Having said that, to my eyes, most of the stars are looking a bit too blue in the first image. This stands out more towards the top left.



In the second image, seems to be a bit lacking in colour. Just a bit grey overall.


Philip


PS I'm glad you are able to be getting out and about. Good luck.

[glend (Glen)]

I like the Sagitarius wide field. The colour is ok, after all its a subjective thing, even if your not colour blind. The good think about OSC with a Nikon is that colour balance is usually pretty close. I had seen suggestions that setting the balance for flouro lighting work very well.

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Looks like M7 and the colors are spot on IMO.

I think it is M7 also but as I didnt check I did not venture ... I forget sometimes so I check most everything I think I know to be fact..a good habit for old people..so when I get old I will be well prepared.

Thanks for your opinion Marc and as you must know I value your opinion very very highly..also your various expressed opinions on astrophotography has had a deep influence on my approach...I have up to now, over all these years, considered it just playing really but I was getting experience by making all the mistakes I could plus many on purpose so that at some point I could have a real go...and so to find my big attempt at the colours worked just fills me with so much joy I can not in any way express...And makes me more determinded to keep up the intense program I have set for myself.

I was real happy cause I thought the flats worked but I am processing another image now that tells me different...but you know all those years mucking about has me confident that after my touch up all will be good...I will post it later as well.

Thank you so much to have your encouragement is really something else I assure you...I dont think anything could make me happier...

alex

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by AdamJL

Honest feedback: hard to tell with a small image. Is there any place you could post a higher resolution file, Alex?

I dont know...I am not the worldly all knowing person that my image suggests..what could/would you suggest?
alex

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by iborg

Hi Alex


Overall, I think I very nice shot.



Having said that, to my eyes, most of the stars are looking a bit too blue in the first image. This stands out more towards the top left.



In the second image, seems to be a bit lacking in colour. Just a bit grey overall.


Philip


PS I'm glad you are able to be getting out and about. Good luck.

Thank you very much Philip first for your good wishes re my situation but more so for your input...mmm obviously the cheap lens is the cause of those blueish stars so there is nothing more to do than buy a really good lens ..Joking aside I did think the same..so that makes me even more happy..but I did do some work there on the blue but I could not get it past a point where things went downhill..

The grey may be me trying to err on the side of less colour than to make the mistakes I constantly made in the past.

Thank again I really do appreciate you taking the time to offer your opinion which I value greatly.

alex

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by glend

I like the Sagitarius wide field. The colour is ok, after all its a subjective thing, even if your not colour blind. The good think about OSC with a Nikon is that colour balance is usually pretty close. I had seen suggestions that setting the balance for flouro lighting work very well.

Thank you Glen.

This is of course the very camera that you suggested for me all those years ago when I expressed my intention to get back into astrophotography..and an excellent unit it has proved to be..the results I have always been happy with.

If I get a chance I will try the flouro ..thanks for that..

alex

[Startrek (Martin)]

Alex,
That’s a really nice wide field image from up there under your dark skies
Colours are fine too
Well done !!!
Martin

[xelasnave]

I did not have much luck with this one..I should have gone thru and thrown out the rubbish and the subs with planes flying thru the capture area...

This was heavily cropped as my flats did little for the corners...anyways when I have time I will go thru the subs and stack only the good stuff but what puts me off is the amount of noise particularly walking noise and Starltools helped but it is still huge...anyways to get tthis out of my attention and move on and do something else today... I post this so the job is sortta finished..for the moment...I think I did something wrong someplace so I will do it all again after a sensible cull.

anyways no need to comment wait until I do everything right on the next go..

EDIT ADDITION

the second one had no flats but I went thru and removed poor subs which mainly were ones showing something flying thru rather quickly
alex

[Nikolas (Nik)]

This final shot is outstanding Alex, However it is a tad cyan in colour, I know with your colour blindness it may not appear so but if you run a green noise extraction then the image would be better colour balanced.

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by Nikolas

This final shot is outstanding Alex, However it is a tad cyan in colour, I know with your colour blindness it may not appear so but if you run a green noise extraction then the image would be better colour balanced.

Thanks Nik.
I will do it over ..I was in a rush and somewhat disheartened that my flats did not work...mmm maybe I used the wrong ones?.. anyways I am giving myself a break..2 am down up at 6 am so I am going to have the rest of the day off after I refit the focuser on the RASA.
Thanks for your help and encouraging input I greatly appreciate you doing so.
Alex