Thanks Andy. I keep losing that link.
Nice image Bruce! Nothing wrong with still comet in star trails. I think it gives it a sense of motion.
I put the question out on another forum with two pics, one with star trails and one with still stars and comet to see what they liked the best. The majority seemed to like still comet and stars. Rotters.
Fair enough I suppose when there are pretty stars in the background. And the very best pictures from Damian Peach for instance do this also. But it can be quite a processing nightmare in a rich starfield. I found it doesn't always work to plan. There are artifacts in the dual stack to clean up and the blending can be a bit iffy. I suppose with lots of practice it gets easier.
I wanted an easier approach to shooting still comet and stars. I looked at lots of images, scope combinations and methods. I discovered the best images seem to come from those crazy fast hyperstar scopes. Comets like fat, fast scopes. I can't afford one of those so I got the next best thing - an 8" F4 Newtonain. I keep the total exposure just long enough so the the comet trails just slightly, not enough to blur tail details. I stack in DSS using a median stack which helps "round" the comet nucleus. I then stretch the life out of it, mostly with the curves option in photoshop. I have to do several passes as DSS makes the final image quite dark. DSS also sucks out the colour. I have to put it back in by increasing the vibrance / saturation.
If you're not doing so already, shoot with RAW files. They usually have greater bit depth so can be stretched further to bring out fainter details.
