Posted Image Quality

[Hagar (Doug)]

I spend a lot f time in the Deep Sky Imaging section of this forum and have noticed the image quality of late has really moved to a new level. It is getting hard to comment on the images other than to say how nice they really are. We need the great imagers on the forum to pass on some of their tips and tricks to help the rest of us who aspire to produce the type of images they produce.

Keep at it everyone it is great to see such lovely images.

[peter brown]

See one, do one, teach one....secret of progress

[Jen]

Yes im drooling on my keyboard at some of these images well done

[Matty P (Matt)]

I agree with you Doug.

There have been some fantastic images posted in both the solar and deep space forums lately. I for one, browse the imaging forum regularly and am truly amazed with the high quality images being posted.

Viewing images posted by other members is what sparked my interest in astrophotography.

Well done to everyone who posts their images.

[RB (Andrew)]

One basic tip I pass on to everyone is to keep an eye on your histogram.
The histogram gives you a graphical representation of the distribution of pixels for each shade/level, of each channel.

In other words from zero (total black) all the way across to 255 (total white) with every shade in between.
If your histogram is already above zero in the y axis at the beginning (on any one of the channels) then you have a clipped image resulting in loss of detail.
The same is true if your histogram is above zero at the end, you have blown the highlights.

The ideal histogram should start at zero and gradually move up in a curve, peaking and then gradually coming back down to zero before the end.
Also it's best to have one peak, not two or more since that indicates a colour imbalance between the channels.

The way to gain a good histogram is to have plenty of data which will give you plenty of room to manipulate and bring out the detail hidden in the image.
In other words the more exposure you have, the better.

I know it's very basic but hope it helps.

[Hagar (Doug)]

Thanks Andrew. These are the types of comments which are truely valued by the beginner. They make the difference between an image being a horrible shade and an image becoming an item to be proud of. Tips of this nature usually get the beginner to do a re process at the time of reading and the feeling of achievement and thanks goes along way in making images what they are, a true representation of the actual target.
With the increased quality of images I wonder if some of the new Astro imagers are a little put off at posting what they consider to be sub standard images.

If you are new to Imaging remember a couple of things: You will learn a lot faster if you post an image and pay heed to the comments.
Those who are making the comments and in some ases doing a quick reprocess of your image are doing so for your benifit.

Keep posting everyone.