M42 Process - Following step-by-step guide

[iwatkins]

Hi All,

Trying to sort my workflow out I came across the following article that I found quite useful: Astronomy Shed UK Astronomy Forum • View topic - Superb Processing Tutorial

Followed that to the letter and came up with the image below. Although I do things differently myself, I found the tutorial useful and would be a godsend to anyone just starting out, especially with DSS.

Cheers

Ian

[nmoushon]

Thanks for sharing. Will have to give that a try sometime. Good image there. Need a bit smoother transition between masks but the datas there and I think you could get a really good final show out of it.

[iwatkins]

Yep, my Photoshop skills are not the best so the pasted in core is a bit obvious

Cheers

Ian

[ollypenrice]

Well... there is a much better way, to be honest, and it isn't that difficult;

Compositing 2 Different Exposures via Layer Masks

Olly

[nmoushon]

Ya after sitting down and actually reading through that guide I found the technique of using layer masks of different levels/curves adjustments to get HDR images a lot easier and better results than the cut and paste he suggested. The link olly put up is a really good one. Try that one instead. I think you'll find the end result much better.