My first image M51

[Richie092]

Hi all

I finally have an image to show.

Taken with ED80 FR.85 and Canon 60D last night.

12 x 300s subs

20 x 300s Darks

20 x Bias

Stacked in DSS

Just stretched in PS as not sure what I'm doing on the processing front so would appreciate any and all pointers please.

Didn't do flats and without any cropping you can see the vignetting quite badly. I know there is still a bit more detail to squeeze out here - you might need a magnifying glass to see M51 in the middle there though.

[Leveye]

I see lots of artifacts around the stars did you sharpen this a lot? Did you start with a RAW file or are you shooting JPEG? A Gradient filter like gradient xterminator will get rid of the darker edges and make the background more even. Great image that can be made even greater with a bit of tweeking.

[Richie092]

Thanks for the reply.

I just moved the sharpen slider a tiny bit then put it back as it looked weird. These were all RAW files.

I have just downloaded a trial of that gradient exterminator and it did a great job on it.

[Leveye]

Post the result with the gradient filter love to see it such a great one. Always a good idea to use sharpen as one of the very last things you do at 100 % zoomed in to see the pixelation from it and then you can back off accordingly.. Works for me.

[Leveye]

If you have Photoshop use the smart sharpen filter in gaussian mode works wonders.Check this man's tutorials out i learned a lot from him.

http://www.youtube.com/user/namregd/videos

[Greathouse202]

This look really good, it's getting me excited to get my own equipment some day.

[Richie092]

Ok have had another go with it and run the gradient exterminator. I think it looks a little better. Hopefully I can get another couple of hours of subs on it over the weekend..... that's if I don't order the CCD before then.

[Pete Presland]

If you have Photoshop use the smart sharpen filter in gaussian mode works wonders.Check this man's tutorials out i learned a lot from him.

http://www.youtube.c.../namregd/videos

thanks for sharing, very interesting tutorials on there!

[Pete Presland]

Ok have had another go with it and run the gradient exterminator. I think it looks a little better. Hopefully I can get another couple of hours of subs on it over the weekend..... that's if I don't order the CCD before then.

certainly looks better to me, M51 is such a small a target for your ED80 though

[Richie092]

certainly looks better to me, M51 is such a small a target for your ED80 though

Yeah am beginning to think that it is a little too small.

I am quite limited by what I can see from my back garden but will do a little more research and try to find something bigger for next week (fingers crossed) and then after my playing about this week I will know all my equipment works as it should and what length subs to take from the start.

[lensman57]

Hi all

I finally have an image to show.

Taken with ED80 FR.85 and Canon 60D last night.

12 x 300s subs

20 x 300s Darks

20 x Bias

Stacked in DSS

Just stretched in PS as not sure what I'm doing on the processing front so would appreciate any and all pointers please.

Didn't do flats and without any cropping you can see the vignetting quite badly. I know there is still a bit more detail to squeeze out here - you might need a magnifying glass to see M51 in the middle there though.

Hi,

Any chance you could post the original stack fromm DSS without any stretching? Could have a go at it and see what is in there.

Regards,

A.G

[Richie092]

Of course. It will be Tuesday now as away - the original is on my PC and I have been playing with it on my MAC.

Here is another attempt after watching the excellent tutorials mentioned by Leveye

[kirkster501]

A good first image. You should be well proud of that - well done.

[Richie092]

Thank you very much Kirkster

[barkis]

You did good Richie.

You are up and running, and the enthusiasm is quite obvious.

Grabbing the data is only part of the job, and now you know how important the processing is.

It's heartwarming just to see how forthcoming the help as been in this thread.

Typical of just how good this forum is when it comes to helping others.

You will go on to good things I'm sure.

Enjoy your imaging :icon_salut: .

Ron.

[Delboy_Hog]

Hi Richie, that looks really nice!

Interesting to see the effect of the processing on the image as you go along too. How are you finding the ED80 on the HEQ5? It's a pretty popular set up I hear, so I'm saving the pennies in that general direction - be interesting to hear how you're getting on with it!

Lovely image and look forward to seeing the results of your next target!

[bogdog]

nice picture wish i could get a result like that

had a little play with the histogram settings on it,paint programmes aren't my "thing" as being colourblind is major hindrence

but here is result i got from the image you posted

[Leveye]

Excellent results! Glad to help. I do think i see some spots on your sensor i would give it a good bulb blowing and possibly a cleaning with a sensor swab.