Another go at M31. Getting the most out of minimal data!

[wxsatuser]

I believe with modern dslrs darks could be a problem, have tried darks in the past but could'nt tell the difference.

Tried scaling them in Imagesplus, again could'nt tell the difference, may be I'm not skillfull enough to see the difference.

Have always had the colour mottle and until I saw Tony's video I had no idea it could be defeated.

Now I have the Lacerta and dithering it's a different ball game.

My first real attempt on the Californian Nebula blew me away, it really does show stuff that is not visible with the mottle.

Processing was a pain and I did'nt feel like it was worth spending a lot of time trying to get a good result.

Now I'm looking forward to learning more about processing, just want some quality imaging time.

[gorann]

Thanks Claran! I can say the same about the colours of your last version! We are getting there.

[Xiga]

The difference is very subtle, but i brought up the reds just a smidge in this version by boosting the a channel (i don't like too much purple in this, even though it no doubt should be there. To my bleary eyes, purple with this little data just looks more like noise than anything else but that could just be me!).

I will revisit this project again in the near future, as the next thing on my list is learning how to process RGB and Luminence separately. Up to now i've been using Carboni's Local Cantrast Enhancement on the spiral arms, but the more you read about this hobby the more you realise there's always a better way! Lol. On closer inspection, the LCE looks like it actually smears the data a bit, so I think i will get better results by avoiding using it alltogether and instead sharpening solely the Luminence channel by using HDR toning (and as always using a Layer Mask to only apply it to the parts i want to, such as the spiral arms), before then merging it back with the colour data. If anyone has any pro tips on this method i'd be very grateful t hear them!

Clear skies.

[gorann]

You could also try the smart sharpening "filter" in Photoshop - that gives you more control (or use them both). I do the sharpening on a copy of the image and then I use layer masks to add the sharpening to the parts where is is needed (or looks good) and adjust the transparency of the layer mask to get the right level of sharpness..

[gorann]

PS. Forgot to tell you that it looks really good!

[MarsG76]

I just looked at your new one... the new one is a vast improvement but this one is still great....