IC 444 and IC 443, 100D, Star 71, HaRGB

[StargeezerTim]

This one was a real challenge to process! 32 x 5 min, iso 1600, CLS filter , for the RGB. 26 x 10 min, iso 1600, 12 nm Ha filter. Stacked in DSS and processed in PS. (6hrs totaI) Think its come out OK. Suggestions welcome. I could push it further but am satisfied so far!

[tooth_dr]

Lovely. Worth the effort

 

(does the bottom look a bit warped? )

[StargeezerTim]

2 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

 

(does the bottom look a bit warped? )

Like my mind! 

[Barry-Wilson]

Well done Tim, a cracking widefield image .

I wouldn't push the data any further as I think you've hit the 'sweet spot' with this dataset.

[MikeODay]

Wonderful image Tim.  I like the way the composition, subtle detail and tight stars combine to produce a very pleasing image.    

As for suggestions... well just a small one, on my screen ( IPAD ) the image looks a little green/yellow.  

To illustrate ...

The quick adjustment on my ipad is too far the otherway but it gives an idea of what I was thinking.

[StargeezerTim]

58 minutes ago, MikeODay said:

Wonderful image Tim.  I like the way the composition, subtle detail and tight stars combine to produce a very pleasing image.    

As for suggestions... well just a small one, on my screen ( IPAD ) the image looks a little green/yellow.  

To illustrate ...

The quick adjustment on my ipad is too far the otherway but it gives an idea of what I was thinking.

Thanks... did a very gentle SCNR and a very small levels tweak. Gently gently with this one! (I think it looks better though, the deeper stuff is a little more pronounced)

[MikeODay]

Yes the tweak has nicely brought out the very faint red dust/HA (?) in the background of the image. 

I like the subtle detail in your,  umm, “jelly fish nebula” ...

It also, to my eyes, stands proud of the rest of the objects and background and gives the image a 3d appearance.

Great image, well done!

 

[gorann]

Tim, that is really amazing data you captured, and with a DSLR. Congratulations!

If I should make a personal taste suggestion I think it is still a bit green and I would prefer it a bit deeper red rather than rusty red. You could also subdue the bright stars a bit (I find them a bit blinding). Here is a quick hint of what I mean from playing with curves in PS (maybe I pushed it a bit too much towards blue). But it is just all about personal preference...

Cheers, Göran

[StargeezerTim]

4 minutes ago, gorann said:

Tim, that is really amazing data you captured, and with a DSLR. Congratulations!

If I should make a personal taste suggestion I think it is still a bit green and I would prefer it a bit deeper red rather than rusty red. You could also subdue the bright stars a bit (I find them a bit blinding). Here is a quick hint of what I mean from playing with curves in PS (maybe I pushed it a bit too much towards blue). But it is just all about personal preference...

Cheers, Göran

Nice... how did you change the colours, just curves?

[gorann]

I used curves to bring down green a bit and bring up red (both in the middle part of the histogram on one colour channel at the time). Then I brought down the top of the RGB histogram a bit to make the stars a bit less blinding.

[gorann]

PS. you could also play with Hue/Saturation on the red

[StargeezerTim]

13 hours ago, gorann said:

Tim, that is really amazing data you captured, and with a DSLR. Congratulations!

If I should make a personal taste suggestion I think it is still a bit green and I would prefer it a bit deeper red rather than rusty red. You could also subdue the bright stars a bit (I find them a bit blinding). Here is a quick hint of what I mean from playing with curves in PS (maybe I pushed it a bit too much towards blue). But it is just all about personal preference...

Cheers, Göran

 

Cheers, as you say, its a personal taste thing, but I did try boosting the red in the background nebula, leaving the Jellyfish alone, whilst aiming to keep the background space similar. (Lots of playing about with layer masks!)

[gorann]

Looks good but I think something happened to the brighter stars that now have a pronounced red ring around them. I think they looked more natural in your first versions. You could use a layer mask to bring back the original versions of those stars.

[StargeezerTim]

1 hour ago, gorann said:

Looks good but I think something happened to the brighter stars that now have a pronounced red ring around them. I think they looked more natural in your first versions. You could use a layer mask to bring back the original versions of those stars.

Isn't it always so! You can't do anything without upsetting another part of the image! I think I prefer the earlier version anyway...

I'm not sure a layer mask to use the original stars would work as the halos are quite large, but if you know a straightforward way of doing it, I'm keen to learn. I did remove the halos with the chromatic aberration settings in camera raw... but like Barry said earlier, its probably at the limit of processing and more is sometimes less! 

[gorann]

I like the way you made the nebulosity to the left a bit more red and kept the jellyfish slightly more yellowish. Otherwise the image becomes almost only orange and black - kind of bi-coloured.

With regard to the stars, what I would do is to put the original image as a layer on top of the new image (unless you have done any cropping or resizing they should align perfectly). Then you click on Add Layer Mask. Then you invert the layer mask (so the mask becomes black and your top layer becomes invisible - on Mac you press Command i to invert it). Then you use the brush tool in "white mode" to bring out the "old" stars. Probably set opacity of the tool to 25% or so and bring the stars out carefully so it looks seamless. It takes 5 min, so I could not stop myself from doing it to see how it worked on you image. By doing this you also get the stars to attain a colour that is a bit different from the nebulosity:

[StargeezerTim]

8 minutes ago, gorann said:

I like the way you made the nebulosity to the left a bit more red and kept the jellyfish slightly more yellowish. Otherwise the image becomes almost only orange and black - kind of bi-coloured.

With regard to the stars, what I would do is to put the original image as a layer on top of the new image (unless you have done any cropping or resizing they should align perfectly). Then you click on Add Layer Mask. Then you invert the layer mask (so the mask becomes black and your top layer becomes invisible - on Mac you press Command i to invert it). Then you use the brush tool in "white mode" to bring out the "old" stars. Probably set opacity of the tool to 25% or so and bring the stars out carefully so it looks seamless. It takes 5 min, so I could not stop myself from doing it to see how it worked on you image. By doing this you also get the stars to attain a colour that is a bit different from the nebulosity:

 

 

Thanks Gorann,  Here is my go using your method, I've reduced the star size a tad as well. No more playing for me now! Cheers, Tim. 

 

[gorann]

An image to be very proud of Tim!

Cheers, Göran