ic 1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula, then and now - A Re-process of my 1st Bi-Colour Image

[Xiga]

Hey guys

I shot my 1st full Bi-Colour NB image back in October/November of 2017. It was the Elephant Trunk Nebula, and at the time i remember having a hard time processing it to my own satisfaction. 

Fast-forward 5 months and, well the weather is bloomin awful, lol, and the nights are now short, so i thought i would re-visit this in the hope i could do better now that i have a bit more PP experience under the belt. 

The main differences this time (apart from rotating the image to frame it differently) are, RGB combination was done in APP rather than PS. The OIII signal was also given an x2 multiplier to help boost it (this meant i didn't have to give it a big manual stretch in PS). No HLVG has been done at all this time, as i now prefer to leave the Green in, as i think it adds more depth to an image, as long as it's not excessive. This has made a big difference i feel, as from memory i think i really went to town on removing the Green in the original version, and subsequently everything came out brown as a result. I also went with a smaller stretch overall compared to last time, although i did up the Vibrance quite a bit in the new version (i couldn't help myself). Overall though, compared to the original the new version has had a LOT less processing done to it. Whether that shows (or even helps) i'm not completely sure. 

Still not 100% sure it's the best version of itself it can be, but overall i am much happier with the result. I actually didn't do any sharpening at all in this one, so i could possibly do something there. 

C&C most welcome please. Have i gone overboard on anything? I had a hard time getting the overall brightness to a level i was happy with. When i thought i had it right, i looked at it the next day at work and on my phone and it looked way too dark, so i ended up cranking it up several notches as a result. 

7 x 600s and 14 x 900s of Ha
17 x 900s of OIII
(just shy of 9 hrs in total).
50 Bias and 30 Flats

Combined as SHO. The SII was synthesized from a blend of 30% Ha and 70% OIII. 

Taken with the usual gear: Nikon D5300a and SW 80ED scope on a HEQ5 Pro mount. 
Captured with SGPro, pre-processed with APP and post-processed with PS.

Here's a link to the original thread:

And the latest version:

[Demonperformer]

Personal preference: I prefer this version with the cooler (more muted?) colours ... not that I would not be massively happy with your first rendition ....

[Droogie 2001]

I really like both of them but the re-worked one looks better, the stars are more nature looking.

[Xiga]

Thanks guys!

Decided to see what it would look like if i upped the contrast significantly. So here goes nothing.

Thoughts??? Better or worse than before? 

[Droogie 2001]

Personally I prefer the previous image as it just seems more natural to me. Just my preference, both are still excellent images.

[tooth_dr]

Ciaran I have to agree that the top version is the best! 

[Xiga]

Yep, you're both absolutely right. Looking at it again today I can see I've clearly gone overboard with the HDR toning (note to self, try to avoid using this if at all possible).

Serves me right I suppose for staying up to silly hours staring at the (non-calibrated) screen, lol.

Thanks for keeping me right guys.

[Droogie 2001]

Just now, Xiga said:

Yep, you're both absolutely right. Looking at it again today I can see I've clearly gone overboard with the HDR toning (note to self, try to avoid using this if at all possible).

Serves me right I suppose for staying up to silly hours staring at the (non-calibrated) screen, lol.

Thanks for keeping me right guys.

No problem. I have been and done that before. I find I start to lose focus if I keep working on an image for too long.