My first go at Flame Nebula

[shropshire lad]

Flame and Horsehead with Canon 80D sigma 150-600mm @ 400mm  ...... f5.6 .... iso 400 ..... Skywatcher AZ-GTI in AZ mode ... Bortle class 5.

60 x 30sec images

25 Darks

30 Bias

Photoshop 2021.

[AstroNebulee]

That's a fantastic image that, is it a modded dslr? I'd love to get something like that as I have an az gti mount also with my Canon 450d gives me something to go at until my star adventurer hopefully arrives in March 

[shropshire lad]

No camera not modded and no filters used.

 

[ollypenrice]

Good result. I'd want to have a look at the dark halos around many of the stars. This often comes from deconvolution. If you didn't feel like going back to early on in the processing an easy Ps fix would be to use the clone stamp set to 'Lighten' and take a sample from next to the star to apply over it.

Before:

After:

Olly

 

[Marvin Jenkins]

Terrific, you have done really well there. You should be well proud of your efforts. Good focus, sharp stars, the difference in colour of the flame versus the  horse head.
And of course ‘The Horse Head’ iconic image that some non Astro humans know by name but think is only possible to see with Hubble. (Yes I know the Hubble image is more than special) But you have it right there by your own efforts 👍

[shropshire lad]

17 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Good result. I'd want to have a look at the dark halos around many of the stars. This often comes from deconvolution. If you didn't feel like going back to early on in the processing an easy Ps fix would be to use the clone stamp set to 'Lighten' and take a sample from next to the star to apply over it.

Before:

After:

Olly

 

Thanks I'm going to give that a go.

 

[shropshire lad]

Wow yes that definitely works ... thanks for the tip ... only problem now is I have spots in front of my eyes ... lol.

.

 

[Marvin Jenkins]

We all do. But aren’t they great.

[Marvin Jenkins]

Your post brings back fond memories from just over one year ago. We had friends com over for a short break (remember those) and I was showing my mate Sean my mind blowing deep space 60 second subs.

Sean asked... Have you imaged the Horse Head? I laughed and said are you kidding then looked at the flame neb picture I was actually showing him right there and saw the notch..... no way..... can’t be.

A very generous friend who had much better things to do, took my mediocre single dull sub and turned it into a picture. Your effort and your result reminded me why I decided to put a camera on a scope and the end result is, as always a reminder of how an astronomer can help a newbie. 

This thread #ollypenrice is testimony to that. Marv

[ollypenrice]

12 hours ago, shropshire lad said:

Wow yes that definitely works ... thanks for the tip ... only problem now is I have spots in front of my eyes ... lol.

.

 

If ever you have a few very 'difficult' stars - and you will - there is another trick to try. Make a copy layer and apply, to the top layer, a fully feathered eraser large enough to cover the whole problem star and its bloat. Nothing will change because the images are identical in both layers. However, make the bottom layer active, open Curves, and put a fixing point at the nearest bit of background sky before the bloat. Add a fixing point below that. Now you can pull down the curve above these points, playing with its shape, till the problem star behaves itself!

Olly

[shropshire lad]

5 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

If ever you have a few very 'difficult' stars - and you will - there is another trick to try. Make a copy layer and apply, to the top layer, a fully feathered eraser large enough to cover the whole problem star and its bloat. Nothing will change because the images are identical in both layers. However, make the bottom layer active, open Curves, and put a fixing point at the nearest bit of background sky before the bloat. Add a fixing point below that. Now you can pull down the curve above these points, playing with its shape, till the problem star behaves itself!

Olly

I have tried to follow your instructions but am unsure how to do this part 

"open Curves, and put a fixing point at the nearest bit of background sky before the bloat. Add a fixing point below that. Now you can pull down the curve above these points, playing with its shape, till the problem star behaves itself!"

[MKHACHFE]

Awesome image. Very well done mate.