M42, Just cant get this right

[dark knight]

Well after a long time away from processing images I just cant get this M42 right, I don't like the colours too much and really not sure how to go about balancing them better. Also I'd like the background to be a little darker. I'm using photoshop for post processing. Where am I going wrong. Any help and of course criticism most welcome.

[dannybgoode]

I quite like that.  Better than any of my attempts at photographing it.  Which reminds me, I need to try and get my annual attempt at M42 in - I use it as a benchmark to see how I have come on year to year.

If you want to post the image data I will have a crack at it in PI.  I am no expert in using it but am more familiar with it now than I ever have been

[LukeSkywatcher]

I don't mind the image (per say). I agree the background is a bit bright and blue. The nebula is a bit overcooked also, but if you manage to darken the background......the nebula might look fine.

I'm not an imager, but I am a web designer and have used PS a fair bit (but not lately).

[david_taurus83]

Try sliding the left slider to near the bottom of the histogram in Levels. Or in curves drag the centre of the line down a little. What you don't want though is the histogram all the way to the left. I used an app on my phone to pull the curve down on this.

 

[CCD-Freak]

Can you tell us more about the image...

What camera and software.....Did you use any filters? 

What DeBayer settings etc. 

[dark knight]

camera is Canon 1000d, modded, no filters. captured using Nina.

[dark knight]

David that looks so much better!!

[Starflyer]

Are you shooting Raw images and stacking in DeepSkyStacker? 

Try choosing 'RGB Channels Calibration' in DSS, this should give you a better colour balance. Your images will look very lacking in colour after stacking, the colour will be there and come out in processing in PS.

This page gives good explanations of the various settings and where to find them, look for Stacking / Background Calibration.

There's a cracking image in there Carl, just fiddle som more with the stacking / processing.

[Stargazer33]

With a modded DSLR it's always going to be towards the red end of the spectrum.  If you upload the stacked raw image then people could experiment.

[JSeaman]

A quick play in PS, use levels to bring the black point where you want it (I change r, g and b indepedently)

I dropped the saturation and vibrance a little and then played with curves.

Masking off the centre (trapezium) you can add some green to the rest of the image to brighten it up and then take some out the centre

It is crude and lots of artefacts on the background etc. but it gives you a few things to try at least:

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by JSeaman

[CCD-Freak]

Does NINA DeBayer the CR2 raw image from the camera?  The color seems to be off since you are not using a filter.  Have you tried different settings for the DeBayer process?  I would expect the colors to be more like this image which I took with a non modded Canon 100D with no filters.

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by CCD-Freak

[CCD-Freak]

I had another thought......when the Ha mod was done to the camera were all the filters removed?  Some cameras require a UV-IR filter after the mod to keep the color balance closer to normal.  My 100D still has the UV-IR filter after the Ha mod so the color balance is not affected too much. 

[dark knight]

Ian, yes shooting in raw and stacking in DSS, think i will revisit the subs, restack and go from there taking on all the lovely tips from you kind folks. 

[Newforestgimp]

43 minutes ago, dark knight said:

Ian, yes shooting in raw and stacking in DSS, think i will revisit the subs, restack and go from there taking on all the lovely tips from you kind folks. 

I aim to get somewhere close to your original image its stunning so wont even think about commenting on that, but in my efforts I found that APP stacked and controlled the colours better than my previous attempts with DSS. Might be worth a try ?

[dark knight]

ok, I finally sorted out my Drop Box account so if anyone is interested in having a play with the stacked image heres the link to the tiff  https://www.dropbox.com/s/44egikksfkr4cck/m42 dss stack.tif?dl=0   and once again many thanks

[davew]

Hi Carl,

I've not done this sort of stuff in what must be a few years. I hadn't even realised how rusty I've become ! Any, enough of the excuses.

Nothing tricky done just the usual curves and colour correction, in a convoluted fashion, which shows some nice details and mucky bits. No noise reduction.

Has this image had flats applied ?

Dave.

Edit - Now It's downloaded it looks rather bright. It also needs DBE in PI or a wipe thingy in ST  !

Edited March 25, 2021 by davew

[JSeaman]

[dark knight]

Wow thanks guys, they both look really great, at least I can now see what's possible with the data I got.  I only use photoshop and maybe I'm too aggressive with the curves and should do lots of smaller stages. I really need to relearn my workflow!!!

[JSeaman]

That was very rough and ready and mainly in PS, it's good data and you can go far with it. Just process it forever until you're happy with the result