Re-editing my first nebula DSLR image - M42

[powerlord]

So, i've only been imaging for 3 months, but I've come on quite a bit in that time- mostly on the processing and editing front - thanks in no small part to people on here pointing me in the right direction.

So I thought I'd apply some of those lessons learned to my first image I took other than the moon with my DSLR -M42 back on 13th March with my 1200D and a 300mm SLR lens.

First is the original edit I probably posted back then:

 

 

 

 

 

And now there-edit using startools, and new techniques I've learned as I've got to grips with using Affinity:

 

Maybe not night and day, and still not wonderful, but it does show it's worth keeping learning - and that taking the raw data is only 1/2 the job.

stu

Edited June 21, 2021 by powerlord

[happy-kat]

From my phone the running Man is much more visible on the second process.

[Chefgage]

I prefere the first one. The stars are sharper and the nebula more softer/pleasing to the eye.

[johnst]

A lot more nebulosity showing in the second one but hey, I'd be pleased with either of the images so well done! 

[powerlord]

2 hours ago, Chefgage said:

I prefere the first one. The stars are sharper and the nebula more softer/pleasing to the eye.

yeh not sure what i did to screw up the stars. back to the drawing board. needs the best of both.

[Clarkey]

There is certainly some good data there and with a bit of tweaking you should be able to get the result you want.

Looking at the second image there is certainly more detail but also more noise (as you would expect). I found with Startools that for many subjects the Autodev function had a tendency to slightly over-stretch the data and even after de-noise there would still be a lot of noise. Two options really. Firstly when running the de-noise module push the grain size up quite a bit. It will soften the image but give a better overall result. The other option (which I often use with ST) is to run a manual develop and not push the data quite so far. I have found the final results slightly more pleasing.

Also, if you are using Affinity you could use the Astroflat pro plug-in, or just run a denoise routine . Both of these might help your final image.

Hope this helps.

[powerlord]

will have another go. astroflat no good to me - I'm on mac.

[happy-kat]

Autodev works very well use the settings to manipulate the strength. For example 1 set the region of interest 2 set the ignore fine detail parameter, those two will give a good tweak starting point.