Orion widefield in 18 minutes - a bittersweet image!

[R1k]

This is an image from a recent night in the Lake District (Bortle 3) and comprises 18 minutes integration in 9 x 2 minute tracked sub-exposures.

Unfortunately, I just could not blend in the untracked foreground trees no matter how hard I tried despite various attempts at layer masks and various stacking settings in Sequator.

Nevertheless, I’m pleased with the main focus of the image, there are several well known DSOs visible and lots of faint, dark nebulae and dust seen above Orion and particularly between the California nebula and the Pleiades.

Must have another go at this field of view with a simpler foreground and longer exposure when the opportunity next arises!

 

Equipment:

- Canon 800d (astromodded)

- SW SA pro 2i

- Optolong CLS-CCD clip in filter

- Samyang 14mm f2.8

 

Acquisition:

- Lights - 9 x 2 minutes, ISO1600, f4

- Darks - 4

[FenlandPaul]

Superb, Rik - loads of stuff bursting out of that image.  Blending tracked shots can be tricky, that’s for sure.

Seeing this has made me very excited that my 6D should return from being Astro-modded today!! 

[callisto]

Trees aside, I think that is a excellent widefield image...well done Rik 

 

Mark.

[doublevodka]

5 hours ago, R1k said:

This is an image from a recent night in the Lake District (Bortle 3) and comprises 18 minutes integration in 9 x 2 minute tracked sub-exposures.

Unfortunately, I just could not blend in the untracked foreground trees no matter how hard I tried despite various attempts at layer masks and various stacking settings in Sequator.

Nevertheless, I’m pleased with the main focus of the image, there are several well known DSOs visible and lots of faint, dark nebulae and dust seen above Orion and particularly between the California nebula and the Pleiades.

Must have another go at this field of view with a simpler foreground and longer exposure when the opportunity next arises!

 

Equipment:

- Canon 800d (astromodded)

- SW SA pro 2i

- Optolong CLS-CCD clip in filter

- Samyang 14mm f2.8

 

Acquisition:

- Lights - 9 x 2 minutes, ISO1600, f4

- Darks - 4

Picked up some nice detail there 👍

It reminded me of a video I've watched which may help with the trees situation? 

 

[ItsmeMaw]

Yes, an excellent image.

I never realized there was that much there in the area!

[Trevor N]

Lovely image

[R1k]

14 hours ago, doublevodka said:

Picked up some nice detail there 👍

It reminded me of a video I've watched which may help with the trees situation? 

 

Thanks, the issue is that my foreground exist within my tracked shots. The Sequator freeze ground function only works when you’re shooting on a static tripod.

[R1k]

17 hours ago, FenlandPaul said:

Superb, Rik - loads of stuff bursting out of that image.  Blending tracked shots can be tricky, that’s for sure.

Seeing this has made me very excited that my 6D should return from being Astro-modded today!! 

Ah great! Looking forward to seeing how you get on with it!

[Zummerzet_Leveller]

On 19/10/2021 at 03:43, R1k said:

Unfortunately, I just could not blend in the untracked foreground trees no matter how hard I tried despite various attempts at layer masks and various stacking settings in Sequator.

Hi Rik, I've had similar issues with foreground blending, especially with trees, the best thing I have found to do is to slightly cheat.  Take the tracked image out of the overhang of the trees and then do the foreground shots back under the canopy, then merge the two in your image processing software of choice.  As long as it's the same patch of sky at around the same time it's only a little bit of a cheat.

[R1k]

7 hours ago, Zummerzet_Leveller said:

Hi Rik, I've had similar issues with foreground blending, especially with trees, the best thing I have found to do is to slightly cheat.  Take the tracked image out of the overhang of the trees and then do the foreground shots back under the canopy, then merge the two in your image processing software of choice.  As long as it's the same patch of sky at around the same time it's only a little bit of a cheat.

Thanks, this does make sense! I always thought it was cheating but I guess if that’s the way to do it, that’s the way to do it!

thanks

[Zummerzet_Leveller]

13 minutes ago, R1k said:

Thanks, this does make sense! I always thought it was cheating but I guess if that’s the way to do it, that’s the way to do it!

thanks

It's the tracker that causes the issue blurring the branches of the trees and making the shadow bigger than the normal single foreground shot.  With lots of untracked 20s shots (at 14mm) sequator can do a pretty good job but you'll never get the Ha to pop unless you take loads.  The other way I have seen it done is to use different focal lengths for the foreground and sky to minimise the foliage in the sky image but then you get a false representation of what you are seeing in my view.  Or if you only have shadow on one side of the image you can expand the foreground to cover the tracked blur and crop to suit.

Great shot by the way.  I took a similar one earlier in the year on Exmoor with my astromodded 6D and Samyang 24mm but didn't get the same level of colour as you.  Maybe as it was -2 and I was at the highest point of Exmoor my integration time was lacking in comparison...

[Ouroboros]

Wow! What a fascinating image!  I know it’s not what you wanted but the black bits add to the intrigue of this  image I think. 

[Xoc1]

Very Inspiring, I just have to try something like this for myself. Its amazing what a wide field view can reveal.

[Scooot]

Lovely image. I quite like the blurred trees, it draws your attention to the background Sky. 

Edited October 24, 2021 by Scooot

[happy-kat]

if you have static foreground then Sequator will stack and let you mark out the foreground area to preserve.

[R1k]

4 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

if you have static foreground then Sequator will stack and let you mark out the foreground area to preserve.

Unfortunately I shot it all from one spot with a tracker. Tried everything in Sequator and PS but as the foreground blurs in each exposure i couldn’t correct it 

[happy-kat]

I would open both images in your image editor and paste the foreground single image aa a new layer into the stacked image, then create a layer mask on the foreground as a black layer mask then use an eraser to reveal the foreground trees border.

It won't be brilliant as your single shots are still blurred

Edited October 24, 2021 by happy-kat