Tadpoles along with the spider and Fly

[teoria_del_big_bang]

This is another image taken this year. I think the data i good but I am still not happy with my post processing. I seemed to have nailed the pre-processing and even the early post processing till it comes to the stretch and just con't seem to know exactly what tool in PI to use when and how much to stretch it.

This is around 5 hours each of  SII, Ha and OIII with just 20 minutes each RGB for the stars.
All processing done in PI with the RGB stars screened into the starless NB image.

It is another image I need to re process after some more practice.
Any comments, good or bad they are all useful, and help are as always welcome.

Steve

[Neil_104]

Great image and nice colours, I think the blues from the SHO palette are my favourite. 

I see the tadpoles (obvious), I see the fly (amusing), but I must admit I've never seen the spider in this one!

[teoria_del_big_bang]

8 minutes ago, Neil_104 said:

Great image and nice colours, I think the blues from the SHO palette are my favourite. 

I see the tadpoles (obvious), I see the fly (amusing), but I must admit I've never seen the spider in this one!

Isn't this one the Spider ?

Steve

[Neil_104]

I think so - and there in lies the issue!

If anything I think I can see Mr Krabs more than a spider? 😂

[teoria_del_big_bang]

8 minutes ago, Neil_104 said:

I think so - and there in lies the issue!

If anything I think I can see Mr Krabs more than a spider? 😂

I see where you are coming from, half the time I never really see the thing some of these nebulas are called after 🙂 

I sort of assumed it got its name because it was hovering over the fly

Steve

[Neil_104]

That's not a bad interpretation of the name!

But yeah I agree - some names do leave a lot to the imagination. Although of course some of the names can be explained as they come from early observations, such as M1 being the "crab nebula". 

 

 

[Adreneline]

Very nice image Steve -  nicely framed and very good processing with attention to the detail - where the devil resides! - and noise reduction - not too much. So much to enjoy in this f.o.v.

Post-processing is a very personal thing when it comes to colours and colour balance (yours is excellent as per the histogram).

Looking at the histogram I might be inclined to pull the black-point in a tad - you certainly have room to do so - doing so will enhance the depth in the image,  but again this is a very personal thing. I use HT pretty much exclusively for taking the image non-linear. I use lots or incremental small stretches, each time resetting the black point but not too much or aggressively. I would say I typically apply 15-20 small careful stretches to an image always making sure I introduce minimal clipping, less than %0.001 - maybe a bit more on an RGB image.

The depth can also be improved by careful use of LHE - I use settings of 320,1.2,0.5 - 1.2 is an absolute upper limit in my experience.

I never use anything like HDRMT to enhance detail/structure - I find it introduces too many other artefacts you don't want!

I prefer to use MLT with very small and decreasing bias levels on the first four layers, typically 0.20 - 0.05, with a CIE-L mask so the enhancement only applies to the brightest parts of the image.

HTH.

It's a great image.

Adrian

 

[teoria_del_big_bang]

25 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

ooking at the histogram I might be inclined to pull the black-point in a tad - you certainly have room to do so - doing so will enhance the depth in the image,  but again this is a very personal thing. I use HT pretty much exclusively for taking the image non-linear. I use lots or incremental small stretches, each time resetting the black point but not too much or aggressively. I would say I typically apply 15-20 small careful stretches to an image always making sure I introduce minimal clipping, less than %0.001 - maybe a bit more on an RGB image.

The depth can also be improved by careful use of LHE - I use settings of 320,1.2,0.5 - 1.2 is an absolute upper limit in my experience.

I never use anything like HDRMT to enhance detail/structure - I find it introduces too many other artefacts you don't want!

I prefer to use MLT with very small and decreasing bias levels on the first four layers, typically 0.20 - 0.05, with a CIE-L mask so the enhancement only applies to the brightest parts of the image.

HTH.

Thanks Adrian, yes that helps a lot and will take into account when I have another go.

The more I look at the image the more i feel a bit happier with it,I think my main issue is maybe not the final outcome but :-

a) how long it took me to get there - that is my umpteenth attempt.
b) If you asked me to repeat that image from scratch (without peeping at the image history in PI) I would not be able to do it

When it comes to the stretching stage I just seem to end up going round in circles till I get something I am happy with, I do not seem to have a clear way forward in my workflow.
But not too worried it is coming bit bit so I will get there 🙂 

Steve

[david_taurus83]

Looks good to my eye Steve, well done!

[carastro]

Lovely image Steve, but a bit green for my taste.

Carole 

[teoria_del_big_bang]

11 minutes ago, carastro said:

Lovely image Steve, but a bit green for my taste.

Carole 

Good to get sme clear nights really.
It is a bit green for me too so may try to address that when I reprocess, I was aiming to make it more a bluey green , teal I guess and hoped for more gold.
I have to go to China with work for at least 8 weeks so will have lots of spare time in the evenings so my plan is to reprocess a lot of my in=mah==ges, especially as I hve improved in this area I should be able to make many of the images much better and it will pass the time.

Steve

[Rodd]

Very nice. Details sharp and framing very pleasing. I think I would hit it with scnr green at 50% to start.  

[teoria_del_big_bang]

2 minutes ago, Rodd said:

Very nice. Details sharp and framing very pleasing. I think I would hit it with scnr green at 50% to start.  

Yes seems I do have too much in there.

Steve

[scotty38]

1 hour ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I have to go to China with work for at least 8 weeks so will have lots of spare time in the evenings so my plan is to reprocess a lot of my in=mah==ges, especially as I hve improved in this area I should be able to make many of the images much better and it will pass the time.

Steve

You're going to China and will spend your time faffing with astro images.... 🤣

[teoria_del_big_bang]

3 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

You're going to China and will spend your time faffing with astro images.... 🤣

In 2 months you end up with a lot of spare time on your hands, so I thought that would be a good way to pass some of it 🙂 
Weather will be very cold and not that much to do where i am so seemed a good idea to me 🙂 

Steve 

[scotty38]

5 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

In 2 months you end up with a lot of spare time on your hands, so I thought that would be a good way to pass some of it 🙂 
Weather will be very cold and not that much to do where i am so seemed a good idea to me 🙂 

Steve 

Fair enough but don't forget to send us a postcard 🙂

[teoria_del_big_bang]

21 minutes ago, scotty38 said:

Fair enough but don't forget to send us a postcard 🙂

I hear from some friends I have in China that due to over 2 years of lockdowns a lot of bars and restaurants have closed down so maybe less places to go but I feel it is my duty to also try to keep any remaining ones open so I will not be sat in my hotel room all the time 🤣

Steve