We all have to learn

[Albir phil]

Hi when I began my climb up the hill of imaging I looked for a book that explained processing in Photoshop in a simple way. I came across Guide to Photoshop Astrophotography Image Processing,by Dave Eagle FRAS.It was just what I was looking for, straight forward easy to follow.Before I brought it I read the reviews,almost all we're positive,however one reviewer said ,nice book but not for real imagers. So I aske,at what point on our climb up the hill do we suddenly become a. "real imagers" or a real driver etc etc.I don't think we never stop learning 🤔🤔

[bottletopburly]

Dave’s a few books out and a member on here 👍 every days  a school day 

[Albir phil]

Thought Dave would be a member.Great books 👍

[tomato]

In my book anyone who points a camera at the night sky and captures something is a real imager, after that we are all on a journey. The folks whom we all look up to in this pastime, I’m sure they will tell you that they are still learning.

I have Dave’s book on processing with Affinity Photo, I have found it really useful.

[happy-kat]

I find very process a knowledge trip either learning new or tweaking old.

[AstroMuni]

On 11/06/2023 at 15:27, Albir phil said:

So I aske,at what point on our climb up the hill do we suddenly become a. "real imagers" or a real driver etc etc.I don't think we never stop learning 🤔🤔

I think you have said it in a nutshell - we never stop learning! Book or no book....a lot of the stuff that I learnt as a student is either out of date or more new discoveries have been made. Just in the last few years software like NINA, Kstars, Siril and several others have come along and are now taking over from the established software products of the past. CMOS cameras are changing the way we image as compared to CCD. So its all about keeping up with change 🙂

[ollypenrice]

On 11/06/2023 at 16:27, Albir phil said:

Hi when I began my climb up the hill of imaging I looked for a book that explained processing in Photoshop in a simple way. I came across Guide to Photoshop Astrophotography Image Processing,by Dave Eagle FRAS.It was just what I was looking for, straight forward easy to follow.Before I brought it I read the reviews,almost all we're positive,however one reviewer said ,nice book but not for real imagers. So I aske,at what point on our climb up the hill do we suddenly become a. "real imagers" or a real driver etc etc.I don't think we never stop learning 🤔🤔

I don't know the book but I process mainly in Photoshop. Am I a real imager? That's for others to decide, but others have given me runner up in the Astrophotograher of the Year competition, 45 citations on Astrobin and dozens of magazine publications.

I don't say this to blow my own trumpet but to defend Photoshop as a post-processing software.  There is a self-righteous contingent in imaging who assert that their  graphics program follows the true, holy and pure path to the divine image.  I think that, from my tone, you will understand that I find this claim to be utterly spurious.

I don't like Adobe's business model but Photoshop has not become the world's premier image processing software for no reason. Nor do I process only in Photoshop. I take vital steps in Pixinsight, Registar, and APP but, if the sub-text in the 'real imager' bit is to say that Photoshop is not for real imagers, then I reject it robustly.

Olly

[Albir phil]

Thought Dave would be a member.Great books 👍

[Albir phil]

Hi I don't think that the reviewer that said "not for real imagers" was referring to Photoshop but rather the book that I purchased.

[mickf41]

On 11/06/2023 at 17:27, Albir phil said:

Hi, when I began my climb up the hill of imaging, I looked for a book that explained processing in Photoshop in a simple way. I came across "Guide to Photoshop Astrophotography Image Processing" by Dave Eagle FRAS. It was just what I was looking for—straightforward and easy to follow. Before I bought it, I read the reviews, and almost all were positive. However, one reviewer said it's a nice book but not for "real imagers." This made me ponder: at what point on our climb up the hill do we suddenly become "real imagers" or real professionals in any field? I don't think we ever stop learning. 🤔🤔 If you're navigating through the challenges of writing, you might find support in services like  https://www.lorservice.com/medical-school-letter-of-recommendation-writing-service/ to ensure your application stands out.

 

Absolutely agree! The journey of learning and improving in astrophotography, or any skill for that matter, is continuous. The notion of being a "real imager" is subjective and doesn't have a specific milestone. We're all constantly evolving and refining our techniques. The key is to enjoy the process and embrace the learning curve. 🌌📷✨
 

Edited February 1 by mickf41

[saac]

On 11/06/2023 at 15:27, Albir phil said:

 So I aske,at what point on our climb up the hill do we suddenly become a. "real imagers" or a real driver etc etc.I don't think we never stop learning 🤔🤔

Right at the very beginning when the camera is first held or attached to the telescope. 

Jim

Edited January 26 by saac

[Bugdozer]

This reminds me of the Japanese classical musician (unfortunately whose name escapes me) in his 80's who was asked by someone why he still practiced every day after being at the top level of performance for decades already. To which he modestly replied "because I think I am starting to become quite good at playing". 

The point being, when you consider yourself to be a "real imager", but not others, you are losing sight of the fact that it's a journey, not a goal. There will always be stuff to learn. We have been "real imagers" from the moment we started, we are just at different points along the journey, using different tools and progressing at different speeds. 

[Mr H in Yorkshire]

2 hours ago, Bugdozer said:

it's a journey, not a goal

This truth was impressed on me as a callow youth going to college one day via a large academic bookseller up in central London. I noticed a book so big I could barely span it with my (big) hands. It was titled 'A short Introduction to...'