nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

I have taken a lot of pics since last fall and have not taken the time to process - I check the subs to see if they look remarkable or the same....and if the same, I just don't fool with them. In short I have not had too much to shout home about. Partly because I am using new camera and the learning curve is kicking my butt. But, I had some time this Easter weekend to do some processing. This M31 taken last fall turned out better than expected. I used Pixinsight for their batch processing script as in stacking, registering, and calibrating....but once saved as a 16 bit tiff, I did everything else in Photoshop. As is my nature I was a little heavy handed with saturation. As my memory serves me, this was the result of three nights work - 110 subs at 180 seconds, 50 darks, 120 flats, and 100 bias frames.....I had to purge 30 plus subs due to clouds, planes, and other guiding F-ups (imaging starting during a dither I think) I used my Nikon D800e, modded on the Vixen ED81s refractor with a .63 R/F.

(Download)

CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.

That is the best M31 I have seen anywhere Ed.
I tend to turn up the saturation too.
But this is perfect.
Craig

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

First thanks for the compliment. I take a lot of M31 because it is available from my house in the fall and winter....a perfect position for me.

I made a deal with myself that I would not use a DSLR this year period. That would force me to spend more time with the Atik383L and ASI1600MM-C...and that I would use narrow band on every nebulae target, and LRGB on everything else. I know the more I spend on both capture and post processing (the real challenge) the more opportunities to get better data. I dunno if I can keep that promise. My two Nikons the 800e modded, and D810a, when the skies are dark and seeing is good, can compete with any CCD camera at any price point on that I am convinced - especially in the late fall, winter, and early spring (cooler nights).

But on this I am also convinced, unless the seeing is great and the skies dark....that i am not to set set my expectations too high.

I have been getting some decent data with the ASI1600MM-C which has been encouraging.....but ATIK cameras have been a disappointment, so far. I am sure it is me! Lots to learn and not enough time on the calendar!

Albuqshutterbug Loc: Albuquerque NM

I think this is your best one yet.
Beautiful job of processing.
Love it a lot.
Jim

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Thanks Jim .....before I upload to Astrobin I think I am going to re-process and back off the saturation.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

I wouldn't touch it Ed. That is just breathtaking!

Amazing!

Europa Loc: West Hills, CA

You really got a lot of detail in that shot...I just noticed you said you have the ASI1600MM-C...I have one on order, I want to do the narrowband stuff too.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

What is driving me crazy is star color. All stars seem to retain the same color when using NB. This is something that I have to figure out....not the fault of the camera. The camera is terrific! I would advise on using good filters. I bought a package deal that included the 7 position filter wheel and filters. I am not too pumped about those but I am getting by with them. I have some friends (online) who have this camera and filters and they have some decent images.

About the stars......I think the way to solve the problem is to add RGB images and mask in the stars. The problem - you need a lot of time to get the longer exposes NB plus now I need RBG too. But - the fun is in the trying!

The detail was not there in the fits file. PS, and the use of selective masks and Nik software is where "structure and sharpening" was masked in....Dark skies and post processing are everything when doing "up" photography, IMHO.

Europa Loc: West Hills, CA

I spent some time looking at filters, I'm going cheap, but not too cheap. Ordered the Baader, I have to get their highspeed version for the RASA.

Have you reached out to anyone doing NB to see how they handle the stars? If not, I'll see if I can find someone.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

One of our photo guild members has gotten started into astro photography. He has invested in some great gear (and spent more on filters than I have in the cost of the camera, filters, and filter wheel) and is the one that has forced me to break from my DSLR nipple, and start NB imaging. He had the same problem with his stars and we both agreed the easiest way to get more accurate star color was to add RGB images and then mask those into your final NB image using blending modes...."Color" should do it, if not I will make a layer mask and brush them in (all in PS)

I am just a little bummed that this would even happen....which gives me cause for question "how can I get color differences on the nebulae but the stars are all the same?"

When you get your camera - let me know! Also, your Baader filters are three steps up form mine! You will be A-Okay!

Europa Loc: West Hills, CA

I saw this on another forum, it may not be perfect, but worth a shot (not that it saves you from capturing RGB tho)

Integrating RGB stars into your narrow-band image with Photoshop.

First you will have your narrow-band image and your RGB star image that you want to use aligned with each other. Then you stretch the RGB image to roughly match the star size of the narrow-band image. Simple......now save both to tiff and bring into Photoshop. Copy and paste the RGB star image onto your narrow-band image and choose the mode lighten. It should keep most of the nebula from showing through and only let your stars come though. Use the slider to your liking.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

That's pretty much the process - I think I will try "color" blending too...."difference" may work also. I will run through all of them before I resort to brushing in the stars....but that is not a difficult process, just a few extra steps so it doesn't matter. I just wish and can't figure out how and why stars all render the same color in a NB image. I just don't get it.

Europa Loc: West Hills, CA

Chemical composition