Orion Nebula (M42) - Revisited

JonaBeth RussellJonaBeth Russell Registered Users Posts: 1,065 Major grins
in Landscapes

We've been socked in for-eh-vur with clouds, pretty much ruining most of galaxy season, in terms of shooting opportunities. But hey, no big deal, gave me plenty of time to learn more about deep sky astrophotography post-processing techniques. Boy, what a mind trip it's been, and I still feel as though I 'know nothing, John Snow'.

Since the skies are cloudy, I decided to have another go at some old data, shot back in mid-December. The first go around, I managed to produce a very pink, red-star-colored, satellite filled image that, while impressive, left much to be desired. So I had another go. This time, I used more in-depth custom tuning of the stacking process (Astro Pixel Processor), focusing more on noise reduction, overall detail, and outlier removal (satellites). Also, I made some progression in star reductions and color preservation.

Yeah, it sounds weird, complicated and confusing because it mostly is, but somehow I'm managing to muddle through it. lol

Here's the updated version of the image. I still sent it through Lightroom for a little bit of work, and bumped the color sat a tad because I like it. But I realize that most true astro-junkies would probably say it should be less vibrant. Oh well :)

Comments

  • StumblebumStumblebum Registered Users Posts: 8,480 Major grins

    This is incredible. Like don't know what to say! Wow~!

  • JonaBeth RussellJonaBeth Russell Registered Users Posts: 1,065 Major grins

    @Stumblebum said:
    This is incredible. Like don't know what to say! Wow~!

    Thank you, Taz! The journey has been fun so far, and I'm looking forward to clear skies tonight. We'll see what happens.

  • black mambablack mamba Registered Users Posts: 8,323 Major grins

    Great shot. You've got more gumption than I do. Trying to get a handle on astrophotography is something I avoid at all cost.

    I always wanted to lie naked on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace. Cracker Barrel didn't take kindly to it.
  • JonaBeth RussellJonaBeth Russell Registered Users Posts: 1,065 Major grins

    @black mamba said:
    Great shot. You've got more gumption than I do. Trying to get a handle on astrophotography is something I avoid at all cost.

    Haha, thank you! I blame my friend, Martin Gisborne, retired Sr. Photog for Apple. He's always sending me pics and info of whatever he's into, and since he's been a mentor to me for years, I tend to drag along.

  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator

    Dang, that's impressive!!

    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
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