Re: [APML] First astrophoto

[Chris Schur <comets133@yahoo.com>]

Colin, first congratulations on getting your setup
working so well initially.  Id like to recomend some
improvements to your fine shot.  As an intial step,
you can darken the backround a bit with the lower
levels slider in PS to near 30. That will help a lot
on the impact of the image.  Second, if your really
looking for snappy image, you can split the color
channels into the RGB components and remove the
gradient in each of them separately, then recombine
for a more uniform background.  

Chris Schur   
--- Colin Clark <colin.mailinglists@sympatico.ca>
wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> Okay, this isn't really my first astrophotograph,
> but it is the first 
> that I've finished processing and feel is
> presentable, however modest a 
> start it may be. It's also my first post to the
> list!
> 
> This is a short exposure of Orion that I took back
> in February 2004. 
> I've been taking wide-field astrophotographs for a
> couple of years now 
> but have only recently been able to start scanning
> and processing them. 
> I don't have much in the way of sophisticated or
> expensive equipment, 
> but I've really enjoyed trying to do the best I can
> with simple means. 
> This particular shot was a 5 minute exposure
> piggybacked on top of my 
> little ETX-90 using Ektachrome P1600 film. I used a
> Nikon 50mm lens at 
> f/2.8.
> 
>
http://colin.rcat.utoronto.ca/astronomy/feb_22_2004/index.html
> 
> P1600 is a fantastic emulsion for short exposures.
> My ETX is about as 
> accurate as a $5 watch (and just as plastic), so
> this film is an ideal 
> match for barn-door trackers and other simple
> mounts. The Horsehead and 
> Barnard's Loop were faintly visible on this film
> with exposures as 
> short as 2 minutes! It's grainy, particularly after
> processing, but I 
> don't mind it too much. Would stacking a couple of
> similar exposures 
> with this film help to improve the graininess?
> 
> This image was processed in Photoshop to remove the
> vignetting and to 
> bring out the faint details. Since it was such a
> short exposure, it 
> took a fair bit of curving to pull out the detail,
> at the expense of 
> some clipping in the highlights. Do you think I took
> it too far? I also 
> used Matt BenDaniel's star shaping technique to keep
> the brightest 
> stars from clipping and losing their color while
> bringing out some 
> extra detail in Barnard's Loop and the Rosette.
> 
> Since taking this one, I've upgraded my setup quite
> a bit. I'm now 
> using a Vixen Super Polaris mount which is a welcome
> change from the 
> ETX. I'll hopefully post some longer exposures that
> I took with it 
> soon. I've also recently bought a Bronica ETR medium
> format camera and 
> am looking forward to getting some time at a dark
> site to use it for 
> piggy back shots.
> 
> I'd be very pleased to hear any comments or
> criticisms you may have 
> about this photograph.
> 
> Colin
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> http://seds.org/mailman/listinfo/astro-photo
> 


		
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