Fundamentals workflow for nebula (NB and BB filling the frame)

Comments

• BlockHead

  August 2021

  Hi Matt,

  
  

  Some examples are more involved than others. I have more examples, including nebulae, in Horizons.

  However... I would like to make an important point. Beyond calibration of the data (and color combining...etc, my teaching style is that there isn't a "workflow." The development I try to teach is to show you what is available so you can go he direction you want- because you will understand how to use the tools/techniques to get there. There isn't a recipe. You can make your own if you want- but you will not really find me setting one out there. It depends on the data, the object, and the sensibility of the astrophotographer.

  
  

  Listen, Bob Ross demonstrated his painting technique over and over on TV. Sure the preparation of the canvas, paints and background were formulaic..but after that- was there a recipe for "painting a picture of a scene?" My opinion is no. He taught many different ways to make "happy trees" and the sky and snow and cabins...etc etc. He did not make a "workflow" for creating a scene. 

  
  

  I do not know if that perspective clicks with you- but it is honestly were I am coming from. You can find recipe's everywhere. I am trying to offer something you will *not* find elsewhere. 

  The workflow examples I show (again, more in Horizons..this is where I add them...this is the "Bob Ross area.. .lol) is my best effort of demonstrating what I mean. 

  
  

  NB will become a component of Horizons. It is the next thing for me to tackle... either concurrently with NGC 3614 (which is in progress now) or after it.

  
  

  Thanks for being a member and giving all this a go!

  
  

  -the Blockhead
• Matt Balkham

  August 2021 edited August 2021

  Thanks so much for the response. I totally understand that this is a somewhat artistic process and that everyone has their own preferences and eventually develops their own style. I am taking things from each of the processes and the workflow examples and understand that each image needs a different treatment.

  
  

  So far the tutorials have definitely helped my understanding and I think will really help when I experience more tricky gradients and other problems in selecting and stacking images. I just feel a bit lost with all the techniques explained in detail but am struggling to navigate the tutorials and see what is next to help my editing. After all it was this pursuit of knowledge and desire to do better that brought me to your page. Once I have a stack of half decent images, have extracted the background and perhaps done some deconvolution I'm than at a bit of a loss! I can't seem to get the last 20% (or maybe 50%!) of the process right to get the kind of image I aspire to.

  
  

  At the moment I feel I am overstretching my data and I think that is what is harming my finished images. I perhaps need to collect more data too and optimise my sub lengths. I'm struggling to see what needs to be done to the images (whereas I can follow along with your examples and see what needs to be done as you explain them on the galaxy and wide field shots). I also want to collect RGB data for the stars and work on combining with my NB data. Similarly I'm not really working with luminance layers just yet and I think that might really help me.

  
  

  So much to learn! Thanks again for your thoughts. I'll maybe look again at horizons and see if that might be what I am looking for.

  
  

  Matt

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
• BlockHead

  August 2021

  I have one more thought...that leads to many more thoughts....

  
  

  Could you do me a favor and review this video?

  I think it speaks to my way of thinking better than I can express by typing it out...

  
  

  
  

  
  

  -The Blockhead
• Matt Balkham

  August 2021

  Thanks for posting this. A really interesting session. It has made make me think again and I guess I'm not a very creative story teller! The other thing I lack is the astronomy understanding of what is going on in my images to develop such compelling stories. I def need to research and read more around my subjects.

  
  

  I def share some aesthetic aspiration for my images (I prefer the more 'natural' looking ones and currently am processing my narrowband in HOO or H/SOO so as to keep the tones more to my liking. I like using the Sii or Ha/Sii blended data as there is often more compelling structure that in the pure Ha data) but I guess still lack the ability to create a compelling artistic statement in the finished product. I often look at the images of the same targets by others and will look little deeper to try to identify what I like and dislike in those images. I think this will help me try to identify how to manipulate my own data.

  
  

  Something still hasn't clicked for me and I think it is around stretching the data (and probably collecting enough data). This is such a critical stage and I've played with masked and arcsin stretches again after watching the fundamentals videos. I think my tendency is to push them a bit too far which leaves artifacts/noise/ harsh transitions at the edges of nebulosity. 

  
  

  I feel I'm moving in the right direction. Lots more to learn!

  
  

  Thanks again