First attempt at deep sky object... Orion M42

[AKVet]

Trying my hand at deep space objects.

• ILCE-7RM5
• FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS
• 300.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 30 sec
• ISO 640

 

[DaveC Oz]

Very nice

 

[Richard A]

Can you give us some info about how you took/processed this?

 

[AKVet]

Can you give us some info about how you took/processed this?

Hi Richard...

I am really just a novice at astro-photography, so take my info with a grain of salt.

I used a star tracker (Benro Polaris Astro) and took about 30 shots using a 300mm f/2.8 30sec iso 640. I also took 10 dark frames. I did some minor adjustments to the light frames in Light Room and sync'd the images. I then exported them to TIFFs and exported them to stack in Starry Landscape Stacker. I then opened the final stacked image in LR where I did a bit more editing. I opened the image in PS and created a layer where I used a plug-in called Star XTerminator to remove the stars so that I could just work on the nebula without affecting the stars. I was quite surprised that I got so much red without an astro-modified camera. I then selected the "stars-only" layer and blended the starless layer with the color dodge selection to do some star reduction. Back to LR for a bit more editing.

I basically used the same workflow for processing that I use for milky way shots.

A lot of serious astro-photographers like to use PixInsight to process astro images with great results. The software has a bit of a learning curve. I don't know how to use it, though, someday I would like to give it a try.

 

[evacguy]

Hi Richard...

I am really just a novice at astro-photography, so take my info with a grain of salt.

I used a star tracker (Benro Polaris Astro) and took about 30 shots using a 300mm f/2.8 30sec iso 640. I also took 10 dark frames. I did some minor adjustments to the light frames in Light Room and sync'd the images. I then exported them to TIFFs and exported them to stack in Starry Landscape Stacker. I then opened the final stacked image in LR where I did a bit more editing. I opened the image in PS and created a layer where I used a plug-in called Star XTerminator to remove the stars so that I could just work on the nebula without affecting the stars. I was quite surprised that I got so much red without an astro-modified camera. I then selected the "stars-only" layer and blended the starless layer with the color dodge selection to do some star reduction. Back to LR for a bit more editing.

I basically used the same workflow for processing that I use for milky way shots.

A lot of serious astro-photographers like to use PixInsight to process astro images with great results. The software has a bit of a learning curve. I don't know how to use it, though, someday I would like to give it a try.

Thanks for the info Kepa. I'm also trying to learn how to do the stacking and how to use the various astro software tools, but I need to get a tracker. However, living in London the sky is as light polluted as it gets, so a little difficult to get nice shots of the stars, but Orion is my favourite go-to target. Well done.

 

[THXGEEK]

Wonderful!

 

[Richard A]

Thanks for the info @AKVet. I don't have a star tracker and I don't intend to buy one at this stage. I'll just have to be happy doing Milky Way shots. I have downloaded the trial of Star XTerminator and given it a try and it works well. I will probably buy it. Being able to work on your image without the stars is a game changer. I know there are other options to remove stars and Star XTerminator isn't what I would call cheap, the fact that it's a Photoshop plugin makes it very convenient for me. I have also looked at PixInsight but as you say it has a steep learning curve and it isn't exactly cheap. I have downloaded Siril and GraXpert but I haven't really had time to play with them yet.

I have been using Starry Landscape Stacker for quite a while. When I was at the Sony Tradeshow in Sydney last year there was a lecture by a New Zealand photographer Meghan Maloney that I attended. I spoke to her later and she was using Starry Landscape Stacker.

Anyway, what I need to do is finish processing some of the images I have taken and then get out and take some more...