Orion Take 2

Image Critiques
1

Orion_V2_NPN.jpg
Orion_V2_NPN.jpg1500Ă—1044 1.88 MB

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

I am still chasing Orion. I do not know if I have caught him yet. On the one hand I like what I have but then I peer into the fine details and I am just not happy. Ever since this past January when I made the image Orion and The Shark and I noticed a faint red arc around the belt of Orion, which @Diane_MIller pointed out was an actual deep sky structure known as Barnard’s Loop, I have wanted to capture Orion with all the nebulosity that surrounds it in one grand photo. In March I posted my first attempt titled Orion. I thought it looked okay, but I wanted to do better. I hope I am getting there. I photographed it near my home under a Bortle 5 sky. For my next take, I think I will go down to the Big Sur coast where the sky is rate as a Bortle 3 and try this again.

Specific Feedback

Any feedback is welcomed.

Technical Details

Nikon D850, Nikon 50mm f/1.8 MF lens, set at f2.8, shutter 60 sec, ISO 400, near my home in a Bortle 5 sky.

This photo is 1 hour of integration, that is 60 sub frames at 60 seconds each. and 10 Dark frames.

Registered and stacked in Siril. Then stretched using a new script in Siril called Veralux Hyper Metric Stretch which brought out every bit of actual signal in the stacked image. I used a denoising script in Graxpert and then used Stranet++ to separate the stars. I brought the starless image into PS to process it and then brought it back into Siril to recombine the stars. After recombination I brought it back into PS and made further adjustments to color and luminosity. I also incorporated the recent Orion Nebula image I made at 400 mm by scaling it down and aligning it into this frame as it better color and detail. I do not know how many hours/days I have spent on this image, but the 1 hour of acquisition time now seems like nothing. I think the 60 second exposures were a bit too long as the Orion Nebula did get blown out.

Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

Vision and Purpose:
Conceptual:
Emotional Impact and Mood:
Composition:
Balance and Visual Weight:
Depth and Dimension:
Color:
Lighting:
Processing:
Technical:

2

Stunning, Youssef! I applaud members here, yourself included, for your efforts in the creation of these astro images. I am not qualified to critique this, only to say that it is gorgeous!
-P

3

Preston,

Thank you for your feedback. It’s a completely new genre for me, not one that I ever intended to work in but my website always had four categories, Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire. Fire was always the least populated as I considered that category to be one that show cased sky and star phenomena and the Astro photos now fill that void. I just am trying to get to the proficiency level of my other work and the feedback from NPN has been most beneficial so thanks again.

4

Wow!! Yes, you are getting there! But in deep space there is no there. It just goes on and on… (Well, until the next iteration of cosmology comes out.)

You have captured wonderful colors. The red emission line of Hydrogen-alpha is a challenge for regular camera sensors but you got enough of it to be proud. And you can make out the Orion Nebula and the Running Man, as well as the Horsehead and Flame. And Betelgeuse is flexing its red supergiant stature. It has been attracting attention by fluctuating in intensity, leading to speculation as to when it will go supernova. (But probably not for a few thousand years.)

You have activated one of my latent challenges. I think I have a stable-enough way to mount a regular lens on my mount and use the ASI astro camera. But the problem is focusing. I should just try it with the regular camera and lens first, if I can mount it stably.

A clear dark night next month??? Please!

1 Like
5

I echo Preston’s comments. I also love reading Diane’s critiques and your responses.