Dingdong
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Posts posted by Dingdong
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Hi Jorn
I started up an astrophotography thread about a year ago when I began deep sky imaging. I haven't been active for some time. Now winter is here where I have cranked up the gear again and hopped back onto these forums to garner more information re AP and Astro.
I have found that dedicated software ie DSS gets better quality stacks so I use that all the time. However Ive also found that Affinity can stitch them in a panorama (without the drama) better than PTGui (tho that might be my inexperience more than anything else) I did 6.3 hrs imaging to create 19 stacks which AP managed in a few seconds!! PTGui couldn't do it. For some reason it won't let me upload to my thread.
I only have Affinity for post Editing. All of it has been trial and error and working on suggestions made by members two of whom have commented here. I have developed absolutely NO work flow (post edit) and I wing it with each set of images i do.
So I'm reading your thread and I think I now have an understanding of gradient - cheers! I have found that the more you edit an image the worse its gets. I'll be following
Cheers again - Clear Skies
Dion
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On 3/9/2018 at 4:24 AM, VectorVonDoom said:
This is a very low res version of the Orion nebula taken by my brother which I liked (I've emailed him for the full res one) and thought it was pretty impressive considering it's not particularly dark around here. But I know nothing about astro photography so it might not be. Is the blue bit above it the Running Man nebula?
He has a Skywatcher 200P telescope on an EQ5 Pro mount and took it with a Canon 550D. Looks like the mount costs as much if not more than the scope. Not sure of other details I would have to check with him.
I managed this one of the Orion Nebula three weeks ago. Pretty washed out in the centre but still beautiful.
I stacked this in DSS and edited with Affinity Photo.
D
- AffinityJules and stokerg
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1 hour ago, IanSG said:
I was fortunate enough to see the night sky from Alice Springs a few weeks back - being able to see M31 is a poor substitute for the kind of skies you get in Australia
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I've been doing visual astronomy for two years and astrophotography since January and everything I look at is pretty spectacular. I can imagine at some stage in the future I'm gonna be bored down here and want to go north to see what you are used to and be blown away once again.
Clear skies friend
D
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Hi LoneStar
Ive just started out in astrophotography and been lucky enough to get some decent images. JohnRostron and others took one of my images and "tweeked" it with a 'curves' adjustment which you can also do in a 'levels' adjustment here -
The first thing I do to my images is up the 'vibrance' all the way, 'brightness/contrast' and then a curves adjustment as suggested above. I play with all the adjustments till i'm happy with it.
The images are 10x180 sec stacks all done in AP.
I have to wait a few months for andromeda and only then its a few degrees above the northern horizon - I envy you
D
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Hi iMac1943
Im using Canon and Ive found that AF doesn't work. It struggles to find focus on infinity/faint stars and then won't take an image. Ive heard of IanSGs rubber band suggestion also. The trick (I've read and used) is to use manual focus. Turn on live view and focus the stars to pin pricks if they're bright enough for the screen to pick up. Otherwise use the viewfinder. Deep breaths and patience helps as does a remote shutter release cable/intravalometer.
My two cents worth...
D
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Hi
John
WOW it really does work and looks good too. Thanks
So far everything in astro forums seems to be based around PS, LR and the likes. I simply could not justify forking out the dollars and looked around to find Affinity Photo that ranked about ten in photo editing programs OTHER than PS - for Mac. But like all things cheaper you wonder if its gonna be a lemon... I'm glad I chose the software. As it is turning out, it is more than capable and the forums are full of all this wonderful stuff I never knew you could do. I thought I'd start an astro thread to see what others may be doing and how to do it - BOOM - its working.
Thanks again
h_d
My son used all my download and cannot watch the linked video but trust me I'll be looking as soon as I am able. There are a few methods in astro to reduce unwanted noise. But I think that the best way is to gather as much data of the noise you want which means longer or more exposures. Its great to learn of these new methods.
Thanks
Dion -
Can you show it John?
I'll re-do it and try this also.
Newbie means Ive never edited an image until I did my first one of the Flame Nebula and the one you speak of. I have had Affinity Photo for over a year but have never used it until now. Any and all suggestions and advise i'll try and take on. I actually tried some editing on another unrelated image today after looking at Affinitys forums. The options seem endless which adds even more to the unknown world i'm finding myself entering.
This is exactly the reason I joined this and other forums...
Cheers John
D
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This is Carina Nebula. 04/03/18
Completely stacked and edited in Affinity Photo from 12x180sec RAW guided images from same kit as above. I do know that proper stacking software does create a cleaner sharper image but takes about thirty minutes. Affinity all done in about a minute.
Edit Settings:
Vibrance up all the way
Brightness up 24% - increased nebulosity
Contrast up 41% - reduced the noise (blackened black)
Thats it! Just mucking around finding out what adjustments suit.
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OK second try
This was my first crack at guided astro - Flame Nebula and Horsehead Nebula in Orion.
Mount: SW EQ6R
Telescope: SW ED 80 APO Esprit
Camera: Canon D760
Image: 5x60 sec
Software: Affinity Photo
So all the editing that I did was to increase the exposure setting and the Brightness and contrast settings - very minimal.
- stokerg, AffinityJules, StuartRc and 3 others
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5 minutes ago, Alfred said:
Yes, it does, because web browsers don’t understand proprietary formats such as *.afphoto. Try exporting it to JPEG, which will display directly in the browser (unlike TIFF, which wouldn’t).
Cheers I'll try that tonight
D
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12 hours ago, VectorVonDoom said:
This is a very low res version of the Orion nebula taken by my brother which I liked (I've emailed him for the full res one) and thought it was pretty impressive considering it's not particularly dark around here. But I know nothing about astro photography so it might not be. Is the blue bit above it the Running Man nebula?
He has a Skywatcher 200P telescope on an EQ5 Pro mount and took it with a Canon 550D. Looks like the mount costs as much if not more than the scope. Not sure of other details I would have to check with him.
Hi
Thats awesome aye! I like how there appears to be depth in the nebular surrounding the stars.
Yes I think that is the Running Man. Ive only just started out in astro myself and according to everything Orion is where everyone starts off because its soo bright. I started there too but just a couple of stars away at the Flame Nebula. Ive managed a couple of goodies stacked in Affinity which I'll post once I figure out how.
They say that the mount is the most important thing and Ive found in my limited experience to be true.
Thanks
D
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On 3/5/2018 at 10:19 PM, GarryP said:
Welcome to the forum Dingdong.
It would be nice to see the image in the forum itself, rather than having to download it and open the software, although it might not look as good in the forum as it would in the application.
Maybe you could give some information about equipment used - telescope, mount, camera, etc. - and how you modified the image.
Hi Garry
I was a bit confused when it asked to attach the file and it ended up how it ended up - as a link!
How do you upload to the "forum".
Or does it have to be another format?
Once I get that nutted out I'll upload others with the info you suggest
Cheers Garry
D
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Hi everyone
I have recently expanded my photographic hobby into astrophotography. Some time ago I watched a tutorial on the stacking feature in Affinity and thought I would give it a crack with some images I've taken in the last three or four weeks.
I have to say that I am very happy with the the very first images I took and ran through Affinity. The process is somewhat quicker than dedicated stacking programs for astro but the results (for me) are very very satisfying.
I thought that perhaps those that are interested could post their images and discuss different processing techniques that they have used.
So I guess I'll get the ball rolling with my first astro edited with Affinity
Clear skies
D
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Astro Photography
in Share your work
Posted
Its been six months since my last image. This is a panorama of 19 stacks (6.3 hrs) of Antares and surrounding Clusters and Nebula taken last week. It was stitched in AP because I couldn't get PTGui to do it!?