Comments on: An Experiment in Processing

By: John Murrell

John Murrell — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 17:24:48 +0000

One could argue that any image that shows stars as white is over exposed and the star images are saturated. The ‘natural’ view would show the star colours but would fail to show a lot of the fainter stars or the structure of the globular cluster. To me there is an argument that to present the science you need a selection of different processed results – you might even want to de-focus the image so the star colours can be seen.

Over processed images do not really annoy me what does is artists impressions without any explanation that is what they are and composite images created in graphics programmes being passed off as a ‘real’ image.

By: Dave Eagle

Dave Eagle — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 15:29:13 +0000

In reply to Neil.

Thanks Neil. I’m glad you have found my articles and guides useful.
All the best.
Dave

By: Neil

Neil — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 14:19:47 +0000

Hi Dave, I always go for the over processed option it doesn’t have to be garish and full of artificial colours, just a little over is good enough, why not bring out everything that’s there isn’t that the idea to get the most from your kit, after all most of us have only modest kit and processing skills and we live in cloud soaked England so what we can get is precious. (great write up in SAN mag I love affinity) and your processing guides are a big help.

By: Dave Eagle

Dave Eagle — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 18:29:50 +0000

In reply to Andrew Weller. That is a really good point Andy.

By: Andrew Weller

Andrew Weller — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 18:23:23 +0000

No, It just means you should perhaps look at both options and choose the one that serves you best.

It is easy to get caught in the flashy colours and wow factor that over processing an image can give but at the end of the day I have learnt, in the short time i have been doing this, that astrophotography is not just a science but is indeed an art and artists will always present their works in different and sometime controversial ways.

Be the scientist or the artist you want to be but be considerate to the style opposite to path you choose 🙂