10 replies to this topic

[Jim S]

Hi,

 
I've gotten good results with the orig x (org - radial blur) method, to bring out the corona. Here's a thumbnail of where I am now:

 

 

But I'm looking for suggestions on how to fix some anomalies and "finish" the image.
 
The first issues is what to do about the "moon" portion of the image, which looks icky. Specific suggestions of how to layer one of the (non-overexposed) shorter exposures over this? I'm "ok" with Photoshop, by no means a wizard, and the usual tricks I've tried with masking and layering just simply don't look very good. It looks like someone applied a masking and layering trick. (smile)  I really want the prominences to pop in the finished image, which brings me to ...
 
The second issue is Prominences. The HDR SW I'm using does a pretty good job of preserving them (good), but the above process causes radially smeared dark spots "underneath" them (bad). Suggestions on this? 
 

Here's a closeup of the prominence challenge .. taken from about 5:30 o'clock on the above image:

 

Original:

 

 

Radial Blurred:

 

 

Result of combining:  Orig x (Orig - Radial Blur). Note the azimuthal dark smear underneath the prominence:

 

 

Thanks for any suggestions on how to clean up both the prominences and the moon area!

 

JS

Edited by Jim S, 14 April 2024 - 09:46 AM.

[ziggeman]

I think I like the pictures as they are. They are a bit ' different '..than usually.

 

But, if you like them the 'mainstream' type with black moon,

You could do a black circle with the paint tool at a new layer on top. That layer would have to be transparent, before you do the circle.

 

Do it like this:1. New file( half the size of the above files), transparent background.

2.With the paint tool draw a circle in the middle,filled with black color.

3. Select all, or Ctrl A

4. copy

now with the shot of the sun

5 .new transparent layer on top

6. Paste the circle image you drawed in that layer.

7. Move it and expand or contract it until it covers the moon .

-----

 

Or, you could mask away the moon so it does not get affected at all while

enhancing the sun corona as wanted.

 

there are many ways to do it and it's all a matter of preference and artistic freedom. 

Good luck

Edited by ziggeman, 14 April 2024 - 10:38 AM.

[Jim S]

Thanks ziggeman. Here's where I landed. Decided I liked the blue hue (hey, that rhymes) as this is what's in my mind's eye as I remember that glorious sight:

 

 

[ziggeman]

very nice:)

[rigel123]

That revised image is gorgeous Jim!

[68Kustom]

Hi Jim,

 

Actually, maybe you could hep ME! 

 

My best totality shot taken at 30x shows some strange 'bubbles' in the coronal spikes.  These don't appear to be artefacts of the camera but actual effects at the solar limb.

 

Would you like to try to washing a copy through your software to see what you can glean from it?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Jim S]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the kind words.  @68Kuston, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I'm probably not the most qualified person to do that. My recommendation is for you start a new thread, post a link to your shot, and maybe the folks who are qualified can analyze your image and comment. 

[Jim S]

Here's a composite of C2 and C3, or what I like to call, "Max Prominences". Mild wavelet processing to sharpen a smidge:

 

 

[Astro12345]

How did you end up dealing with the dark smudges surrounding the prominences that were created by the radial blur filter?

[twinion]

I have the same issue with the blurs around the prominences. If you did find a solution I'd love to hear it.

[Daniel Dance]

 

Hi,

 
I've gotten good results with the orig x (org - radial blur) method, to bring out the corona. Here's a thumbnail of where I am now:

 

Radial Blurred:

 

 

Result of combining:  Orig x (Orig - Radial Blur). Note the azimuthal dark smear underneath the prominence:

 

Just a note . . .

 

There isn't anything special about using a radial blur other than that specific blur method in photoshop tends not to disturb the center (Moon) during processing, which if you're compositing images of various exposures, doesn't make much of a difference.  I always tend to composite a short exposure of the moon in the middle of my corona image.

 

What you're actually doing with these images is creating an artificial flat field by blurring out any detail such as stars or corona and then subtracting the artificial flat from your data to leave (hopefully) just the detail.

 

The type of blur makes no difference whatsoever as long as its a high quality blur.

 

Dan

 

You can get results using any type of blur including Gaussian, etc...