Tulip to Cocoon by way of Wolf Rayet

[Andy Nowlen]

Tulip to Cocoon by way of Wolf Rayet 134.

Three clear nights in a row during October is a rare thing. I captured this composition with interesting notable features.
My kindly CFO/wife of 52 years thought version 1 was a bit flat. I think I may prefer this bolder version - sounds smart, right:>). So I have included here the first and second renditions.
Sharpstar 76mm @ 335mm
Triad Ultra filter
Asi071mc cool
Asiair
Cem26 mount
5.5 hours

I am inclined toward the bolder, second version.

Version 1

Version 2 (Bolder)

 

[AlanLichty]

Beautiful scene.

I am not an astro guy but the second image almost feels like it has a bit too much contrast applied. There are some delicate and subtle features in the first image that get overwhelmed in the second one. Maybe somewhere in between the two?

 

[JimFox]

Hey Andy, I think your CFO is on the right track. There is nothing wrong with #1 except it does feel a bit flat. I like your bolder version. As edges show up better. I just read Alan's comment while scrolling back and forth, I agree maybe in between the 2?

What I often do is have my original version, then decide it's too flat. So I end up making a bolder version but then decide it's too bold. So I take them both into Photoshop and combine them together, then lower the opacity of the bolder one as it sits on top of the flatter version, sometimes I end up at about 70 to 80%.

 

[Anubis1311]

I’ve been reprocessing a lot of my images recently (mainly because I can’t buy a clear night) but I’ve found myself edging more towards subtle processing rather than bold colours. For that reason I’m inclined to go for image 1. Both are very nice however

 

[Mike Lewis]

Well of course you can reprocess as many times as you like and almost always find something to like in the newest version. I agree though that while 1 is flat, 2 might be a little too much, so perhaps something between the 2 - maybe like ~75% of 2 or something like that. Great colors and framing though and when you are splitting hairs on which excellent version to pick you know you have a great image...

ML

 

[Alisa]

WOW these are so cool.

 

[Andy Elliott]

I like them both, but maybe a blend of both would give you the best of both worlds (that's a lot of 'boths'). That Wolf Rayet is defo on my to do list.