Another Moon shot ; Different Sharpening techniques

[James G]

The weather was good last night and the atmosphere very stable, with the moon pretty high (about 65 degrees).
I shot several sequences of 12 images and because conditions were so good, there was very low distortion from image to image. I stacked a sequence and then merged the images using opacity blending.

Finally I applied a couple of different sharpening methods. The results are shown below.....

#1 Moon May 14th Photoshop Smart Sharpen


#2 Moon May 14th Lorentzian Sharpen (using Astro Image 4.0...Photoshop plugin)


#3 Moon May 14th home built Wavelet Action using a Median Noise layer to Sharpen


The differences are quite subtle I suppose, but looking at my lunar atlas it is possible to identify specific craters down to about 10km diameter.

C&C welcome

[Davejl]

Very nice. I'm only looking on my iPad, but I think number 1 best.

I saw the moon last evening and it was very clear and I was quite keen to have a go at some shots, but very soon little wisps of cloud arrived to spoil things

I wonder what lens you used? I have taken a reasonable shot of a full moon with the Sigma 150-500mm on a Canon APS-C, but I was surprised how small the moon was in that shot (at about 440mm I think).

Dave

[Shadowman]

Nice shots.

[Astramael]

What excellent lunar shots. Full points to you, sir. I must say I am having trouble choosing a preference between the three.

As Dave says, whenever I take shots of the moon (even at 600mm) it is unreasonably small and requires considerable cropping. I need to attach my camera to a telescope or something.

[James G]

I wonder what lens you used?

Hi Dave, I shoot using a Canon 7d Mk2, with the 50-500mm Sigma lens, doubled using a Sigma 2x doubler.
(The doubler was a second hand buy last year, specifically to give me a better image size for Sun and Moon shots.)

Apart from that I shoot with mirror lock-up on tripod, using a remote release to minimise vibration.

The moon is fairly obsessive subject with me I'm afraid

[Donald]

Very, very impressive images. Subtle differences, as you say. But an excellent exercise and good piece of learning for those still getting to grips with sharpening.

[James G]

Thanks Julian.

I need to attach my camera to a telescope or something.

I've probably reached the limit for my current rig, given I live in a pretty poor area for light pollution, on the outskirts of a big city with an airport about 3 miles away.

I have been surprised though with what can be achieved with my setup. I got interested in shooting the Orion Nebula using the same rig over last winter and managed the shot below.

Orion Nebula (M42)


It did involve stacking 120 captures and using DeepSkyStacker to align the images.

I'm hoping to get some detailed 'summer' objects in a few months time.

[TonyW]

When I looked closely a these images, to my surprise it seemed to me that the first one using Photoshop's smart sharpening gave the sharpest image but not very much different to the second one. I have to confess to having no idea what Lorentzian sharpening is. They are all good though.

[Davejl]

Hi Dave, I shoot using a Canon 7d Mk2, with the 50-500mm Sigma lens, doubled using a Sigma 2x doubler.
(The doubler was a second hand buy last year, specifically to give me a better image size for Sun and Moon shots.)

Apart from that I shoot with mirror lock-up on tripod, using a remote release to minimise vibration.

The moon is fairly obsessive subject with me I'm afraid

Thanks for this info, James. It certainly produces impressive results, because I was thinking you were maybe using some sort of fancy telescope. I will persevere, East Midlands skies permitting.

Dave

[James G]

Hi Tony,
Sorry, I should have explained the Lorentzian reference.

Basically, sharpening techniques use mathematically based processes to deliver their results. There is a pretty good explanation of Wavelet' sharpenning,(without the complex maths!) via this link http://keithwiley.com/astroPhotograp...arpening.shtml

There are a number of different mathematical algorithms that can be used and their sharpening characteristics differ. Mostly though they enable controlled progression from very fine detail to large detail sharpening.

The plugin that I use (Astra Image), gives me the option to use a number of different functions which have different sharpening characteristics. Lorentzian is one of these.

I should say that I mostly use the plug-in for astrophotography, and on occasion to sharpen macro images of insects at 'high' magnification. It can be used for more conventional images, but imo is probably overkill given that Photoshop Smart Sharpen does as I understand it, use a wavelet process. (I think that if you are sharpening using a 100% view, it is invoked.)

I posted the comparison precisely because the differences are subtle and for a subject like the moon, Photoshop Smart Sharpen is pretty good. It is certainly simpler to use than Astra Image, which can produce horrendous results unless carefully applied.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi James,

I am seeing a significant amount of lateral CA (Chromatic Aberration) in these (the 'red'/'green' colours most prevalent at the edges of frame - i.e. left, top and bottom of the moon shots).

For me this renders discussion of the finer points of sharpening rather moot, I just can't see past those horrid false colours - sorry.

There's an easy fix for it in ACR/LR, it just needs to be enabled (I leave mine on by default).
If the automatic fix doesn't work so well, there are also manual sliders that can be used instead to ensure the correct colours for your lens/image are selected.


Try these two videos for the low down:
Blake Rudis; f64 academy: Chromatic Aberration Reduction in Photoshop = 4:12

Klaus Herrmann; Farbspiel Photography How to Remove Chromatic Aberration in Adobe Camera Raw = 18:36

These are both worth the time to watch in my opinion, they are my pick of the many on CA out there in YouTube-land.

Cheers, Dave

[James G]

I am seeing a significant amount of lateral CA (Chromatic Aberration) in these (the 'red'/'green' colours most prevalent at the edges of frame - i.e. left, top and bottom of the moon shots).

Duh! thanks Dave. I do not know how I missed it!

Just checked back to the original captures and I had applied the 'default' in ACR. But, the telephoto lens correction was not picked up. I think because I'm using a doubler. So corrected that. Still a bit of 'persistent' CA so corrected that with a Hue & Satn layer mask on the blended sequence.

Represented below

#1 Moon May 14th Photoshop Smart Sharpen


#2 Moon May 14th Lorentzian Sharpen (using Astro Image 4.0...Photoshop plugin)


#3 Moon May 14th home built Wavelet Action using a Median Noise layer to Sharpen


#4 and as an after thought, the blended image before any sharpening applied

[Dave Humphries]

Ah yes, that's better, I had overlooked the effect the doubler might have had too.

As you say, the Smart Sharpen (#1) does seem best - and of course is likely much quicker to apply.

[James G]

Try these two videos for the low down:
Blake Rudis; f64 academy: Chromatic Aberration Reduction in Photoshop = 4:12

Klaus Herrmann; Farbspiel Photography How to Remove Chromatic Aberration in Adobe Camera Raw = 18:36

These are both worth the time to watch in my opinion, they are my pick of the many on CA out there in YouTube-land.

Thanks for these links... I checked them out .. .. I'm not too old to learn something new! And I did.

I switched from CS6 to CC in Feb, and have still not picked up on all of the changes. In particular I had not really checked out the ACR filter... very neat, particularly when combined with the ALT + Slider option to show areas affected. I never knew it could be used in the context of Chomatic Aberration.

[IzzieK]

Excellent shots, James. I used to take moon photos with my 300mm zoom depending on the distance of the moon to earth kinda thing and with much cropping, it wasn't bad at all...now I have proper equipment, give tje chance of a warmist night I might get into it again. I prefer the Unsharp Mask version.

[rudi]

I've probably reached the limit for my current rig, given I live in a pretty poor area for light pollution, on the outskirts of a big city with an airport about 3 miles away.

I have been surprised though with what can be achieved with my setup.......

I'm hoping to get some detailed 'summer' objects in a few months time.

Good shot of M42 !! Not blown out core, Running man start to show...

Hope you post some detailed summer objects...

To deal with light pollution, I use a CLS clip in filter.

I was also surprised abt the pretty good results I achieved with more or less 'normal' setup. I do not want to hijack your thread James, (give me a shout and I will remove my picture!!!). The following picture from M42 I took last year in februari.
My setup was a unmodified canon 50D, with CLS clip in filter, canon 100-400mm lens at 400mm, mounted on a skytracker, normal sturdy tripod, stabilized with sandbags. 800iso, 25 exposures 60 seconds each, stacked in DeepSkyStacker. I blew out the core from M42 in this one, but blending in a some 15 sec exposures will solve this.

[James G]

I do not want to hijack your thread James, (give me a shout and I will remove my picture!!!). The following picture from M42 I took last year in februari.

Rudi, carry on hijacking

That's an excellent capture. I too bought an Ioptron Skytracker a couple of months back. I'd been dithering about it all winter, I'm still getting used to it but it should give me the edge I need for the summer night sky!

Life is perverse... I got interested in astronomy in the 60's and had a 4inch refractor.
I lived in Liverpool, on the coast and used to get pretty good 'dark skies'.
When I started working I moved to London, and then the Midlands, all pretty light polluted, so stopped observing much.
I'd tried astrophotography when I was in my teens (even had a physics teacher who was interested and helped me set up a nitrogen chilled plate camera). But at best the images were poor. Digital technology is now so much better... If I'd been able to take the shots then, that I can get now with a camera and telephoto........