joel_clark37•5d agoTop Commenter

Some guy on the APOD forum told me to stop cranking up the saturation on my nebula shots

Tried backing off the color slider to 60% on that Orion image from last month and suddenly the dust lanes actually looked natural instead of like a unicorn threw up on my sensor, has anyone else had to unlearn bad editing habits?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wendy5d ago

Have you tried dropping the saturation even further, like to 40-50%? I had the same problem with my M31 shots, everything looking like cotton candy. I finally learned to focus on the luminance layer instead, keeping the color data subtle and just boosting contrast. That Orion dust really does pop when you let the natural browns and blacks do the heavy lifting.

william_garcia5d ago

Ngl, the luminance layer trick is something I wish I'd learned years ago. Honestly, I spent way too long cranking saturation because I thought that's what made space photos look "cool." But then you get that unnatural neon look where the stars look like they're glowing from inside. That Orion dust is subtle, and when you're at 50% you really see why people say less is more with narrowband data. Have you tried messing with the black point too, or do you stick with just contrast adjustments after you drop the saturation?

victorh815d ago

Wait, you actually tried pushing saturation that hard on space photos? I mean, I get the temptation but I always thought that neon look was just beginner luck or something. I remember ruining a perfectly good M42 shot that way and wondering why it looked like a rave poster.