Year of the Comet
Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

PANSTARRS information

Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON)

ISON information

Tony Hallas' Cosmic Imaging

Tone your image using HDR

July 2012: More is better when we're talking about fine details in your astroimages.
Contributed by Tony Hallas
Published: May 29, 2012
Tony Hallas
One of the best improvements in Adobe Photoshop CS5 is High Dynamic Range (HDR) processing. In its pure form, HDR allows users to merge three exposures — one each for shadow, midtone, and highlight detail — into one image with clear detail, from deep shadows to bright highlights. Toning with HDR allows you to adjust this now-single image to bring out more detail. It’s important to use an astroimage that has been stretched properly — that is, it has full detail at all levels of illumination without any clipping (see my November and December 2010 “Imaging the Cosmos” columns).

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