Orion First time imaging

Tom H:
First time imaging -my son got me hooked on the hobby
Thoughts /Suggestions  on pictures.

Glad to see someone else join the hobby! Kiss your bank account goodbye, lol! 

Joking aside, a little details on what you are working with equipment wise, location, that type of stuff would go a long way to helping you out with suggestions. Looking at your gallery, looks like you are off to a good start!

Thanks 
Any issues –should have had better focus ? Over processed?

Those are awesome! They look similar to my first image, taken a year ago on my 8" Evolution! Some things I did when I started…
- a Bahtinov mask is cheap and a no brainer for fast and precise focus
- That was my first image too, but I think I liked my initial pictures of galaxies better? Orion Nebula is a big target for that focal length.
- A focal reducer will give a bigger image and faster light gathering
- keep pouring in more money as you decide you'd like to level up (Pixinsight with some fancy tools, an equatorial mount, guiding)
- Your gallary says you're using a 533MM - I assume that should be an MC (ie colour camera, not mono) That camera should take you pretty far (I'm still getting much joy from my uncooled 585MC)

Also, I got quite a bit of happiness out of 10 min EAA sessions when I started, "OMG I can see a galaxy's spiral arms" lasted for quite a while.

Thomas:

Tom H:
Thanks 
Any issues --should have had better focus ? Over processed?

That's actually a fairly tough region to start with. It has a very high dynamic range so it can be tricky to get the processing just right. Especially if you are trying to show all the way to the trapezium. The focus doesn't look half bad. Are you using anything like a motorized focuser or bahtinov mask to focus? The third image IMO is the best. You don't have the sharp divide between color saturation like the first two have. Those almost look like you used a mask with a sharp edge that isn't feathered or anything.

Thanks for the feedback   For this shot i did focusing manually--- i finally bought a Bathinov mask and ASI air plus with auto focusing

i bought the zwo eaf after realizing the asi air would not control my celestron auto focuser   Learning cost -lol.

Looked at your album again and looks like you are definitely having a great start! A few things for just starting:

- You need to stick with it and don't get discouraged. This hobby takes a decent amount of patience and improvements can be gradual.
- Your Nexstar 9.25 is a big scope to start with. They have their own challenges, especially for beginners.
- Consider using your 533MC with something smaller or even a camera lens! ZWO has adapters and you can connect your camera to a DSLR lens. The wider FOV will help with tracking.
- If you want to keep using that scope, you should start learning about guiding. Either with a second scope attached or using an off axis guider. The EQ6 is a good mount but you may soon find one of your limiting factors is unguided exposure length.
- Keep at it with some bright targets. Clusters, bright nebulas, large galaxies, the Moon are all great things to start with.