Hello, my name is Tony but often I'm known as Tonk (a name I got from one of my caving friends who couldn't type). I've been imaging since 2004, starting out with a very noisy Canon 10D, a Losmandy GM8 and a TeleView 85.
My favourite targets are comets (all shapes and sizes) - something I've been fascinated with since I found comet Kahoutek for myself when I was 15. Because the north of England is a cloud and rain magnet I've developed a number of mobile rigs over the last 12 years that I run from the back of my car. I have favourite dark sites that I use from the Western Yorkshire Dales (near the Morecombe Bay area) - right across to the east side of the North Yorkshire Moors (near Scarborough) and I've had a lot of adventures along the way (car sunk in bog, police wanting to look through the scope (numerous times), being mistaken for James Herriot's son, interrogated by an anti sheep rustling vigilante group of farmers at 4 am on a remote hill … … )
One of the joys of comet imaging is you get grand tours of the sky as you follow the comet's progress and find things that you would not otherwise bother to image. One of the not so joyful aspects is processing the images for a "star freeze" effect. Over the years I've developed a number of processing techniques (the first was called MinSubMax - its detailed description lurks in the CloudyNights archives from about 2005 and that is were it should stay! I don't use it anymore - far too labour intensive). You need a toolbox of processing methods as different techniques are appropriate for different sorts of comets - be it because it moves slow or fast, its big or small, bright or dim or it is interfered with by a bright star - all throw up challenges (some can only be solved by reshooting the sky after the comet has gone!) .
I've put up a few comet processing tutorials in the image descriptions in my gallery - the image title will have "tutorial" or "processing notes" in it. Please feel free to ask about them or share your own tips. I'm always learning and being challenged as each new comet throws up various processing problems.
Happy imaging
My favourite targets are comets (all shapes and sizes) - something I've been fascinated with since I found comet Kahoutek for myself when I was 15. Because the north of England is a cloud and rain magnet I've developed a number of mobile rigs over the last 12 years that I run from the back of my car. I have favourite dark sites that I use from the Western Yorkshire Dales (near the Morecombe Bay area) - right across to the east side of the North Yorkshire Moors (near Scarborough) and I've had a lot of adventures along the way (car sunk in bog, police wanting to look through the scope (numerous times), being mistaken for James Herriot's son, interrogated by an anti sheep rustling vigilante group of farmers at 4 am on a remote hill … … )
One of the joys of comet imaging is you get grand tours of the sky as you follow the comet's progress and find things that you would not otherwise bother to image. One of the not so joyful aspects is processing the images for a "star freeze" effect. Over the years I've developed a number of processing techniques (the first was called MinSubMax - its detailed description lurks in the CloudyNights archives from about 2005 and that is were it should stay! I don't use it anymore - far too labour intensive). You need a toolbox of processing methods as different techniques are appropriate for different sorts of comets - be it because it moves slow or fast, its big or small, bright or dim or it is interfered with by a bright star - all throw up challenges (some can only be solved by reshooting the sky after the comet has gone!) .
I've put up a few comet processing tutorials in the image descriptions in my gallery - the image title will have "tutorial" or "processing notes" in it. Please feel free to ask about them or share your own tips. I'm always learning and being challenged as each new comet throws up various processing problems.
Happy imaging
