I critique 100 of your astrophotos!

[@AstroBackyard]

If only there was a way to absorb as much of Nico's processing experience in a single video as possible... oh wait. :D Thanks for doing this man, you are one-of-a-kind.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Ha, thanks Trevor! Appreciate it buddy!

[@skipfranzese5667]

Huge fan of both of you gents!!!

[@jacobmanonyane3312]

@@skipfranzese5667 Same here!! Hope to visit Trevor in ON post Covid!!

[@assaultpickle77]

@@jacobmanonyane3312 Take me with you!

[@astrodug]

To devote so much of your time to teach people astrophotography is a noble cause. Thank you for sharing your expertise.

[@NebulaPhotos]

It's my pleasure Doug! Thanks for your comment.

[@middleagedgamer9630]

4:01:10 - That's when the alien craft crossed the image and block the view. Seriously though, I learned loads watching this. An awesome amount of work went into it. Well done!

[@stefandietmann5120]

First I thought watching 4h of other people's pictures would be dull, but man you or me can learn so much from this!! Great job, thx a lot!!

[@vladimirlenin4080]

4h of photo critique. Now that's what I call dedication.

[@sanjaya718]

Nico, I can't thank you enough for your critique! I was not sure about the cause of the distortion and will go through my lights to remove the nudged ones. I'm also thankful that you feel positively about my relatively budget friendly setup. I will, of course, be going through the full video to glean all the insights you provide with the set of 100 photos. Great appreciation! Sanjay

[@NebulaPhotos]

My pleasure Sanjay. I'd be interested to hear if my guess was correct.

[@julianf.161]

This video is a massive help for me, who's very passionate about learning the different processing techniques and tips, since I don't have huge amounts of money at the moment (due to the fact that I'm still a 17-year old student) to spend on a star tracker. But in the meantime, I can learn (almost) everything about the process of editing my images and I even have the chance to apply your and other astrophotographer's tips to the freely downloadable base images you kindly include in your tutorials. I already know that astrophotography is going to be a hobby I'll keep doing for a long, long time and and I think that it could sometimes be worse to start out with a whole bunch of gear whose additional features won't be that helpful because you are not able to use it's full potential. And I'm confident that it surely will come in handy to have already edited some images of DSO's and not having to worry about the editing process too much when finally beginning to take your own images with a tracker and all the other exciting gear. (And because I'm just 17 years old, I have enough time to buy new gear gradually.) Best regards and clear skies. Julian F.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Great to hear Julian! I wish I had started when I was 17. Clear skies, Nico

[@c63blackseries63]

The politeness and dedication, respecting every photographer work is just priceless on that video. Really liked the way you can always see somthing positive in each photo, even if they're not "cover-of-the-magazine" quality. Since it's a very tough photography skill to learn, it takes time practising, plus you have to count on good weather/light, people that already know what they're doing sometimes forget how was it in the beginning. As a fellow Universe-enthusiast, I thank you very much for the time and knowledge shared! You're definitelly WAY above other astrophotography channels!

[@neverescence]

Thank you so much for creating this I know it was probably a ton of work for you to make but it's the most help I've had. I'd like to begin trying with just my DSLR and seeing you critique the ones taken with a DSLR is soooo helpful

[@willrothfuss8470]

What a great video, Nico. I am particularly impressed by your artistic eye and Photoshop chops. The technical nuts and bolts of capturing and processing data are obviously essential, but these are photographs after all, and the composition, color and content are as important in astrophotography as in any other kind of photography. Astronomers and astro-imagers being an engineering/nerd group largely lol), the artistic end is somewhat underrepresented.

[@ed6480]

Who knew 4 hours of astrophoto critiques could be so riveting! Super helpful and you seem like a pretty awesome fella! Subscribed.

[@rustyshackelford87]

#25 David - the transition to your edit of the same photo blew me away.

[@fazergazer]

The 100th critique is a real jewel

[@Mizgrievoux]

Im gonna donate to you and I want to buy a copy of barts mosaic, holy sheet. Thanks a bunch for your video. Your knowledge and understanding of both photography and astronomy are really amazing- recognizing constellations and astro-structures to the point of being able to tell whats missing or been edited out just good god thats incredible, but then to be able to teach and convey the editing / photography techniques you would use to fix them is a trifecta of talent rarely seen , oh also then the dedication and effort required to make a 4hr long video about it. Really, Thank You.

[@Pletharoe]

So sorry I missed the live vid but like another commentor was just too late over here in the uk. Love the channel. Great, great tutorials in an easy to follow and structured manner and I look forward to every video, Keep up the great work!

[@cult4037]

Nico, fantastic video. Honestly your one of my favourite KZbinrs and mentor because you actually take the time to look at everyones photos and your extremely helpful, no-one else would actually take the time like you! Keep it up👍🏼!!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Arhan, glad you liked it!

[@MrBlueSky1987]

Paul W here, Thanks a lot for the critique :) Since this was at the very beginning of my astrophotography adventure, I've already learned a lot by watching your videos, have tried Orion recently, with calibration frames and all, also upgraded to the Star Adventurer Pro Pack for longer focal lengths and I'm really happier with the results! Thanks a lot for your commitment on helping others, especially beginners like me, you're a big inspiration! Keep it up!

[@lordperilous]

Nico, I really appreciate all your videos (I'm a new follower, and longtime terran photographer getting into astro). I want to point out if it's not obvious that watching your critiques are filling my head with all the things I might do in the future if I was figuring it out on my own. With this video, I am seeing repeating, typical errors I can try to avoid. This is amazing, and it's like getting a ton of experience in one big video. Thank you for your amazingly valuable content!

[@GalileoUAS]

Dude I missed sending you a photo of mine huge bummer I would of loved your input as thanks to you I bought my first camera and since have a small library of pics which I am always open to opinion. Your a good man Nico the astrophotography community needs you simply by the fact you inspire to shoot with what you got when it is filled mostly with people that die by the fact that you should only shoot with triple appo's etc etc . As I said before your humble approach. Clear skies Nico

[@Ambress]

I've not looked at this yet, other than a cursory peek, but really love that you've done this Nico, while also appreciating all the helpful content you provide. The time you put into this particular effort is also greatly appreciated and that you provided an index with brief comments also helps point one toward topics they might suspect to be issues with their own photos. Props!!

[@fazergazer]

This is a master class for the aspiring astrophotographer. Part feedback, part tutorial, all very productive and constructive. I learned more from this one video than I ever thought possible! Thanks Nico!

[@AstroPixUK]

Nico, what a fantastic video and we can’t thank you enough for all your hard work. I loved what you did with my Elephant Trunk image and now testing your tips on a new stack. 🙂

[@NebulaPhotos]

My pleasure Jim! Glad you enjoyed it

[@MrModerate_kane]

Never seen anyone with such experience, love this video and definitely have an appreciation of what goes into an Astro shot now, thanks for this.

[@mysterx4931]

You are a recordman ! Recordman for the quality of your videos and for the duration ! You deserve the Guinness book ! In France we haven't no youtuber such a level as you, and with the humility as yours.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[@AltairAcademy]

This is awesome! Great job Nico and all astrophotographers!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks Martynas!

[@aguelch]

I learned a ton from this video. I have said this about your videos before but wow, I really appreciate the time and effort you put into each and every video you make. You are the only one I know of who does all of this for free. I think that is awesome and I thank you.

[@gabewrsewell]

thank you for the critique! i do agree, that wormy snakeskin thing you get from reducing a dense star field too hard is one of my biggest issues, i need to implement starnet more often. congrats again on 30k, now 40k!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks for sending it in! It was a really impressive photo, and I had a great time examining it.

[@Germanolivera]

such a great guy giving some good advice. You are great man!! such a dedication!!

[@donaldklopper]

You must be crazy to expect us to watch four hours of th... OK so I'm 1 hour 10 minutes in, and loving it. Thanks for the video dude.

[@meters_and_madness]

Just when I had forgotten about the critique video, here it is! So much valuable info. Your channel is my favorite astrophotography resource. Thanks for taking the time to check out all of our photos :) -Dylan

[@hesk4u]

This is such a great video because you explain the probable causes of so many artifacts and how to fix the problems. Great job!

[@skipfranzese5667]

Wow!!! Speechless here!!! Awesome Video. Picked up so much from this - great Xmas gift!! Thank you Nico!! Don’t understand why the wife watches things like the bachelorette when the courtship between the photographer and the sky is so so much better!!! :)

[@edjones3390]

Absolute marathon - Great to see so many peoples work and amazing for you to devote so much time on this - great feedback and advice! + Some new techniques to use on my astro images !

[@tmrdarkstar85]

I love this I feel more people who understand the post processing of DSO and Planetary Images need to critique photos to help others get better lifting each other up not putting them down. Great video @Nebula Photos

[@mattnudi5363]

Amazing video! Just discovered your channel and feel like I stumbled across a series of masterclass videos and content.

[@SHAMUS991]

Nico, what an amazing idea it is so helpful. I am early days exploring this as new hobby, been lucky to acquire some nice kit so hoping I can get my skills up to the potential my system should enable, your video's are a tremendous inspiration and this is so helpful. Many thanks for doing..

[@High2you311]

This is what you call dedication, Good job Nico! Well done

[@MarvelousLXVII]

Wow as a beginner--this is a must-watch!

[@captgbakos1291]

That was amazing. Soooo much work went into this. I admit to falling asleep toward the end (I'm an early riser) so I'll be going back to watch the rest. So much to learn from these reviews. Thanks so much for doing it!!!

[@GaryLeeNo1]

I think the more that I listen to your tips and techniques, the clouds start to think out and I start to understand what you are doing especially in the processing part of astrophotography. I have Adobe Elements, but it is too limited to be used for astrophotography. I will be purchasing/leasing photoshop for the very first time. Thanks Nico.

[@ioannisioannou7518]

Hey Nico, just wanted to say a big thank you for taking all this time to review and your hard work is so appreciated. I learned sth about my image that makes me better moving forward and honored that a master gave me tips on improvement. Look forward to the next one and all your future videos. Be well

[@fireflyimages4326]

Thank you for your inputs here! I did try more exposures at a lower shutter speed and it worked! Shot Andromeda and Orion Nebula untracked and happy with the results. Thank you so much for teaching the technique and taking out time to provide inputs!

[@fireflyimages4326]

BTW, Jumper here... :D

[@NebulaPhotos]

Awesome, so glad to hear Jumper! Happy new year!

[@regp5]

Awesome video! Thanks for the tip about saturating the reds. When I look back on this image I agree it is over saturated a bit. I too am a big fan of when the signals mix to give white highlights

[@NebulaPhotos]

Yeah, it was really just a tad over. Nice shot Reg!

[@bigjimny]

Great stuff, many thanks to all the contributors who are willing to show their efforts in public

[@simonpepper5053]

Thanks Nico really enjoyed it! Gutted I missed the call out though would have sent you an image! I’ll keep an eye out in case you do another!

[@minethebuilder3121]

That Rho Ophiuchi photo was incredible.

[@chitownxring1444]

Nico, I learned a lot thank you for doing this.. One BIG thumbs up smashed sir!

[@GregK8625]

Great video; I've learned so much from it. I now know a bit more about what to pay attention to during post processing! Thank you very much!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad it was helpful!

[@megthrash9946]

You are so kind to share your time and expertise!

[@davidgreen4406]

Great video! Thank you for taking the time to critique so many photos! I really appreciated hearing all of your advice. 🌝🔭

[@TheCellCH]

Thank you again for this awesome video. I've finally come around to rework my composition image and I think your critique made it a lot better. Thanks again for sharing this. Clear skies, Simon.

[@alex.petkevich]

Your attention and advices impress! Thank you for inspiring!

[@MrFingolfin]

Amazing job Nico, really generous from you. Here you have a fan 😅

[@harshchitnis7819]

Thanks a lot sir , I couldn't watch it live because of the timezones but I did watch it after thanks for the advice!!

[@johnross9369]

Great video Nico, you make this sound so easy. One day I'll get my feet wet. Thanks for all of your input.

[@stevenrobinsonpictures]

Fantastic, I am enjoying watching this through.

[@MrGp3po]

Love this. Great tips and info on critique of images.

[@Prof.Laitharth]

Thank you so much for your tips in my photo! I'll make sure to do the necessary changes next time! Awesome video!! edit: I was looking into the debayer issue and turns out that some how DSS does not read my CR2 files properly, so i used DNG files instead and the results were much better! Thank you !

[@NebulaPhotos]

Awesome! Glad to hear

[@nadirteymurov1]

Thank you very much for critique, Nico ! Framing, just like I thought. :D Problem with Veil nebula was that it was a tough fit for rather small KAF-8300 sensor on FSQ-106, so there wasn't much of a room for framing to include empty space near Witch's Broom and East Veil. I have much larger fullframe QHY600L camera now, so this is definitely a target for next spring/summer to re-take. ;-)

[@NebulaPhotos]

Ooooh, Nice! I'm jealous, would love to move to full frame mono, but I think I'm going to wait for the mono APS-C coming soon (QHY268M)

[@Ragidity]

I really love your videos

[@4mdpaula]

Thank you, Nico! This video really helped me finding my weak spots.

[@danjensen9425]

Dan J. Hey your so awesome with doing this video . You got me through gimp processing and now I’m using app after dss. But still use gimp to darken background . Yes 20 times more data , next year I’m thinking 4 hours autoguiding 3 minute subs and I’m buying a asi294color pro to go longer in 90 degree nights . But the canon t6i did really good .

[@NebulaPhotos]

Awesome Dan! Yes, the cooled cameras are awesome for the summer, and it's so nice to just build a master dark library, and never have to shoot darks again.

[@ABUNGO888]

Thank you Nico, great insights and tips. Learned a lot & hopefully can send something the next time.

[@NebulaPhotos]

I hope so too!

[@OlliesSpace]

Very useful as I use Photoshop lots of tips. I've only got a 3rd way thru saving the rest for another day. Great work 👍🙏

[@itaialter]

Thanks for the tips, kind words and the time you've put into this video!

[@objinformation]

Man, hats off to you for this one!

[@seesiedler1]

Damn... This video is better than any tutorial. Just so many little info bits. I am two thirds through the video but I am defenitly going to watch the whole thing (probaly more then once).

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad you are finding it helpful! Cheers, Nico

[@FredOzzie]

Once again, Nico has posted a really useful tutorial. I appreciate the tips such as avoiding excessive contrast by bringing up the background to 8-bit luminosities of ~30-40, hints on framing & composition, the problem of unsharp stars at corners & edges with a wide-angle lens and using adequate integration times. I have a couple suggestions: (1) Many of the cameras used are crop-sensor types so I suggest you mention the EFFECTIVE focal length. With an Canon APS-C camera, this crop factor is 1.6, hence a "nifty fifty" acts like an 80 mm lens. (2) Re: Phil - color balance @ 03:04:12 shows a coma problem at the corners with the stars showing radial streaks. This can be partially corrected using a technique from one of Doug German's Budget Astro videos. I presented a summary of this on Cloudy Nights at www.cloudynights.com/topic/549926-smartphone-astrophotography/?p=10901283. The example was for afocal photography with a smartphone but the star correction technique also works with a camera & lens or prime focus.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Thanks for watching and the suggestions Fred! 1) I know about effective focal length, but don't find it particularly useful for astrophotography since so few people have a full frame sensor + focal length in their mind's eye when comparing the field of view on popular space objects. I also find it somewhat misleading as the lens doesn't change properties, your sensor just gets smaller, changing the field of view. Instead what I advocate for is to use FOV calculator visualization tools like those in Stellarium, Telescopius.com, astronomy.tools, and the Blackwater Skies Imaging Toolbox (www.blackwaterskies.co.uk/imaging-toolbox/) to understand your pixel scale, field of view on the night sky, and how different deep sky objects will frame up. 2) Ah! I have used that photoshop trick for fixing star elongation. For certain photos, it does work a trick! Thanks for reminding me of it. Cheers, Nico

[@FredOzzie]

@@NebulaPhotos re: "I know about effective focal length, but don't find it particularly useful". My camera, a Sony RX10 bridge camera (crop factor 2.73) has zoom settings shown as effective FL (24 to 200 mm), not the actual FL. Also, knowing the effective FL is useful for estimating the FOV. For example, the wider dimension for a 50 mm lens is 39.6 deg, and a 100 mm is 20.4 deg. I use Stellerium but it is awkward to put the camera FOV rectangle over a target.

[@knightclan4]

Truly impressed with your caring comments.

[@MrRjw56]

Really enjoy your videos, very detailed and helpful, on a side point, do you play the piano as well as you take astrophotos, if so you should do piano video tutorials.

[@akthethotboi9711]

I started Astrophotography because it was trippy looking and fun to do when high and now I am addicted to Astrophotography and not weed

[@Pablanz]

Outstanding work buddy, well done!!

[@Bluekangaroo2]

Interesting Video, learned a lot, thx man.

[@adithyadivakar2425]

Hey! This is Adi, and I sent you the Orion nebula. Thank you so much for the critique and the tips. Will definitely revisit post-processing. Appreciate it!!

[@TheCellCH]

I'll try to watch at least the first part live. It's exactly midnight when the premiere starts. Very excited to see you finished the video. It must have been way to much work :D

[@fazergazer]

Love the Rho Ophiucus mosaic

[@paulos9304]

Would like to watch but to late for me over the pond in UK. I like this guy. He's a top bloke in his field. Great tutorials but this one's a tab late for me. Hope it goes well for you all though.

[@Vertolot]

Hi, Inspired by your Andromeda video I have also started shooting deep sky objects with my unusual gear. I just took a photo with a Nikon Z6 > adapter > Canon 400mm DO Mark 1 and, for the 2nd try of deep sky photography, I thing I managed pretty good. Also, not easy to find photos of the sky with the 400/4 DO lens. I was wondering, where do I send my picture for you to look at? p.s. no mount, done on a Tripod and 1/1.6 exposures at 20k iso

[@NebulaPhotos]

Hi Verners, Nice, glad you've taken the plunge. 400mm seems a bit long for untracked, but what do you think of the photo? If you want me to take a look at your photo, you can send to nicocarver at gmail dot com, and I will try to get back to you. If you want to be included in a critique, wait a few months, and I will make another call for submissions. Cheers, Nico

[@Vertolot]

@@NebulaPhotos For my second time for such an unusual piece of gear, it think it turned out great. After watching your video, I had to wait for a few weeks before the sky got clear again, and since it dropped below zero, I did not go out into the woods for a darker sky, but it was worth the pain in my frozen fingertips imo.

[@KelsFPS]

#54 here ! Thanks a lot for the tips and honesty ! exited to get back out there

[@kevingumfory]

Man. Because you GAF and take the time to TEACH and explain. You fckn own.

[@rafiexperimental]

i watched half of this.. gonna watch the other half tomorrow this is good matterial for bedtime

[@Raspora]

what a video , it was nice to see this . can i ask about . is there a chart or something where lens and stuffs are categorized by which worth to use for a certain target? i mean . milky way is good with wide lenses as mid , and the first tele lenses like 14- to -120 and for example make a correct photo of the orion nebula is like 300mm to Xyz size of telescope or so . i see these great pictures . i heard sometimes suprisingly insane numbers and types as well. but i am wondering where it starts , which MM is the startline for a smaler target. like M31 or other . i mean its still absolutely okay to make a photo of something that is like equal to a 1 cent size . but kinda detailed shots is not possible to everything with a 85mm

[@NebulaPhotos]

There are a number of field-of-view tools available for this kind of analysis. I like this one: www.blackwaterskies.co.uk/imaging-toolbox/ and here is a mini tutorial I made showing how to use it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYPHZJKoqN-jgas

[@charlesg6583]

This was totally worth watching! I will subscribe to your course to see your videos. I don't use a telescope, but you provided so many comments on questions I was wondering about processing as well as diagnosing issues. I use a Nikon Z6 ii and Star Adventurer Pro and Z lens 20mm F1.8 and a nikon 70-300mm lens at 300mm. I didn't realize if we dial down the zoom from 300mm to 135mm and instead crop the pictures to zoom in the nebulas, we can get less tracking issues that people had and still get more detail if we just take more lights. How many lights at 30 seconds do you consider enough for say the Orion nebula?

[@NebulaPhotos]

Glad you enjoyed it Charles! More time is always better, and a darker sky basically acts the same as more time. For tracked DSLR shots, I try to do 1 hour minimum, so that would 120 30s. shots. Clear skies, Nico

[@menrmennotwomenlul]

Finally! Had been waiting for this video for a while. I'm jaded head at 1:27:32. Thanks for the advice! I tried really hard to find a spot without light pollution in my city but that's the best I could do haha. Looking forward to travel to a better place sometime next year and redo the shot properly. Haven't yet gone through the rest of the vid but I surely will. Thanks for the massive effort!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Nice! Practicing in the city is well worth the time. Once you get to the dark site, it's good to have already practiced a lot. Clear skies, Nico

[@kevinashley478]

Don't quote me as fact on this, but at 3:38:40, you are talking about how did he get the trees in the foreground to light up and I think I actually know this. I have watched a few other people on KZbin that do night shots, specifically of the Milky Way, and when they have a foreground object that they want to be brighter, they do something the call "painting". And all it is, is during the exposure time, they use a flashlight and shine the light back and forth, all over the object (painting it with light), which when the exposure is done, it makes the object much brighter. I am sure they do some cleaning up and editing in software like Photoshop or Lightroom. But I am pretty sure that is what was done on that picture.

[@ArtUniverse]

I'm at 21:21! Thanks for featuring me.

[@NebulaPhotos]

My pleasure! It is a masterpiece!

[@Brik2246]

omg bart you are a master your capture is magnificent !! the best astro image ive even seen no jome its so good

[@rasoolabeditabar3143]

55:01 that harsh edge is caused by sharpening filters

[@Rajesh-cg5pz]

I missed it! I forgot to submit my photo in that month! If you decide to do this again sometime, I will give my submission for sure.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Looking forward to it Rajesh

[@harshalraut2056]

Thanks for doing this, I learned a lot from it

[@Brik2246]

I'd love to hear your critique on my image too... Will there be a part 2?

[@joachimprz]

I hope so brccc

[@williamluong7743]

Now there is :)

[@Brik2246]

@@williamluong7743 yeee hype

[@maurizioschroevers4764]

Hi Nico , thx for the review. I will apply your suggestions. You did a nice processing on my tiff. I am curious how you did that. Greetings.

[@NebulaPhotos]

Hi Maurizio, I just applied Levels a bunch of times to make the picture brighter and 'stretched'. Basically, just open Levels, and take the middle slider and move to the left a number of times, once you see that the Red Green and Blue peaks are off the left hand side, you can start pushing the shadows slider to the right. See here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIPTZISrlJV-bNE

[@SergeyDumphreyMusic]

thank you very much man!! i appreciate it

[@NM-ql9er]

This is a great video

[@Diomedes642]

Thanks, learned a lot from it !

[@dougross51]

HEY NICO!! YOU'RE FAMOUS!

[@leonardoleite1085]

Great comments Nico. I had a problem during the live, the video quality was limited to 360p. Had to watch it later when the quality was "unlocked". Watching from Brazil, don't know if this have anything to do with the problem. Clear skies!

[@NebulaPhotos]

Sorry about that Leonardo. It affected everyone. The problem was KZbin had not finished processing the HD version before the premiere started so then it got locked in to 360p. I will build in more lead time for processing next time I do a premiere. Clear skies, Nico

[@prodson1]

Amazing video

[@GaryKleinactivesky]

This video is incredibly informative. Thanks for helping to pave the way for others to take up this hobby like myself. I wanted to ask what advice you would have for integrating additional exposure time to a previous set of exposures of an untracked set of photos. Is merging two master files in DSS with new calibration frames for the additional exposures the best way of doing this?

[@NebulaPhotos]

There are tabs at the bottom of DSS called main group, group 1, etc. You would want to put each night in to a different group, and then stack them all together. deepskystacker.free.fr/english/technical.htm#filegroup

[@nadirteymurov1]

Hey, Nico. Here's another idea for your next video. You choose a target which is visible for most of your subscribers (I guess it should be a northern hemisphere) and approx. range of telescopes/focal length that can image it. Everyone takes N-number of shots on it and you as a profi combine most successful subs for a final image.

[@kartikrana8293]

would love a episode 2