On Feb 20th I had my first simi-successful try at imaging M42; imaging anything really. Unlike Tyler who can produce a beautiful portrait by the next day I have been trying to process the data this whole time. The data were certainly not on Allred standard savings time. It has been a good learning tool for me though. I won’t bore you with all my failures and only say that of the data I planed to collect (5, 15, 30, 60, 420 second data) I only collected 5, 15, and 30 second data at ISO 400. I planed on doing some at ISO 800 but my batteries objected. Due to processes within my control I failed to set up the camera correctly and the 60 and 420 second data. They turned out to be more 30 second data. All the data were collected from a backyard in Orem, with a Canon Rebel XT, prim-focus on an Orion 100mm ED. I subsequently broke a pin on my Losmandy input jack and have not been able to collect more data as yet, but plan to in the future. I specifically picked M42 for the challenge of overcoming the Dynamic range problem. I should have started with something easier for my first attempt at deep sky imaging but I was determined (bull headed). I am still not satisfied with it. It appears too red to me, but I will keep playing with it. When I get my Digital Drive System back from Losmandy I will try to collect more data; maybe just 600 sec data. I tried to collect 6 sub sets of each category, but only about half turned out good enough to use lacking star trails. If anyone is interested in the Photoshop masking process to overcome the Dynamic range problem, I used Jerry Lodrigus’ technique that you can see at: http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/LAYMASK.HTM I posted my image at: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=1303 Jim