Creating a Print: Part 1

Unprocessed RAW image of the Andromeda GalaxyI just saw something another artist posted on their Twitter that I thought was interesting.  Sheep Incognito posted an early rendition of a painting the artist is working on for Christmas.  I thought this would be most interesting and instructional for me to do as well with one of my most recent astrophotos.  So today we begin by posting a RAW image that has simply been converted to jpg.  This is "what the camera sees."  We have begun some discussions on whether or not the camera is the teller of "truth," but we will not get into that discussion for now.  I obviously believe the camera is a big fat liar!  So we will monitor the development of this print as it evolves.  As Ansel Adams once said, "you do not take a picture, but you MAKE a picture."  So we will watch as the Andromeda Galaxy becomes a picture worth hanging on your wall over the next few weeks.  I hope you enjoy the process and off we go....