The Wizard Nebula — NGC 7380

A rich field of glowing hydrogen, dark dust, and young stars in Cepheus. I really enjoyed bringing out the structure in this target, especially the darker lanes cutting through the brighter red emission and the subtle contrast between the surrounding star field and the nebula itself. The Wizard has a wonderfully complex shape, with pillars, ridges and pockets of obscuring dust giving the whole region a lot of depth. I tried to keep the processing fairly natural, preserving the colour and density of the stars while allowing the faint nebulosity and finer structures to come through. One of those targets where the longer you look, the more detail you start to notice.