This post continues the discussion on removing camera flare started in:
http://flamsteed.info/forums/topic/national-geographics-top-places-for-dark-skies/page/2/
Rupert, here is the resulting image of the milky way from the raw file after I've applied a more appropriate white balance and gamma correction. I have also attempted to reduce the most prominent flare patches using GIMP as described in my earlier post on 16th November.
Unfortunately, I took only one image in this setting. I'll email you a link to the raw file and would appreciate any guidance you can give in removing the flare artifacts and generally improving the image.
I wonder what caused that flare? are you using the lens hood that came with the lens? Maybe a more fuller lens hood would help. That milky way is really lovely. Shame about that flare!
I look forward to see what Rupert can do with your image to rid of that flare. I might try a mixture of centrifugal gradients, gaussian blur blending with low opacity but that looks tough to eliminate completely.