Orion Nebula (Kit Lens)

Canon 60D, 75-300mm (@300mm) @ f5.6 Kit lens

30s exposures, 8 hours total, 400 ISO

tried going for a purpley look. cringe or decent?

wanted to challenge myself while i wait for new gear using this lens. had a fun time except for flats causing awful banding stripes, so had to remove them. happy with the core color though i wish it was better smoothed. limited by my tools (free, no Ps) and poor knowledge of gimp which I avoid like the plague. Siril, Graxpert, Starnet-ed.

should i have kept the natural nebula greyer tones over coloring them? there was only red really pre color editing.