Printing 10x18 ft (5.5m tall) image

[krishna_p_de_moura]

<p>Hi forum,<br>

Excuse my ignorance, I need a nice image to be blown up to 10x18ft on the wall of my shop in California so I am starting a contest to find a great image, but I don't know what kind of specifications I need to give to the candidates in order to have an image printed out that big come out in good quality. <br>

I have seen in these forums that this depends on how close the viewers will get to the image, well, this isn't a billboard, people will actually be standing quite close to it so I need ideas from you guys about how I can describe to the contestant in technical photography terms what I need in terms of quality. <br>

The studio I found in TX who does this sort of installation sent me specifications about the file to be sent to them but it contained details about the file and about photo quality it only said that the quality should be "as good as possible".<br>

Can you guys help me please? By the way the contest is for a photo of one of my company's sponsored players playing Beach Tennis, so will be an action photo.<br>

Thank you!<br>

Krishna</p><div></div>

[Bill C]

Hi, I think that this is a pretty tough job to make it look good, and very unlikely, in my opinion, to find a contest entry that

will fit your needs.

 

I'd suggest to consult with a pro, although I can't describe how to know that they are qualified for such a job.

 

Something that might be worth considering is to set up a scene and do a panoramic-type shot from close in. For example,

there might be a half-dozen overlapping shots that are "stitched" together afterwards (there is standard software for doing

this). You'd have to carefully set this up to avoid mismatched action across the stitched parts.

 

I think the photo contest would best be kept on a much smaller scale. Best of luck to you.

[Bill C]

One other comment, it now seems common in photo contests to require a signed model release for every recognizable

person in the photo. So consider what you would do in the event that some person, even years down the road, decides

that they no longer want to be displayed on your wall. Or perhaps one of your current sponsored players switches over to

a competitor. Even if you have the legalities on your side you may not want them on your wall any longer. Just something

to keep in mind when you have a very expensive large print on the wall.

[dave_s]

<p>Think about whether you really need the image to look good from up close. Can you plan to place it where people can view it from a distance? That would give them a better view of the entire photograph, so it might be better esthetically.</p>

<p>If you want an image that will look good to someone standing up close, it's a tall order. If you decide you need that, I suggest you consult a professional who could shoot your event with a large format film camera. A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that, even at 90 - 100 dpi on the print, you would need a 200 - 250 megapixel primary image file. That sounds to me like sheet film, even in 2016.</p>

<p>Printing it is another matter, and I have no idea. Presumably in sections.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

Large format isn't the

answer. I've seen mural sized

prints from 5"x4" negatives

that were extremely soft, and from

6x6cm film that looked pin

sharp.

 

Whatever the initial format

you're going to need a

digital file in order to have

such a large print made. So

you may as well start with a

digital camera. Added to

which, capturing fast

movement with an LF camera

and relatively slow film

makes the job much more

difficult.

 

Also, do you really think pro

or serious amateur

photographers are going to

put in time, expensive

equipment and materials to

enter a competition (with a very specific subject) that they

may well lose and end up with

nothing to show for their

efforts?

[john_galuszka]

<p>A "GigaPan "might shoot the image you need, but it may not be fast enough to catch an action situation. Plus, there might be distortions like a "fisheye" effect. I built a digital view camera, but it is about 6,000 X 16,000 pixels ... too small for your application. A film 6X17 panorama camera could capture an action shot, but even scanning the film would only get you to 144 megapixels. A sample can be viewed at XtremeDigitalPhotography.com</p>

<p>What did you find since August?</p>