Getting a landscaped printed

[russell_t]

Hey All,

I had the opportunity to do some air to air helicopter photography recently, and while we were in the air I got some awesome scenic shots. I never have printed my work larger than about 16"x24", but I have one shot I want to blow up to 30"x60". I shot it at ISO100, f/4, 1/1250, but when blowing it up to the full size at 300 ppi it's a little grainy, so I put some noise reduction on it. Due to the size do I need not to worry about grain, or should I not worry about looking at it this close up?

 

Thanks!

Russell

[Gary Naka]

What is the expected viewing distance?

For a 30x60, I would think it would be viewed at from at least 6 feet away.

Make an 8x10, then look at it from the expected viewing distance. I do not think you will see the "grain."

[bob_bill]

Gary, exactly. The old joke is the proper viewing distance is 1 to 2 times the diagonal of the image... unless you are a photographer, then it is the length of your nose.

[Norma Desmond]

You can't really predict viewing distance. Some people will stay back on a big print. Others will walk right up to it. How many of those will notice or care about the grain is anyone's guess. Use yourself as a guide. Develop your own quality standards. If it meets them, display it. If it doesn't meet them either don't display it or display it knowing it falls a bit short of your standards but is still worth showing. In most cases, your viewers' technical standards will be (and this makes sense) less than your own. But I wouldn't necessarily compromise standards to meet those of most viewers. While they may not notice or care about the grain or other technical matters, those sorts of things will nevertheless affect their viewing experience in subtle ways they're not necessarily conscious of. Nothing wrong with your being conscious of it, though.