enlarging prints...

[mept]

A question to any talented knowledgable photographers out there...
I have come accross a web site for a company which will blow up panoramic prints up to about 60x120inches. I thought something like that might be interesting for in my basement, just some good quality print of some beautiful scenery which would brighten up a basement especially when socked in the grey months of winter here in Michigan. Anyway, the questions...
When some individuals on this site take photographs, they seem to be way above the quality seen from the majority of members. The framing and detail of the shots can be exceptional. Are you using cameras with the high mega pixels like 7 or 8, set at max settings for definition? Are you using any different type of photohosting that might provide pictures with much more memory and detail? Would anyone be interested in influencing the pashnit guy to maybe have a category in the forum where only the best quality photos are kept, a place where the photos are so good that you might want to make your own screen saver or prints off them? Thanks for the responses and thanks for all the pics, it really helps bring back great memories from the infrequent trips I make out to Northern California.

[justjack]

I've noticed the same thing, and can only attibuted to three things. Mega-Pixels being one of them, and.... mostly forgotten.... lens quality plus the size of the image recording screen. 14 mega-pixels thru the bottom of a coke bottle just ain't gonna get it. I shot Nikon and Zeiss optics for over 20 years and they are hard to beat. Never have shot Canon lenses but I'm sure they're just as good. It's the off brand stuff that'll have you talking to yourself......

[eye.surgeon]

Check out this thread which shows all the pictures submitted for the yearly Pashnit calendar. These are generally the best pictures.

[bosozoku]

Just like riding, the talent behind the lens is the biggest contributor to the picture's final result. Though rare, I've seen cell-phone pics that were calendar worthy.

[m0t0-ryder]

I believe that irregardless of the pixel capability of the camera taking the photo you are viewing an image that is at max 3600 x 800 pixels on the forum.

This would indicate to me that clarity of the picture was dependant on the lens used as well as the conditions present (light, fog, smog etc).

It also depends on the cameras settings as well (ISO f-stop, etc).

Considering the size of blown up picture your talking about it will be essential to get a very high pixel count to maintain clarity when blown up that large.

I doubt very seriously that you could copy "any" picture posted on this forum and blow it up to poster size and maintain clarity.

[exwingnut]

Think about this; the size of the picture is directly proportional to the number of pixels (my 8.5 meg cannon makes about 11x14 prints, full image size.) When you post up a print on the forum and reduce the size of the print you throw away a lot of the pixels which leaves you with less data to work with. If you blow up a picture that has been reduced to fit on the forum you will not have all the pixels that you started out with to work with and the picture quality will suffer greatly.

That is why everyone wants to have the original 'hi-res' image to download. To get a high quality enlargement you must have the original size file to work with. Even then, as you enlarge the picture the image quality will decrease with size to some extent when compared to the original size image.

[taosports]

Originally Posted by bosozoku

Just like riding, the talent behind the lens is the biggest contributor to the picture's final result. Though rare, I've seen cell-phone pics that were calendar worthy.

Steve, you're right on.

It's mostly the eye, the brain and the heart behind the camera that makes a great photo. Has very little to do with camera brands.

Put a $19.99 WalMart putter in Tiger Wood's hands and he will still blow us all away.

Great photography is not about the gear.

[justjack]

Originally Posted by bosozoku

Just like riding, the talent behind the lens is the biggest contributor to the picture's final result. Though rare, I've seen cell-phone pics that were calendar worthy.

Until you blow it up to calendar size..... We're not talking about composition here, just image quality. I.E. resolution.