Printing Rec-Room Posters....

[ChrisWoj]

This is a bit of a long-term future question....

My girlfriend and I bought a house this summer. It has a wonderful 17x17 bonus room above the garage that I'm planning on turning into a billiards and TV room. Next year I want to paint three of the walls Masters green, and one of the walls a light gray (same color for carpet, with white trim). On the light gray wall I want a trio of 24x36 posters - heavy on green colors, ideally with photos of some of our game's best pros.

Now... the thing is: being a room with a pool table in the middle, often people will be walking by those posters from VERY close. A 17x17 room with a bar-box in the middle doesn't leave a ton of walking room in the center. So I need very high resolution photographs. From what I'm reading... it sounds like to get near the 300 dots per inch needed for something that will look sharp on glossy from right on top of it? I'll need stuff taken on a 30 megapixel camera.

Looking online... those cameras are EXPENSIVE. Is there anyone throwing up pics on that level of quality? Or who'd sell them at a minimal cost? That seems like an extremely high resolution for a sport primarily producing photography for online consumption. But I want truly sharp and beautiful glossy posters, that look amazing from a foot away.

Does it exist?

 

[MarkDSM]

"large format" for what you desire in hobby photography does not really exsist. It is a commercial tool. Same with the printers of them. You will need to contract with a professional for the shoot and post. Very expensive medium.

The idea has gusto though. Large format is bold for decor.

 

[slicknic007]

hollingsheadphoto.com This is a buddy of mine in the Dayton area. He has lots more pics of disc golfers other than what is on the site. You can contact him through the site or Facebook to see if he has what you are looking for.

 

[Zanguini]

You need a paul mcbeth fathead... I think they do custom work too... I dont know how expensive they are.

 

[BuiltTooLong]

Contact Juan @ Overstable Studios. He is probably the top name in Disc Golf photography.

 

[filobedo]

Corduroy in Myrtle Beach, SC has some of the best dg player images I have ever seen. The only other established commercial dg photograper I know of is Lauren Lakeburg.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Photography-by-Chad-LeFevre-1557436351199967/photos/?ref=page_internal

https://lelphotography.wordpress.com

 

[JTacoma03]

This is a bit of a long-term future question....

My girlfriend and I bought a house this summer. It has a wonderful 17x17 bonus room above the garage that I'm planning on turning into a billiards and TV room. Next year I want to paint three of the walls Masters green, and one of the walls a light gray (same color for carpet, with white trim). On the light gray wall I want a trio of 24x36 posters - heavy on green colors, ideally with photos of some of our game's best pros.

Now... the thing is: being a room with a pool table in the middle, often people will be walking by those posters from VERY close. A 17x17 room with a bar-box in the middle doesn't leave a ton of walking room in the center. So I need very high resolution photographs. From what I'm reading... it sounds like to get near the 300 dots per inch needed for something that will look sharp on glossy from right on top of it? I'll need stuff taken on a 30 megapixel camera.

Looking online... those cameras are EXPENSIVE. Is there anyone throwing up pics on that level of quality? Or who'd sell them at a minimal cost? That seems like an extremely high resolution for a sport primarily producing photography for online consumption. But I want truly sharp and beautiful glossy posters, that look amazing from a foot away.

Does it exist?

Most of the disc golf photogs you've heard of are using full frame DSLR's or the newer mirrorless cameras...Juan, Stu, etc. I'd holler at them and see what they'd want for some of their shots. Obviously you get the good feels from supporting fellow golfers too.

The megapixels are part of it - but also it depends on what format they're shooting - i.e. jpeg or RAW. You can have all the megapixels you want, but if you compress the image while you write it you're limiting how much you can blow it up.

All that is to say - if you want to DIY and have some camera skills yourself, go to borrowlenses.com and rent a Sony A7Rii. Really nice camera used for detailed landscapes, real estate photography, etc. It will definitely handle what you're asking.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

So I need very high resolution photographs. From what I'm reading... it sounds like to get near the 300 dots per inch needed for something that will look sharp on glossy from right on top of it? I'll need stuff taken on a 30 megapixel camera.

Depending on the subject, you can get very sharp looking photos with as little as 200 pixels per inch. There will very little difference between 240-250ppi and 300ppi. A photo without a lot of detail that is both important and very fine will look very good at lower resolutions. Finer detail needs higher resolution.

As to your math, when I multiply 24x36x300^2, I get approximately 78 megapixels. Even at 240ppi, you will need 50 megapixels.

Additionally, you shouldn't ignore viewing distance. Most people just aren't going to examine a 24x36 poster for sharpness at nose-length. If you want people to view the photos from close up, you may want to print much smaller. For such large posters, you should be able to get by with significantly less than 200ppi.

I suggest that you spend a very little bit of money on some research by prepping some images at various resolutions and having them printed at your local drug store. It will cost you a few dollars each for 8x10s. Even poster prints aren't that expensive from places like Sams or Costco. That way you can see what will be good enough for you. Most people are going to look at 24x36 images from some distance away. If your worry is that people, after seeing them from across the room, will then walk up to them and examine them at end-of-nose distance, then you should probably relax a bit.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Depending on the subject, you can get very sharp looking photos with as little as 200 pixels per inch. There will very little difference between 240-250ppi and 300ppi. A photo without a lot of detail that is both important and very fine will look very good at lower resolutions. Finer detail needs higher resolution.

As to your math, when I multiply 24x36x300^2, I get approximately 78 megapixels. Even at 240ppi, you will need 50 megapixels.

Additionally, you shouldn't ignore viewing distance. Most people just aren't going to examine a 24x36 poster for sharpness at nose-length. If you want people to view the photos from close up, you may want to print much smaller. For such large posters, you should be able to get by with significantly less than 200ppi.

I suggest that you spend a very little bit of money on some research by prepping some images at various resolutions and having them printed at your local drug store. It will cost you a few dollars each for 8x10s. Even poster prints aren't that expensive from places like Sams or Costco. That way you can see what will be good enough for you. Most people are going to look at 24x36 images from some distance away. If your worry is that people, after seeing them from across the room, will then walk up to them and examine them at end-of-nose distance, then you should probably relax a bit.

Well the thing is - at 17x17 foot with a 4x8 foot pool table in the middle, and the television on an opposing wall, that means people milling about quite frequently within 4-6 foot of the posters. That's why I'm thinking about the up-close sharpness. Plus.... honestly... I'll be looking at them. It'll be my primary hang out just during my down time, I don't go out a lot - I'm a pretty introverted person and could spend hours on hours each week in that room. So the sharpness will be something I'll notice at random moments when I'm just... sitting. To each: their own, right?

 

[ChrisWoj]

Most of the disc golf photogs you've heard of are using full frame DSLR's or the newer mirrorless cameras...Juan, Stu, etc. I'd holler at them and see what they'd want for some of their shots. Obviously you get the good feels from supporting fellow golfers too.

The megapixels are part of it - but also it depends on what format they're shooting - i.e. jpeg or RAW. You can have all the megapixels you want, but if you compress the image while you write it you're limiting how much you can blow it up.

All that is to say - if you want to DIY and have some camera skills yourself, go to borrowlenses.com and rent a Sony A7Rii. Really nice camera used for detailed landscapes, real estate photography, etc. It will definitely handle what you're asking.

This seems like my favorite suggestion.... rent a few times - take one out to Glass Blown Open, Hambrick, and maybe catch a top pro on his way through town on one of my home courses.... I'll have to research this option thank you so much.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

Well the thing is - at 17x17 foot with a 4x8 foot pool table in the middle, and the television on an opposing wall, that means people milling about quite frequently within 4-6 foot of the posters. That's why I'm thinking about the up-close sharpness. Plus.... honestly... I'll be looking at them. It'll be my primary hang out just during my down time, I don't go out a lot - I'm a pretty introverted person and could spend hours on hours each week in that room. So the sharpness will be something I'll notice at random moments when I'm just... sitting. To each: their own, right?

If people have to view them up close, then you may want to reconsider the size. In any event here is a link with suggested resolution based on print size and viewing distance.

LINK

 

[Tacoma_Tom]

I work with several Epson large format (44") printers (printing at 600 dpi) all day printing files for clients with a variety of image quality. 100dpi images at the size they are printing will work just fine if they are shot with a quality camera when viewed from as close as 1-2 feet. I have even printed a few of my iPhone 6S Plus images at 24x36 and they look great when viewed from a few feet away. The quality of the camera optics is more important than the megapixels.