 Cindy |
Enlarging a picture to a 16x24 Hello, I have a Canon Rebel and I have a friend who would like me to take her son's senior pictures. She wants to blow one of them up to a 16x24. I would like some advice as to how to get the best quality picture. I have a bracket and a flash and know that I will need to use the lowest speed film, but what are the chances this picture will come out ok. Thank you in advance Cindy
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Jon Close |
Set the lens for it's optimum aperture (usually 1-2 stops down from maximum, or f/8). Use a tripod. Depending on which Rebel model you have you may also be able to use a remote release (either RC-1 or RC-5 wireless, or the RS-60E3 wired) to further isolate the camera from shake.
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Kerry L. Walker |
Cindy, there is more to film than just using a slow film. Some slow consumer films have a higher grain index than faster professional film. I would suggest using Kodak Portra 160NC, both for the tight grain and the natural colors. Fuji has an equal to NC but I can't remember which it is. I am sure someone else can help out there.
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Cindy |
How far away should I stand from the subject or how much on each side of the subject should I leave room for as to not crop him when the pictures gets enlarged? I generally use automatic focus when I take pictures, I haven't dared to experiment. Thank you for your feedback, I greatly appreciate them--Cindy
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David A. Bliss |
Cindy, at 16x24 there will be no cropping when the picture is enlarged. 16x24 is the same 2:3 ratio as a 35mm negative.
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Kerry L. Walker |
First, the distance away depends on the lens you are using. If you are using a short telephoto lens (which you should) you can be a little further away. Definitely don't get closer than about 5' or you will get perspective distortion (the dog nose effect). If you are using a 35mm camera (or a digital with the same 2:3 ratio) you can get pretty tight since you should be shooting vertical and the crop loss will be on the top (or bottom), not the sides. On that, you will just have to experiment. Autofocus should do fine if you use a smaller aperature as Jon suggested. Just make sure you focus on the eyes.
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David A. Bliss |
At 16x24 there won't be any (significant) crop loss. There would be crop loss at 16x20.
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Kerry L. Walker |
David, if I were to pay attention I would have noticed that. LOL Thanks for the input.
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Cindy |
The reason the picture is going to be a 16x24 is because that's how the company develops their pictures, but the size I need to fit the frame will be a 16x20 so we will need to crop it. So if I focus on his eyes, I should have plenty of room on the top and bottom of the picture? Also when you say auto focus is ok, but I still need to set my camera at a smaller aperature, how exactly do I do that? Your quick responses are absolutely wonderful and I do appreciate them. Cindy
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Kerry L. Walker |
What I meant by "focus on the eyes" was to focus the camera on the eyes, not your attention. If the eyes are in sharp focus, the photo will be successful, at least as far as the actual focus is concerned. You will compose the shot to show what you want it to show, plus a little at either the top or the bottom. You also need to understand that the viewfinder for most cameras doesn't show all that will be in the picture. It varies by camera so you will probably have a little extra room if you come in tight. When you look through the viewfinder, just imagine that there will be a little cut off either the top or bottom of what you are seeing. It really doesn't matter whether it is at the top or the bottom as you can crop it any way you want. What I meant by smaller aperature was to shoot at about f/8, as Jon suggested. That should give you enough DOF, but not too much.
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