Yes, you can do HUGE prints with the Canon 1Ds Mk II

[nicolas claris]

Our advertising agency has recently won a competiton for the advertising campaign for the Salon de Paris Boatshow (more than 300.000 visitors)
We've done 2 different visuals, one for powerboats, the other one for sailboats.
Both with shots I did with he 1Ds Mk II
You may take a look there, I'll let you imagine the sizes of the prints:
gallery done with a Canon G6
Below is to give an idea for those who will not follow the above link:

 

[Diane Fields]

Terrific Nicolas. How well the images work in the different formats--very elongated rectangles and the more usual verticals. Thanks for sharing these---I liked seeing them in many uses--overheads, billboards, etc.

Diane

 

[nicolas claris]

Thanks Diane for your kind words.
This is a billboard (AFAIK the right term in English, and the size is 4x3 meters - roughly 12x9 feet) in Paris subway:

 

[Ivan Garcia]

Hi Nicolas.
Wonderful images I really like them, thank you for sharing
Just out of curiosity.
Do you or your agency get accreditation on the billboards?
Kind regards
Ivan

 

[nicolas claris]

Hi Nicolas.
Wonderful images I really like them, thank you for sharing
Just out of curiosity.
Do you or your agency get accreditation on the billboards?
Kind regards
Ivan

Ah!
Your fist in right in my nose!
I got the credit on billboards (the 4x3 ones) some of the adds in magazines but not all, we are at the moment discussing about the compensation as in the French law, credit is an obligation... and it was a very special point in the contract. We do speak now, maybe later we'll have ti go thru lawyers. I got a very good one...

 

[Ivan Garcia]

Hi Nicolas.
Sorry (embarrassed) I didn’t mean to fist fight you lol.
I was just curious, because I do vaguely know about the accreditation laws in France (trough a friend).
I am sorry to hear the organisers didn’t comply with the contract, that's just not right.
I hope you get it sorted soon and without a fuss.

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Very colorful, eye-catching displays, Nicholas. Congratulations on the win and the project! I share your pleasant shock at how well the Canon 1DsII's images translate to very large displays.

Indeed, carefully created Canon 1DsII's images can be used for some very large displays. But so can those from the 1D II. Earlier this year (2006) several of my images were used by Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario for an exhibition of Frank Gehry's recent work. For the largest images (approx. 22' x 12', two pictured below) I carefully up-sized the image files 100%. Probably like yours, the images were then printed on vinyl with a VuTek system. When I visited the exhibit I really was shocked at the quality of reproduction!

(The two images shown above are here and here.)

These and other images were also used in light boxes outside the museum as well as at the CN Tower and they, too, looked terrific.

It's really quite a photographic world we live in today, eh?

Congratulations again!

 

[Asher Kelman]

Nicolas AND now Ken too!

This is marvelous.

We're all so proud of you both. This also shows how great the value is of the 1DsII and a ceraful workflow. Could you each explain the steps taken in going from your RAW file to printing.

What kind of printing was that and what is the life expectancy ib the way it is displayed or could be displayed if it was to be kept as art?

This is to me amazing.

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

Hi ken thanks for your congrats, coming from you it's a reallyy appreciated compliment!
Your displays are not bad too!
Maybe we could try to organize an exhibition together?
Your work on the millenium PArk
I would go to shoot the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
and we would exhibit together BIG, HUGE, LARGE formats...
Of course some copyrights with Frank O. Gehry...

Asher could organize this for us, say in.... Chicago or in L.A. (the place where Frank O. Gehry lives).

Maybe we could have Gary Ayala and/or Brian Lowe, they have made beautifull shots (IMO) of the Disney in L.A.

Just an idea...

 

[nicolas claris]

Ivan
my turn to have red face (if I can say so, one has to be carefull, now!) ;;;-)
I don't bother a lot about the credit, the recognition has been tremendous... it is just a question of respect of engagements by co-contractors and for the young photogs to know that the battle of the credit is of the first importance...
Have a good day/night

 

[nicolas claris]

Ken,

I share your pleasant shock at how well the Canon 1DsII's images translate to very large displays.

In fact I've done a lot of big prints before (though not that large as the ones for Paris Boat Show) and I know since long time that we can enlarge a lot...
Now I'm waiting (without patience Mr. Canon!) for a 22 or 25 Mpix to come with some other improvements... Yes, size does matter!

 

[nicolas claris]

What kind of printing was that and what is the life expectancy ib the way it is displayed or could be displayed if it was to be kept as art?

Thanks again Asher
it is not easy to answer precisely to your question, it all depends of size and technic used for printing...
In that case the job was done just before summer.
- I've started to work the Raw files in C1, with little sharpening and 125% size exported to 16bit Argb tif.
- Open file in PS, go to definitive size and do some work for color using a lot of layers. I remember that at one moment one of the file was close to 2 Gb... I sometimes had to wait long seconds (even minutes) that the bi-pro G5 do its work.
- Sharpening at the very end...
- convert to adequate CMYK space
- downsize to 8 bit file and burn CD
- send VD with calibrated color proof print.

2 important things to know before starting the job:
- what size the print will be
- How and on what kind of material it will be printed

Receipies are different upon the answers, some printers need 125 dpi, some 25...
Some printers have better resizing in rip some not.

Generally speaking, for a Lambda print (not the case of the Salon de Paris job) best is 200 dpi, but if the print is large and id you start from a 10Mpix pic, upsize to 125 dpi max, the rip will do the rest of the job.

The ink coverage (amount of ink needed for the printing of colors, though 400% in cmyk is the max [100% per color] it must NEVER be that much, currently you must stay between 280 to 320%)
is very important and depending of the paper/canvas - kind of printing you must adjust (tricky!)
The best of course is to get in touch with the printer's prepress people...

In the case of the prints for the Salon de Paris we did not have the possibility to talk to the different printers, so we send cmyk and Argb files together, in case they would prefer to use one or the other.

We ALWAYS embed profile so they're known by people using the files. They have the proof to see if it corresponds to what they see on screen.

Hope this help

 

[Diane Fields]

Thanks again Asher
it is not easy to answer precisely to your question, it all depends of size and technic used for printing...

Nicolas, I always find you so willing to share your knowledge. Perhaps I should add that I find the people on this forum to be very gracious in sharing their knowledge--which is what makes this a wonderful forum.

BTW--I loved the idea of you and Ken having a show--photography of Gehry's work as catalyst and common theme. I've never seen either the Pritzker Pavillion or Bilbao (Guggenheim) but hope to some day---and I would love to see huge prints of both of yours of these works of art in themselves. I have enjoyed Ken's galleries of Millenium Park, the Pavillion, etc. and you would, I'm sure, do Bilbao proud too *smile*.

Diane

 

[Asher Kelman]

This sounds like a great idea. I'd have to get together a group of sponsors!

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

This sounds like a great idea. I'd have to get together a group of sponsors!

Asher

Good! but maybe better first check if Ken Tanaka likes the idea!

Ken? Allo! allo!

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Err...It took me a moment to realize that Diane's suggestion was in earnest! Sounds like fun to me. What, exactly, do you have in mind when you say "show", Asher and Diane? An online display of some form I assume?

 

[Asher Kelman]

Ken,

This is something I am looking into but need to spend more time on. I need a block of time to dedicate to this. These exhibitions cost a lot to put on and the space required is large. Also one needs a theme. However, we now have 3 candidate photographers. However this is early. I don't want to get ahead of myself!

Asher

 

[Diane Fields]

Err...It took me a moment to realize that Diane's suggestion was in earnest! Sounds like fun to me. What, exactly, do you have in mind when you say "show", Asher and Diane? An online display of some form I assume?

Well 3/4 in earnest LOL--but I did think it was a terific idea when it was brought up with the Gehry buildings in common.

In truth--I don't have a clue---but probably the only feasible is an online exhibit I guess--unless Asher pulls something out of the air.

Diane

 

[Asher Kelman]

Diane,

I am serious, but we can welcome others to post their examples here!

One of the projects is so special that it is not being shown prior to it's first exhibition.

So if you have your own huge print, let's see it here!

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

Huge prints cannot be seen online.
This has to be done -printed- and shown in real... needs a big space/place/room(s)
Costs a lot of money...
Also needs Gehry's accordance...
Concept (well my 1st idea) is 3 diffrent Gehry's building seen by 3 different photogs...

 

[Ken Tanaka]

Huge prints cannot be seen online.
This has to be done -printed- and shown in real... needs a big space/place/room(s)
Costs a lot of money...
Also needs Gehry's accordance...
Concept (well my 1st idea) is 3 diffrent Gehry's building seen by 3 different photogs...

Conducting a large physical exhibition of photography would, indeed, cost "lots of money". Depending on the specific logistics (location, space required to rent, number and size of prints, etc.) you could very easily be looking at $150,000 - $250,000+. Large prints also have limited life, rather like a billboard illustration. When the exhibit closes one peels the prints off the walls and throws them away.

Such an exhibit would not necessarily require the approval of Gehry International but it could certainly make things easier. Gehry has had so many retrospective exhibitions that I doubt he'd be interested. The AGO exhibit in which I participated featured photography, video interviews, working drawings, and study models of several works. It occupied a very large chunk of the AGO's second floor.

An online collection, thoughtfully and carefully constructed, could be interesting particularly if many other photographers with images of Gehry's many other interesting structures could be assembled. But I think that a physical exhibition would not be practical.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Maybe we should just move this thread to Exhibitions forum under the title "MegaPrints for Exhibitions Please Post"?

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

As I understand Ken's arguments, regarding costs and Ghery's i nterest, I still think that a Megaprint Exhibition cannot be held/seen at 1024 or so pixels.
This wouldn't be a Mega thing. Therefore not an option for me. Tant pis!

 

[Ken Tanaka]

As I understand Ken's arguments, regarding costs and Ghery's i nterest, I still think that a Megaprint Exhibition cannot be held/seen at 1024 or so pixels.
This wouldn't be a Mega thing. Therefore not an option for me. Tant pis!

Indeed, you really can't the immersive feeling of monster prints with a computer display.

But I suspect that we have at least a few photographers, like Nicolas, whose work is sometimes presented very large for commercial purposes. Perhaps it would be interesting to create an online gallery space here specifically devoted to posting photos and commentary on such mega images. I've never seen this niche treated on any site. When I was looking for guidance on preparing images for print heads the size of Mini Coopers I could find very little. The printers themselves offered the best, although sparse, tips. Still, this is clearly a matter that professional photographers face for commercial work every day.

Just an idea.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Keep posting here!

I'll keep my eye on how to get something appropriate going?

Asher