georgeretired Loc: Manitoba Canada

I shoot with a canon 50D and 70D. My usual lens are Canon 10-22, Canon 24-70, Sigma 70-200 and Sigma 150-500. I shoot in raw and normally use a tripod.
I have been asked to shoot a picture of "grooms men" that can be produced to a 24"x 36" or larger print.
Can this end result be done with this gear and what settings should I be using to get this size in a QUALITY prints. Costco will do that size for $20.00
Appreciate your input.....

mrjcall Loc: Woodfin, NC

Sounds like you have the equipment and are using it correctly shooting in raw and with a tripod to get the results you want. Having said that, much of the final quality depends on your post processing skills to make sure all the normal elements are correct such a shadows/highlights/color/saturation/contrast. Your conditions might warrant supplemental lighting so if you don't have that available, try and shoot them in good natural lighting. Finally, composition and the environment you shoot them in is more of an experience thing so best of luck with that element.

Mik Minick Loc: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Check with your printer and see what he requires.

georgeretired Loc: Manitoba Canada

I do my conversion to jpeg in Digital Photo Professional and any other adjustments would be done in Adobe Photoshop Elements 12. Thanks for replying to me.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Your 70D and 24-70 lens is capable of printing at 24x36 with a jpg straight out of camera if using a GOOD tripod and remote release. And yes I have done if several times.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Why do you convert to jpeg before you do your PP? The whole idea of RAW processing is it allows more to be done than jpeg. You do your PP and then convert to jpeg. At least that is how I learned to do it.

Pay attention to MT's post, some experts say that size print can be done from 10-12 Megapixels if the exposure is correct.

Just remember to use an f-stop that will have them all in focus.

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

On the bright side, I also shoot with a 50D in RAW only and use LR for PP and also do my own printing (so no need to export to JPG) I have successfully created several 40x60 prints. Yes the technical aspects were spot on to accomplish this. I have many 24x36 prints on paper, canvas and metal under my belt that wow the viewers. So yes, it is possible.

Now for the dark side, from what you said it looks like you are doing things bass ackwards as stated in another answer. If you are unable to print your own then (if it were me) I would use LR and from the PP RAW, print (from LR) using the size you are looking for and the print resolution, dpi (200-300) to a JPG file that could be sent to your printer of choice. If you are not in favor of LR then you need to follow the suggested work flow of PP in camera RAW then saving to JPG in the needed size and resolution.

Let us know how it turns out.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

A large reflector might help with some fill light, especially if the natural lighting is a side light e.g. window.

georgeretired Loc: Manitoba Canada

Going to give it a try. I don't have light room but do use PP, Elements. Never had any really instructions on the procedure but just followed my nose based on software that came with the camera I bought 6 years ago.

georgeretired Loc: Manitoba Canada

big guy....just went to a photo still in RAW any only used the PP Elements to do adjustments then saved in jpeg to have printed.
What a difference. I'll go out tomorrow and see what else I can capture to do some testing. Thank you and the others who wondered why I chose the avenue I did.
Much appreciated.

bran new yesterday in time for a 4 week vacation in western/north Canada

(Download)

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

You don't need Lightroom for this. Any post-processing you might need to do can be done more completely in Elements. Lightroom has a limited set of mostly global adjustments that are built into a powerful organizing, cataloging, keywording, proofing software (Canon Digital Photo Pro is similar). If you do a ton of shooting and need to quickly proof your images and maintain thousands of images in catalogs that have multiple means of searching and locating them quickly... LR is excellent. But it's not intended for finished images.

Elements is okay, but not as good as LR for organizing and cataloging, but gives you more tools for final, complete image optimization... including highly selective controls down to the pixel level if needed. Even better would be Photoshop, both because it has more tools and because it's able to do 16 bit work, while post-RAW-conversion Elements is 8 bit only. 8 bit vs 16 bit may not matter very much with smaller prints... but once you start printing 24x26 and larger you can begin to see the differences. Of course, you have to weigh the cost of Photoshop (or any software) against your particular needs. It's not something you'd buy and invest the time to learn to use it well, for a single extra large image.