Create a wall mural

James Paterson shoots and edits photos for jaw-dropping wall displays

- James Paterson

THE MISSION

How to make huge, detailed images for wall murals with our shooting and tips

Time needed Two hours

Skill level Expert

Kit needed Tripod Photoshop CC

As anyone with a printer will know, it's nice to see your images on paper. But gazing upon an entire wall print of your own creation takes things to a whole new level. Wall murals are becoming increasingly popular in offices, restaurants and homes and, thanks to healthy competition between printers, they're more affordable than ever.

So why not create your own whopping wall display? Over the next few pages we'll look at how it's done, from shooting the image to making the mural. And even if you don't fancy making a floor-toceiling photo, you'll find plenty of useful advice on creating ultra-detailed images.

Of course, deciding to turn an entire wall into a photo display is a big commitment, and something you might have to live with for years to come. There are lots of choices to be made: Which wall? Which printer? And most importantly, what kind of image? You can't just use any photo to create a wall-length print. Pixel count is the name of the game here. We need a vast amount of detail for a metres-long print, so we need to wring as much quality as possible out of our cameras.

There are several ways we can do this. First, our choice of lens, aperture and camera gear will all have a bearing on sharpness and detail. Then there are techniques like panorama stitching and HDR imaging that can help us to maximize the resolution and quality of the image. To squeeze every last detail out of the sensor can be a rewarding task, and even more so when you get to see the results on a room-size scale.

ON LOCATION SHOOT SUPER-SHARP PANORAMAS