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Upscale Raw Files: Transform Small Crops into Large, High-Quality Prints

Terry A. McDonald, luxBorealis.com
Is it really possible to turn cropped files, no larger than 1500 pixels, into a decent 11x14” you can be proud of? When I started testing, that was my quest, but which app would produce the best results—Lightroom, ON1 Resize, or Topaz PhotoAI—and would the results be worth it? Surprise, surprise, up-scaling could be easier than I thought. Read on!
 
Introduction

We all run into it at times—photographing small birds too far away to fill the frame. Even with high-pixel cameras like the 45MP Canon, the 46MP Nikon, and the 61MP Sony, it can be difficult to get close enough, and telephotos only reach so far. If you have a 600mm or an 800mm, you are likel...

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Terry McDonald is an artist, author and educator, working in fine art landscape and nature photography. He approaches photography as both an art and a craft: a solid grounding in technique frees him to explore a variety of visual styles. As a photographer his goal seems simple enough: capture and recreate the inherent art in nature. However, nature is not always so accommodating! Although Terry grew up and has lived most his life in Canada, he has lived, worked and photographed overseas for 10 years in Tanzania, Germany and, more recently, England. Additional travel destinations have included much of western Europe, across Canada to two of three coats, South Africa, south Florida, the Galápagos and Iceland. Terry lives with his family in Guelph, Ontario, his home base for hiking, backcountry canoeing and nordic skiing. When time permits, he offers classroom and field workshops throughout the year. Terry’s work has been featured in Photo Life and Light & Landscape and is in private collections on three continents. His work may be viewed at luxBorealis.com or at his luxBorealis Flickr account.
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