A couple of years ago I came across a website which has an excellent article called How to make a Life Poster using Photoshop. The post includes comprehensive step-by-step instructions on how to turn your photographic collection into a wall-hanging masterpiece. Inspired by the results, I decided to create a poster for my mother for her 60th birthday.
I gathered together (with a 95% contribution from one sister) the 98 photos necessary to carry out this project. The photos included my mother at various ages, her wedding, my father, her kids, flowers, bushland, workmates, all sorts of things that were related to or sentimental to her … after all, who has 98 photos of their own mother? Then I set to making my Life Poster.
Living in Australia, I couldn’t follow Step 7 (order a print of your poster online), so I simply burned the file to disk and took it to my local camera store. It was the first Life Poster the shop had printed up and I think we were all a bit nervous about the outcome! The result was beautiful, colorful and detailed. A huge 20×30 inch poster (I also got it framed) that she pored over with a grin here and a surprised gasp there. It now lives on a wall in her office.
Making a Life Poster was my first serious foray into the wonderful world of post-production software and techniques. It was a fun, creative photographic project and I look forward to making the next one.
This is a brilliant idea. I still need something for my mother’s birthday and I will definitely consider this. Thanks.