Igor Laptev

[StreetShark]

Well He's a great Canadian photographer and his shots can be seen here: http://www.igorlaptev.com/

How does he achieve such rich color and sharpness?

How does he get the affect in this photo:
http://www.igorlaptev.com/ViewPhoto.asp?ID=18&page=1

The rocks almost look plastic or CG.

Heres another I like:
http://www.igorlaptev.com/ViewPhoto.asp?ID=64

Is editing his photos to look like this or is it a filter or just very good lenses? If he edits that stuff in I almost feel like I've been cheated or something.

 

[Big Mike]

Looks like it might be a combination of things. Most of the water shots look like long exposures...which causes the blur of the moving water to make it look even and smooth. Might also be the effect of post processing.

Also, it looks like he's doing something to increase the dynamic range...it might be the use of split filters, it might be simple post processing, it might be the layering of multiple exposures.

He's probably using great quality lenses and cameras and then doing a fair pit of post processing.

 

[StreetShark]

Ok thanks and whats a split filter?

 

[Big Mike]

A split (or graduated) filter is a filter that is darker on one side and lighter on the other. These are good for landscapes where there is a significant difference between the brightness of the land and the sky (foreground & background etc.) A camera can only capture a certain range of tones...so if you expose for the bight areas, the dark areas are too dark. If you expose for the dark areas, bright areas are too bright. Using a filter, you cover the bright parts of the scene with the dark part of the filter.

The alternative is to take separate exposures and combine them with software.

 

[klissarov ik]

Cool, thanks for the informations! I guess I'll get me one of those.

 

[Big Mike]

If you want to use split or grad filters, it's best to get square filters and a special holder for them. Check out the Cokin products. They do make circular ones, but the split is in the centre of the image...which would limit your composition options. With a square (rectangular) filter, you can slide it up or down to match the composition that you want.