After a two year hiatus from Killbear Provincial Park, a return visit to my former stomping grounds (for a week at a time in the summer anyway) was in order. A lot changes in two years…new camera, new lenses, lee filters, new tripod, and even a new backpack to carry all my gear. So I was pretty stoaked to spend a week doing what I love to do. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all about photography, spending hours at the beach during the day was in the mix too.
There’s a general overview of Killbear Provincial Park in a previous post (you can read that here) but this post is just going to stick to my photographic exploits.
| My goal while I was at Killbear, was to really put the Lee Filters Big Stopper to good use. The Big Stopper, like a pair of dark sunglasses, limits the amount of light hitting the sensor. This allows for long exposures even in the bright sun and in low light situations, extremely long exposures. The Big Stopper is a 10 stop filter (though I’ve found that the copy I have is actually an 11 stop). A polarizing filter adds two more stops. This means that you’ll be shooting 15-30 second exposures in the bright midday sun. And after the sun has set, we are talking 4 to 8 minute exposures. A long exposure like this gives waves that mystical, smokey, foggy look. It also gives me some time to pet my assistant. | svp |
 My lovely golden haired assistance with the patience of a saint. It got to the point that when he would see the tripod being set up, he knew he’d have a long wait, so might as well get comfortable |
Here are the pictures from my outing to Killbear. Each picture has some basic EXIF data to give an idea of the effect the effect of the big stopper (and polarizer when used). For most of the pictures, I composed the shot with some rocks in the foreground. I also used a wide lens to give you a feeling that you are standing right there in the shot. I also used several different graduated filters to balance out the exposure between the sky and the water. And a polarizer was used to reduce the reflections in the water and to add saturation.
“Rocks, Pebbles, Sand, and Water”
Lighthouse Point, Killbear Provincial Park
Nikon D800 w/ 16-35 f/4 @ 19mm, ISO 100, 30 sec at f/8
Lee Filters Big Stopper, 0.6 ND Hard Grad, B+W Polarizing Filter
“Metamorphic Day”
Lighthouse Point, Killbear Provincial Park
Nikon D800 w/ 16-35 f/4 @ 26mm, ISO 100, 15 sec at f/8
Lee Filters, Big Stopper, 0.6 ND Hard Grad, B+W Polarizing Filter
“Pebble Beach”
Lighthouse Point, Killbear Provincial Park
Nikon D800 w/ 16-35 f/4 @ 16mm, ISO 100, 60 sec at f/8
Lee Filters Big Stopper, 0.6 ND Hard Grad, B+W Polarizing Filter
“Glacial Remains”
Below the Lookout on Lookout Point Trail, Killbear Provincial Park
Nikon D800 w/ 16-35 f/4 @ 16mm, ISO 100, 2min 15 sec at f/8
Lee Filters Big Stopper, 0.6 ND Hard Grad, B+W Polarizing Filter
“Smooth Water Rough Rock”
Lighthouse Point, Killbear Provincial Park
Nikon D800 w/ 16-35 f/4 @ 35mm, ISO 100, 8min at f/8
Lee Filters Big Stopper, 0.6ND Hard Grad
“The Formidable and Beautiful Rocks of Killbear”
Lighthouse Point, Killbear Provincial Park
Nikon D800 w/ 16-35 f/4 @ 35mm, ISO 100, 4 min at f/8
Lee Filters Big Stopper, 0.9 ND Hard Grad, B+W Polarizing Filter
“Sentimental Sediment”
Georgian Campground, Killbear Provincial Park
Nikon D800 w/ 16-35 f/4 @ 17mm, ISO 100, 4 min at f/8
Lee Filters Big Stopper, 0.6 ND Hard Grad, B+W Polarizing Filter
“The Passage of Time”
Harold Point, Killbear Provincial Park
Nikon D800 w/ 16-35 f/4 @ 17mm, ISO 100, 30 sec at f/11
Lee Filters Big Stopper, o.6ND Hard Grad
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Comments 12
Beautiful pictures! Very atmospheric. Great composition. I like how the angles in the fore-ground pull you into the picture. National Geographic should send you on assignment.
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Thanks for the high praise, Jon! I’m glad that you were pulled into the pictures and moved to comment on them. National Geography, now that would be a pretty sweet gig. Maybe some day, dare to dream 🙂
Exquisite photography, Steve. Your patience and knowledge were well worth the reward. My favourite is Glacial Remains, but Smooth Water Rough Rock, and The Passage of Time are undeniably captivating. With Rocks, Pebbles, Sand and Water, the colour turquoise dominates, and you know how special that is to me. Great collection!
Thanks Patricia for your comments. I’m glad there are so many pictures you like from this collection. Perhaps one of these prints might look good on a wall in your house.
I read your blog named “Water and Rock at Killbear” and really appreciated it. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Ayesha! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I like this post, enjoyed this one appreciate it for putting up.
Thanks Marc! Killbear Provincial Park is a beautiful park with lots of photo ops. If you haven’t been there and are in the area, you should definitely check it out. Cheers!
You are so awesome! I really do not consider I have read anything like this before. So good to find someone with some first thoughts on this subject matter. Thanks for starting up this up. Jeremy
Thanks for the comments Jeremy. There are lots of bloggers out there doing exactly what I do, but I’m glad you stumbled upon this one. Cheers.
I desire to go through and try a variety of things like this. Many thanks for the posting.
The Big Stopper by Lee Filters is a great tool to use. It takes some practice to get used to but the images are awesome. Good luck!