Greg Molyneux Photography

New Jersey landscape and nature photography

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La Grain

August 20, 2015 by Greg Molyneux

100mm black and white macro photograph of a purple coneflower

La Grain — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/400

While they may not get the same play on social media like my vibrant landscapes are wont to do, a big soft spot in my heart exists solely to express myself through the macro and black and white medium. Five minutes on a psychologist’s couch would most likely reveal this proclivity as a merger between my primary and secondary school days as something of a black and white pencil drawing enthusiast, coupled with my more recent start as a photographer who worked almost exclusively in the macro world for the better part of my first 20,000 photographs. Roots, man. You just can’t shake ’em.

Here I’ve presented a very simple composition of one of my favorite flower subjects: the purple coneflower. Using a near side-on perspective the depth of field is quite thin. leaving only the front section of the blossom in sharp focus. Shallow depth of field brings a welcome sense of whimsy and wonder to the composition, enabling the eye to move, leaving the mind left to fill in the fuzz. By introducing noise into the photograph during post processing I intentionally wanted the resulting graininess to layer an aspect of grit and imperfection to the shot. In some ways a hat-tip to the tendency of grain to show up in old school film photography—not that I’ve ever shot a roll of film in my life. It’s OK, feel free to revoke any photographist street cred I may or may not have established up and until this point.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 100mm black and white echinacea flora low key macro purple coneflower

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Photos from the archives

Photograph of a freshly bloomed daffodil
Sepia landscape photo of storm clouds over the bay.
After Winter Storm Juno skirted the Jersey shore sparing New Jersey from historic snow, the clouds break revealing a sublime winter sunset on the frozen marsh along Cedar Run Dock Road in this HDR photograph.
Light snow falls on an empty roadway marked only by a lone set of tire tracks. Flanking the road are guardrails and pine trees to either side of this black and white photograph.
A black and white abstract photograph of a street light with falling snow. Shot with plentiful bokeh in a film noir style. Taken by Manahawkin, NJ, photographer Greg Molyneux.

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