Greg Molyneux Photography

Author: Greg Molyneux

The Auspices
The Auspices — 14mm | f/8.0 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Do you make much of signs? Omens, auguries, celestial alignments? Perhaps we but note the signs we wish to see dismissing the rest as noise? Confirmation bias made visual and symbolic. Yet does it matter if we construct our own signs? Or own futures? When nature mainlines your being to confirm the positive in our better selves we all stand better for it. The mechanism, contrived or divine need not matter. Drink in the tonic it will not harm you.
Today was full of opportunity. A chance to seize and to share. A chance to be better than yesterday. To move forward to new beginnings. It packed all the emotions of wracked nerves to wide the wide open expanse of ease and elation. Today and all its opportunity capped itself in an illumination of natural pastel.
I knew it had been a long while since I last made a sunset photograph. I did not know that gap spanned back all the way to June, 30. Damn near 25% of the year gone without a capture. I know my photography has taken a dip in output and it is my sincere hope the auspices of today are a portents of things to come.
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September 28, 2018
The Forest and the Trees
The Forest and the Trees — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/50
On June 16, 2018, I had the opportunity to photograph Baker’s Acres Campground in Little Egg Harbor, NJ. A wooded, family forward establishment, Baker’s Acres offers a picturesque retreat for any and all campers. Nestled off Garden State Parkway exit 58, Baker’s Acres is a secluded getaway so good at maintaining a low profile I had never happened across it in my 25 years living down here. But don’t let its low key nature fool you, Baker’s is happening with plenty to do and fun for the whole family.
I don’t exactly know how to photograph a place to make it look nice, but I spent about 90 minutes walking the premises, photographing its amenities. (They even have a dog park!) All the while passing tons of happy and friendly campers who did not seem to mind the guy milling about with the camera one bit. That was a relief.
Ensconced in the Pinelands on all sides, at the far edge adjacent to said dog park sets a stand of beautiful pines beset by ferns. Transfixed my mind immediately drifted to the forest moon of Endor. I know those were sequoias but still that is where my brain went. I took it all in for five minutes are so and made my way back to exploring the friendly confines of Baker’s Acres.
Full disclosure: this is an unpaid and unsolicited plug for Baker’s Acres Campground. It’s personal commentary on an impressive little place to hang your hat.
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August 18, 2018
The Majestic
The Majestic — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 400 | EXP 1/250
I’m having a pretty great Monday, you guys. I’m burning a welcomed vacation day sitting with my Mac at The Union Market & Gallery—a home away from home. Inches of rain fell this morning but now the south Jersey skies begin to clear. The soggy morning off soon turns to an afternoon of roller coasters and screams at Great Adventure. There will be much rejoicing.
Place matters and this is the first time I’ve typed out a blog post anywhere other than my home office. The change of p(l)ace is nice. Jazzy music firing in the background with pleasant patrons mingling, sipping, and eating. Better yet are three full walls packed floor to ceiling with local art from local artists. Inspiration and good coffee abound at The Union Market—as well as an inspired staff. My takeaway is that I am going to have to come here to process and post photos more often. With any luck this will reignite my photo making which has regrettably fallen of a cliff in 2018. But with four and a half months to go there is still time to salvage 2018.
A brief word about this photograph: Doesn’t this hosta macro remind you of a lion’s mane? It’s the trigger in my brain—a majestic mane unfurled in prideful triumph. The low key treatment adds an extra level of depth and gravitas to the image. Deep and serious—carrying home the intensity and majesty of the moment.
And now back to my not-so-regularly scheduled day off.
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August 13, 2018
Flowered Sun
Flowered Sun | 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/320
Looking close and slow upon a flower is a practice in patience with which all should partake. Particularly true to heal closed hearts and open stagnant minds. It is both window to the soul and outlet to the universe and it unveils the underpinnings of nature’s truth.
Take this nascent echinacea blossom. Still early in its development, it will soon blossom into its wonderful purple array. Yet here, in this moment of transition, if we look close we see the vast universe mirrored atop a small flower. With my first glimpse this blossom has the look of a sun. Star powered energy pouring forth from a solar atom foundry in its energetic prime.
Or is it teasing us with the esoteric nature of spacetime? The pliable fabric Einstein predicts by way of his theory of General Relativity? The spiraling spires trigger my imagination. I look and I ruminate. I see space curving and folding in response to mass. I see the universe as it is—all atop a flower in transition.
Or do I look only but upon a flower? Should it be so than it would all be worth it for the beauty of the world sets forever before us.
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July 27, 2018
Corona
Corona — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/80
There is regal majesty in the echinacea’s journey from bud to blossom. With the subtlety and finesse borne of fine stock she transforms with noble grace. Gentle petals work outward—a green coronet becoming the crown befitting her station. The purple coneflower corona hits its zenith only to unfurl to its full purple petal. Long and lithe this flower never loses the splendor of its most perfect roots.
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July 18, 2018
Some Summer Night
Some Summer Night — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Aside from a fervent two hours of commissioned photography where I popped off some 260 frames back in mid-June, of which I suspect I did a poor job, yesterday, June 29, marked my biggest output of 2018. Shooting flower macros by day and wide angle sunsets by night, I clocked in some ~150 frames. There is, of course, much more to photography than raw numbers. Volume does not the photographer make. Nevertheless, it was rewarding to be out doing my own thing on my own terms. Especially after tweaking my introversion to the max at an afternoon event. Which social phobias aside, was splendid by the way. Nature’s nightcap by way of a sparkling sunset conferred its own restoration to my soul. A bug strewn boon I met with open arms. Insects aside, rich hues of green, purple, and pink cast glory upon the Dock Road marsh.
Come some summer night in late June the marsh is in peak form. Teeming with color and life there is a palpable energy infusing the air. Birds feed and fish run aplenty, all the while bugs and winds sing harmony to the coastal tableau. The color potency of the marsh grass takes my breath away. A powerful panoply of peer green pumping with life. Everything feels so new, so alive. Its ephemeral nature amplifies my appreciation. I know in mere weeks reds and browns will work in upon the marsh as the gregarious greens fall back to more muted tones. Instead of lamenting this change it allows me to focus more on the moment. It brings clarity to each sunset I capture around this time. Moments may indeed be fleeting, but their impact surely lingers on.
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June 30, 2018
Bright Spot
Bright Spot — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 400 | EXP 1/30
Flowers are but a bright spot in an otherwise darkening world. Acrimony, callousness, cynicism, and flagrant distrust envelope our better judgement as a plague. As corrosive distrust and patent injustice unfolds so too do the flowers. Impartial and ignorant to our schemes and machinations, spreading beauty with their grace. Too bad it not up to them to stand in judgement of our folly.
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June 28, 2018
In and Out
In and Out — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/2000
So I made this spirea photograph on May 11, 2018, and here I am blogging it up on June 22. Six weeks later is been than forever weeks later, right? Right!?
Last spring I made a spirea photo which served as a source of pride. I even printed, matted, and signed a few for Makers Fest, and it looked wonderful on photo paper. With a stout bloom thanks to ample rain, I was keen to get back in there to see I could conjure this year.
In this photograph I am executing soft focus and bokeh. Allowing the frame to sit largely out of focus. A pronounced shallow depth of field brings a sliver of sharpness on two narrow planes moving diagonally from left to right across the frame. Falling off in either direction, the spirea blossoms and its lush leaves fade quickly from focus, drifting off to whimsy. This lends a fantasy quality to the image. I can imagine faeries tucking away a touch out of sight, using esoteric magic to float clear from focus. Their secret hides in the bokeh. Drifting out of range of prying eyes and surreptitious lenses.
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June 22, 2018
Prime Peony
Prime Peony — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/320
It was a great season for peonies in my neck of the woods—Ocean County, New Jersey. Backloaded winters aside, it seems extended cool, wet conditions are a peony’s friend. Check out the peony floral arrangements Eastlin Floral Design was busy putting together. This flower species is a serious boon to any bouquet.
As for my yard, it boasted a few primetime peony blossoms in 2018. They made an excellent subject for my 100mm macro lens. Lighting conditions proved ideal for creating a dreamy, high key picture set in a cool tone. Had the late afternoon sun been direct, a yellow tone with strong shadows and highlights would have cast a far different look. A high overcast was pivotal here, keeping a standout rose pink color tone on the peony petals.
To further maximize the high key effect from ample filtered ambient light I was at an open(ish) f/4 aperture at 100mm. Coupled with a close subject proximity this renders an airy focus and bokeh for days. The end result is a center weight flower macro evoking a calm, easygoing mood.
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June 4, 2018