Greg Molyneux Photography

Author: Greg Molyneux

  • Reaching Out

    Reaching Out

    100mm macro photo of a green silver-spotted skipper caterpillar on a dead purple coneflower.
    Reaching Out | 100mm | f/4 | ISO 1600 | EXP 1/200

    Laid up for the weekend with back pain is suboptimal. Press conference Joe Girardi would shrug his shoulders incredulous and declare it’s not what you want. Whatever your flavor there is never a good time for back pain. And to my brothers and sisters mired in low back hell, I slouch in solidarity with thee. May your heating pad and icy hot be forever in your reach.

    The good news to this story is that of this Sunday evening writing my condition has improved. Eager to product something of value I thought why not hit this neglected blog and publish a new photo on this website. The photograph is not new, per se, having made this shot in mid-September. True to form I have been slacking all year on getting photos out and into the world on any kind of schedule representing timeliness.

    Yet here is a sweet little macro of what I only learned minutes ago is a silver-spotted skipper in its caterpillar phase. That is one stylish looking insect if you ask me. Rock the neon glory if you’ve got it. Before its metamorphosis stride I made some macros of it milling about an old coneflower. No doubt contemplating what comes next in life.

    Presented with ample negative space this photograph has room to b-r-e-a-t-h-e. Loads of space and flat color bokeh teeing up all the wide ranging existential issues. So much room for the mind by way of the eye to sit and ruminate in a minimal motif stripped of stuff. Left hanging, we are as our little green friend: Stretched on the precipice of of existence in simultaneous reach to the Next Big Thing. As we cling to the familiar we hold battle with anxious apprehension when faced with undefined space. For those who recognize all possibility of the empty palette reach out to transform their lives.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • The Auspices

    The Auspices

    Wide angle pastel sunset photo over salt marsh.
    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.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • The Forest and the Trees

    The Forest and the Trees

    14mm wide angle photograph of Pinelands pine trees and ferns.
    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.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • The Majestic

    The Majestic

    100mm macro photograph of hosta flower in low key.
    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.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • Flowered Sun

    Flowered Sun

    100mm black and white macro photo of echinacea.
    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.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • Corona

    Corona

    100mm macro photo of a blooming purple coneflower.
    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.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • Some Summer Night

    Some Summer Night

    Wide angle HDR sunset photo over marsh grass and reflected in water.
    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.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • Bright Spot

    Bright Spot

    White daisy blossoms photographed at 35mm in low key vertical orientation.
    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.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • In and Out

    In and Out

    Soft focus 35mm photograph of spirea blossoms and bokeh.
    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.

    Interested in buying? Purchase