Greg Molyneux Photography

Category: Blog

Greg Molyneux’s latest photographs and words presented in reverse chronological order.

  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • 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.

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  • Prime Peony

    Prime Peony

    High key macro photo of a peony flower surrounded by bokeh.
    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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  • Back on the Fire

    Back on the Fire

    Sunset photo of pastel color clouds over reflective water and green salt marsh.
    Back on the Fire — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Two sunsets in one week? Two sunsets in one week! This is like three months photographic output at my paltry 2018 pace. Photography has been on the back burner this year yet I am keen to get back on the fire. As it was earlier this week, I made a last minute 8:00 p.m. decision to drop the apathy and get out to the marsh. Standing in my driveway I saw Mammatus clouds were setting up over head. It looked to hold through sunset. To my gear I bolted.

    From there it was the usual drive out to Cedar Run Dock Road. Engaged in rapid knee bouncing to exercise the am I going to make it in time? low grade anxiety. I arrived in 12 minutes in a world of peak green. At a salt marsh imbued with the emerald glow of life and energy. Nothing beats it when a pastel sky sets up over top casting a subtle pink veil over the sea of green landscape. Especially when the pink tones reflect powerfully in the small pools of brackish water cutoff from the main estuary flow. The pink and the green compliment each other so well rendering a scene made to transfix.

    Getting back into the sunset flow and returning to the basics that brought me this far I set up low on the marsh. Tripod and camera a little more than a foot above sea level, nestled in a patch of eel grass. Once I’m dialed in it is little more than bracket city from there—making exposures and day falls to night. The fire is back and the pace will quicken.

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  • The Turn Around

    The Turn Around

    Pastel color sunset photo over green salt marsh and tide pools.
    The Turn Around — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    I am glad I got off the couch. Exhausted, I arrived home from work at 7:00 p.m., turned on the Yankee game and immediately fell asleep. I did at least catch Brett Gardner’s first pitch dinger. Fast forward forty minutes and I woke up on said couch. So began the stay here you’re so warm and cozy versus the no, go out and make a photograph battle.

    The latter won out—and thank goodness. With a quick scramble for suitable clothes, I grabbed my gear and stashed them in the trunk. I made my way east to Cedar Run Dock Road listening The Order of the Phoenix. I cannot get enough of all things Hogwarts these days—albeit more than a decade late.

    Over the next four miles I was oscillating between sunset anticipation and sheer disdain for Dolores Umbridge. Checking the clock obsessively in between to calculate how much time I’d have to set up. I was cutting it close to sunset.

    With a few minutes to spare I was on the marsh and making the most of a quality early simmer pastel sky. Cotton candy coloring overtop a rich green carpet of fresh marsh growth. I am glad I got off the couch.

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