Greg Molyneux Photography

Category: Blog

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

  • Heightwise

    Portrait orientation HDR photograph of NJ Pinelands pygmy pine trees at blue hour
    Heightwise — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    With evening onshore flow winning the atmospheric battle for the second day in a row heading west was the lone option for sunset photos. To the Top of the World we go.

    Upon reaching said destination I began mentally framing my shot. Take a few 360° head scans across the pygmy pines. Look up. Kneel down. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Let’s hear it for #process. From this vantage point there are two pitch pines that always command my attention. Each standing twice the height of the almost comically small pitch pines running out the entire landscape in all directions. It’s a neat place. A place Gulliver might recognize.

    As far as the photo making goes—I want to work more on portrait (vertical) orientation photographs. I have always found them difficult to make, fortunately there are others who produce the most wonderful images from this perspective. While I’ve had a few successes it’s a blindspot in my wide angle landscape game I hope to address with time and practice. Failure and success.

  • Here be Dragons

    Here be Dragons

    Black and white abstract macro photograph of a Japanese Maple that looks like a flying dragon
    Here be Dragons — 100mm | f/2.8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/100

    I’m a Game of Thrones fan. I’m a macro fan. I’m a black and white fan. So for my money here goes the trifecta. I know many folks appreciate my wide angle landscapes—the sweeping shots of the dramatic sunsets that readily pop-up along the Jersey shore. Those are great, and I love getting out there and making those photographs. But what excites me the most is getting up close and personal with the micro world at the business end of a macro lens. Old school handheld shooting I can couple with the drama of shallow depth of field and its smooth bokeh, finishing with a moody black and white photograph rendering just enough mystery and pause into the final frame. It is in these most I feel most capable—most inspired.

    And as far as Game of Thrones is concerned—am I on point in seeing a dragon here, or is that just me? Better yet? Season 5, episode 4 airs tonight!

  • Sky Lights

    Pastel skies over a calm lake reflection in this HDR photograph taken at Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area
    Sky Lights — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Lots of credit to Jon Carr. He nailed it when he picked Stafford Forge for tonight’s location for optimal sunset shooting.

    With cirrus clouds filling the air, tonight had the earmarkings of a good one. The light was energized, the temperature was crisp, and the natives (me) were restless. A veritable perfect storm for picture making. The only threat was a low level marine cloud layer, but its threatening presence along the westward horizon proved little more than a bluff as it did not inhibit the sky palette from coloring in any way whatsoever. Once the sky was coloring up at our backs, on the east side, the worries of another cloud-out drifted away. Hope sprung eternal.

    What happened over the next 15 minutes was a combination of photo making enjoyment and good old fashion natural wonderment. It’s such a thrill to watch the entire dome of the sky paint itself as a clock would—the colors slowly marching from east to west over the great arc in the sky. It was when the color was at our zenith that I quickly abandoned the westward shot I had all framed up with my tripod in order to make the photo you see above. Sometimes you’ve got to be ready to call the audible when Mother Nature surprises you with better light elsewhere.

    Tonight was a lot of fun. This photograph is just icing on the cake.

    Interested in buying this photograph? Purchase

  • Cross Process the Forge

    Square format HDR photograph cross processed for a moody look of Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area.
    Cross Process the Forge — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    I hate to say but picture making just hasn’t been much fun lately; and while it’s hard to puzzle out whether it’s for lack of inspiration, poor mood, shoddy shooting conditions, a plateauing of skills or something else entirely. Either way it’s been a grind. Last night was just another blip on the here comes another busted sunset radar. Almost just hasn’t been almost enough for what feels like months now.

    So what’s to be done when natural light doesn’t live up to its end of the bargain? We play with sliders and presets in post processing—or at least that’s what I do. Some might say this works to flex the creative muscles. I would say it’s more like pressing a bunch of buttons hoping something interesting happens that will help bail out another ho-hum photograph.

    Ironically enough I actually like this picture. I just wish I had more control of the process and felt a little better doing it.

  • Fleeting Moments

    HDR sunset photograph from Sunset Park, Surf City as the last rays of the sun break through storm clouds
    Fleeting Moments — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Nap time was interrupted by the threat of sunset. With the last line of storm clouds racing east it was a run against the clock to see if the back edge of clearing would make it over the horizon. It did. Only the cloud deck was too low and the post sundown coloration that makes a sunset so great never materialized. Instead I have this one—not a bad shot per se but littered with lens flares and water droplets on my lens. Regardless, I’m just going to work with what I’ve got and move onto next time.

  • Long Exposure Carnival Swings

    Long Exposure Carnival Swings

    A blue hour long exposure landscape orientation wide angle photograph of Wave Swinger; a carnival swing captured in motion at Casino Pier, Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
    On Saturn’s Rings — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1 sec

    When the nice weather comes you’ve gotta move. Yesterday was beautiful and revelers from all over descended upon a retooled Seaside Heights Boardwalk to soak in some sun, surf, boardwalk fare and top-notch people watching. Never having been one to sing odes to the virtues of a once beleaguered Seaside Boardwalk, I was beyond impressed to see the result of a double rebuild; first at the hands of Sandy and then by way of substantial fire. It’s been a rough few years along New Jersey’s shore but if appearances are any judge a bounce back is in the works.

    A blue hour long exposure portrait orientation wide angle photograph of Wave Swinger; a carnival swing captured in motion at Casino Pier, Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
    Circular Motion — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1.3 sec

    After some walking, eating and possible drinking we made for the car and the camera bags. After footing it back to Casino Pier the sun was making its final descent. With marine layer clouds blotting out the sunset we killed some time hitting the rides. First came Disko and then came Tilt-a-Whirl. Click the link, watch the video.

    Once that nonsense was out of the way we finally set up and made our long exposures. Back dropped by the bright lights and a soothing blue hour, conditions were ideal to make a photograph I’ve long since coveted: long exposure carnival swings. Without having to deal with swelling crowds, we were able to set up for a good ten minutes of uninterrupted shooting as day transitioned to night. For a first crack, I’m quite pleased with the result.

    A blue hour long exposure square format wide angle photograph of Wave Swinger; a carnival swing captured at rest at Casino Pier, Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
    The Suspended Spirit — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 3.2 sec

    Hoping for one more run of exposures, the ride called Wave Swinger was shut-down. The hopeful riders you see above were propped up for a handful of revolutions before being levied a premature return to solid ground in the cold form of diamond plate steel. Off they went left with little more than suspended spirit.

    For those interested in the physics behind carnival swings and circular motion.

  • Public Health Hazard

    Public Health Hazard

    Ceramicist and potter, a hooded Jeff Ruemeli smokes the last of his cigarette as he stokes the soda kiln fires in this low key black and white portrait.
    Public Health Hazard — 50mm | f/1.4 | ISO 8000 | EXP 1/40

    Obligatory Disclaimer Alert: Kids, don’t be like this hobo hipster wizard. Smoking is bad for your health.

    This past Thursday longtime pal, ceramicist, glass blower and acoustic romanticist, Jeff Ruemeli, invited us over to the LBI Foundation of the Arts & Sciences to check out this here soda kiln firing he’s been waxing poetic about for weeks. The outdoor oven apparatus—roughly 5 feet by 5 feet by 7 feet (not including the chimney) of what I’m guessing is some kind of volcanic brick—was quite cool; and glowed something fierce in the dark of night as he and his colleague worked diligently to get the temperature up to a balmy 2,300°F.

    While I was unable to get a serviceable image of the natural gas kiln itself, I did manage to make this here modest portrait; highlighting the perils of gnarly beards and nasty cigarettes. Both insidious threats to civil society. Hide your children; hide your wife.

    Without question I have a fear of portraiture; personal space and comfort issues, damn you to hell. In the future, if I find some subjects I’m comfortable enough with, it’s an area of photography I’d like to explore. As such a speedlite and portrait lens may be in my future. Hooray for cash eating hobbies!

  • Soft Spot

    50mm shallow depth of field photograph of rain soaked daffodils
    Soft Spot — 50mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/1600

    With the first turn in the weather, the calendar mandates it’s time I get back to my photographic roots. After a toddling period of crash course trial and error in the early days of 2012, flower photography quickly established itself as my go-to comfort spot behind the camera. It’s where I first felt some semblance of control in the process of making satisfactory photographs. Everything else—most certainly landscapes included—felt far too unwieldily and daunting at the time.

    But with a diverse array of flowers in abundant supply in just about every corner of my property, I had plenty of eager subjects waiting to help me learn and grow. Here I more often than not unwittingly stretched my creative muscles through soft focus and shallow depth of field with my petaled muse. I remember being quickly drawn to the way bokeh and soft focus when juxtaposed with areas of clarity can move the eye throughout a photograph, bringing layers and depth to an image. This exact relationship is what was entirely lost on me as a high schooler struggling with painting—for whatever reason I was too engrained with this hyper-realistic bias where everything had to be clearly defined and in focus. Never understanding that all that clarity, when deployed incorrectly creates competition and noise throughout a composition.

    So while the sunsets and landscapes are sure to continue, a steady dose of flowery soft focus and shallow depth of field is on the way. For now we’ll start with this daffodil—the first of my flowers to bloom.

  • Work with what you got

    Wispy cirrus clouds shaded in pink pastels mark the sky over Barnegat Bay in this wide angle HDR photograph taken just after sunset in Surf City, New Jersey.
    Work with what you got — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    You’re always rolling the dice when the time comes to pick your sunset photo spot; balancing time, travel distance, cloud cover/formation and the look you’re trying to achieve. Some days the decision is clear. Others? Not so much.

    This day I decided on Sunset Park in Surf City with no hesitation. I opted to head to LBI’s bayside to enjoy both the views and the warming weather. Freshly full of chicken parmesan I was as sated as I was ready. Or so I thought.

    From the get-go I had an uneasy time finding a composition would inspire. This coupled with paranoia that this sky, like so many skies before it, was not going to color up had me ready to throw in the towel. But since I seem to have a thing for foreground rocks from this location, I locked in my tripod and began to wait (re: hope).

    With an about face I took a look eastward; out over the houses and toward the ocean. What I watched unfold over the next 10 minutes was equal parts excitement and misery. The evening sky to the east, running against even the most sound intuition, exploded in array of pastel color that sets light chasers like me into a tizzy. And there was nothing I could do about it. Here I was locked in, laying in the bed I made. And while the sky still colored up nicely in its more traditional westward direction, it didn’t come close to drama that happened right behind by back.