Greg Molyneux Photography

New Jersey landscape and nature photography

Imagine gravity

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A low key, fine art, black and white macro photograph of echinacea (purple coneflower) before it progresses to bloom. This center focus floral study creates a gravitational web as the numerous stamen spiral inward.

Imagine gravity — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/125

My potted purple coneflower wins my appreciation this day. I spent a chunk of my afternoon shooting macros of a nascent cleome in my side yard making what I thought were good shots. They just weren’t as intricate and gripping as this echinacea. From the moment I saw this on my rear display I knew I was going black and white. This is a look (style?) I want to continue to develop; stark, low key still life studies with deep shadows, purposeful highlights, and enough contrast to let the negative space breathe. Photographs that accentuate clean lines and sharp edges that reach out for attention.

And just to editorialize on this image for a little bit, this totally makes my mind think of the wondrous reality that is spacetime. The fabric of space is so well represented in the stamen here; with all in its invisible grasp falling ever closer to its lightless, collapsed center.

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Photos from the archives

Macro photograph of a pink peony bud just about to bloom. Water droplets cover the blossom and adorn the petals as the ready to unfurl.
100mm macro photograph of one purple coneflower with its blossom forming a crown. Processed in a low key blue hued monochrome.
Sunset photo of a rising supermoon over gentle waves of Barnegat Bay.
Sunset photo over late summer Dock Road salt marsh.
14mm wide angle photograph of an oxbow feature winding through the salt marsh. A pastel sunset sparkles in the sky, marsh grasses frame the foreground with clouds mirror reflected in the water.