Greg Molyneux Photography

New Jersey landscape and nature photography

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It’s a secret to everybody

October 5, 2014 by Greg Molyneux

An HDR photograph of a boggy cedar swamp taken in the heart of the Pinelands just after dawn during golden hour

It’s a secret to everybody — 40mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 3 Bracketed Exposures

Kudos to Ben Wurst for planting the seed of a Sunday morning sunrise shoot in the pines earlier this week. It takes a lot to get this guy rolling in the pre-dawn hours—especially on weekends. But as tough as it is to get up, it’s always a touch easier if it’s for fishing or for photos.

When it was settled where we’d meet up this morning my excitement for the locale began to overwhelm my denial of having to wake up so early. Along my route to work each day, about 14 miles into my journey, I pass a low bog in the heart of the pines. It offers an eastern face for sunrise and a western view for sunset, each from County Road 539. Unfortunately I’m always en route to and from the career gig and have yet to take advantage of the opportunity to stop and shoot. That changed this morning.

Thinking I’d be setting up overlooking the roadside bog, I was shocked to find the most well manicured, 10 inch wide path through the pine forest. It was comically quaint. It would be the perfect fit for David the Gnome types. Something straight out of The Legend of Zelda. Excited by my discovery, I led us down the path. It wasn’t more than a tenth of mile in that we came upon another access to the bog. What’s more? It had its own wooden walkway making a loose 150 yard circle around the bog.

The air was crisp. The sky was clear. The steam was rising. At this point my focus was all about getting a proper ray shot. The kind where rays of sunlight make there way through steam/fog/condensation with rich golden light. I was pleased that my handheld camera, 40mm, and I were able to get it done.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 40mm golden hour greenwood forest wildlife management area hdr landscape pinelands wetlands

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A pine for every season »

Trackbacks

  1. A pine for every season – Greg Molyneux Photography says:
    October 7, 2014 at 7:14 pm

    […] I was skulking around the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area scoping out yesterday’s steamy ray shot, I made an about face and saw some wonderful golden light breathing life into a once innocuous pine […]

  2. Go East, my friend – Greg Molyneux Photography says:
    October 7, 2014 at 7:18 pm

    […] I’m hesitant to say for sure, I think I prefer this shot to the first offering, even though the light in that one was pure magic. Yesterday’s post, however, represents a […]

  3. East Watch by the Sea — Greg Molyneux Photography says:
    April 11, 2017 at 5:25 pm

    […] was the evening air, as if by some device pinkish hues worked to seep upward from the ground as a warm bog might do when met with a cold morning. When time startled back to work the world fell slow toward a […]

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