Greg Molyneux Photography

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Standing with the Treetops

February 18, 2015 by Greg Molyneux

HDR sunset photograph of the New Jersey Pinelands' Pygmy Pine Plains taken from the Top of the World

Standing with the Treetops — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

Yesterday I waxed poetic about this great new spot locals call Top of the World. New is of course in the relative sense insofar as it is new to me. This is the second in what will most likely amount to three fully produced photographs from this nascent shoot from this clandestine (not really) Pinelands’ locale. It’s tough enough to come home with one satisfying photo so it’s always a happy dance bonus when that number turns crooked.

As more of a technician than an artist this selected sunset is by no means perfect. And I’m OK with that. I’ve got an undesirable lens flare on the right edge to the center; my tripod was positioned a little too close to the pygmy pitch pines in the foreground, yielding unnecessary blur just outside my hyperfocal distance; and I’ve got real soft focus and some flare going on in the very bottom left corner. But somehow? It works for me. I purposefully placed my tripod dead smack in the middle of this micro pine canopy to help bring the viewer into the photograph. I wanted your face to by right where mine was—about six feet off the ground overlooking a gradual plain of the smallest fully-grown pine trees you’re never like to see. Through all that, the imperfections work for me. I’d like to say this was entirely premeditated, but other than looking at my bulbous lens glass and noting its closeness to the pines in the immediate foreground, did I notice much at all.

Here’s an Instagram—gasp a selfie!—of me making this shot.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 14mm hdr landscape pinelands pygmy pines snow sunset top of the world

« Fresh Tracks, Fresh Places
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  1. Fresh Tracks, Fresh Places – Greg Molyneux Photography says:
    February 20, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    […] forest canopy, over the course of two hours I admired the sunlight as it did its golden hour into sunset and then blue hour thing. With each segment in time bringing a brand new vibe to my new […]

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Photos from the archives

An HDR photograph taken at sunset from Rand's on Great Bay Boulevard featuring an imposing cloud deck backing in off the ocean awash in pinks and purples from the just departed sun.
100mm low key macro photo of a single honey bee pollinating purple coneflower pistils. A strong single light source creates stark contrast of highlights and shadows. A deep blue monochrome treatment drives a dark, serious mood.
An overhead top down macro photograph of a cleome center just as the flower prepares to bud. The cross processed purple hues lend a calming effect to the imagery.
An HDR photograph take just after sunset from the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area. The foreground is marked by the charred remains of a lone tree stump. Fresh grasses begin to fill in the ashen remains.
35mm photograph of green summer salt marsh at blue hour. Panning left to right creates motion blur in the landscape photograph.

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