Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: 14mm

All photographs tagged here have been taken with a 14mm f/2.8 L II lens.

  • Now Is the Time for Yoga

    Now Is the Time for Yoga

    Yogis Rose Dease and Jesse Holt form an 'X' in a partner yoga pose.
    Partner X — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 800 | EXP 1/80

    Or at least to photograph it. While I began my own yoga journey in November 2017—an asana out of my comfort zone—I took another pose out my safe space earlier this December. Before I further mix metaphors let me get to it. Adam Binder, entrepreneur and founder of Apeiron Yoga, after what I can only assume was some serious cajoling by Rose Dease, tapped me for a photo shoot. The goal was simple: show off his sweet line of yoga mats. Of course the showing off would spring from some well practiced and comely yogis modeling asanas atop said mats.

    Followers of this blog may immediately recognize the incongruity here. I do not photograph much that is neither a bug, flower, or landscape, and I most certainly do not photograph people. I lack a flash, lighting equipment, and any kind of sense of how to use those tools. But most inhibiting, I lack ease or grace when it comes to being around people. The up close intimacy demanded in portrait work only exacerbates this limitation. I can feel my awkwardness in typing this. A smooth dude at ease in his own skin, I am not.

    Despite all that I gave it a shot. (Do you have any more puns?) And you know what? It wasn’t too bad. Situated at Bask Hot Yoga’s Brick location, we found ourselves in a beautiful space. An open space, bathed in warm white light, with a lattice work wall piece and altar at room center. Hot yoga is Bask’s thing, so the room was toasty. As soon as I walked through the front door I knew my choice of attire was bad: jeans, t-shirt, and dress shoes were a miss for a balmy room hanging in the mid-80s. This was great for our yogis to loosen up, but not great for my sweat stains. But glass half full this and a dark rainy day were the only drawbacks of an otherwise product power session that went on the better part of 3 hours. (We were hoping for some great, natural light to make up for my manual lighting limitation, but alas.)

    Five yogis pose in Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) on Apeiron yoga mats at Bask Yoga.
    The Warriors Five — 14mm | f/2.8 | ISO 800 | EXP 1/60

    Here are some highlights from the session:

    • I walked away with 755 exposures—and some weren’t half bad
    • This style of shooting is physically demanding; no sitting around waiting for the sun to set while your camera rests atop a tripod
    • Getting low worked out; much of the shoot had my lying prone with my camera and lens propped up on my elbows
    • Good direction is key—I had knowledgable peeps calling out poses and keeping things moving
    • My focus was too soft
    • High key was a good choice
    • We should have done more poses with my 14mm lens and the full group—the 35mm and 14mm primes worked better than I thought for this kind of work; Canon’s 24mm prime would have been money
    • I need to learn to use a flash and lighting
    • While you are only getting a small taste here, the photos came out better than I expected—though my expectations were admittedly low

    Disclosure: Sweet Live Limitless hooded sweatshirt aside, this was an unpaid photo session and unpaid written endorsement. However, having used Aperion mats in hot yoga I can report they not only look and feel great, they provide excellent grip when the body and sweat starts flowing.

  • Familiar Spaces

    Familiar Spaces

    Wide angle winter sunset photo made over tranquil salt marsh.
    Familiar Spaces — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    This evening I made my way to my most familiar of spots: Cedar Run Dock Road. It is my local escape when the quickened pace of life demands a tonic of peace, nature, and a slow burning winter sunset. I am not alone here. Aside from the lucky ones who make this stretch of marsh their home, locals take slow drives on the regular to soak in the sights, sounds, and sunsets. Along the near three mile stretch of road you will never look far to find a slow-puttering car, dogs walking their owners, and friendly denizens commingling amid the splendor. If good vibes and a safe space for introverts to get about are your thing you can do far worse than this place. Of course, watch out for our terrapin friends making their turtle crossings come summer.

    It’s a fine open space. A sprawling stretch of salt marsh set about as far as the eye can see. Flanked to the east by Long Beach Island and hemmed in to the west by a stand of cedars and pines, it is far departure from the cluttered, angry, New Jersey suburban sprawl we see on TV. Nature is out there if you know were to go and find it. I’m lucky to never have to go too far.

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  • Winter Wisps

    Winter Wisps

    14mm wide angle sunset photo over salt marsh.
    Winter Wisps — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Thanksgiving has passed and winter works its way across the marsh. The season of contrasting relationships makes way. The sting of biting cold brings the cleansing fresh air. The deep breathe to purify the soul. The truncated days lend us long nights close together. The cold brings fire. The sublime state of snow paints nature’s purest beauty. The deepest freezes set skies alight smoldering deep until the stars burn bright. Winter wisps await upon our fingers’ tips.

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  • Blue Steps

    Blue Steps

    14mm blue hour photo of boat dock and calm, reflective water.
    Blue Steps — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 3.2 sec

    Light falls the day gives way to night. A vital coursing of gold ebbs with the sun’s remnants gilded the world in muted blues of peace. Soon, too, this will yield to black. Step through your day and walk ever forward through change. Striding through one present into the next. Cherish the moment of blue serenity as we pivot with purpose from one tangible present into the next.

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  • The Auspices

    The Auspices

    Wide angle pastel sunset photo over salt marsh.
    The Auspices — 14mm | f/8.0 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Do you make much of signs? Omens, auguries, celestial alignments? Perhaps we but note the signs we wish to see dismissing the rest as noise? Confirmation bias made visual and symbolic. Yet does it matter if we construct our own signs? Or own futures? When nature mainlines your being to confirm the positive in our better selves we all stand better for it. The mechanism, contrived or divine need not matter. Drink in the tonic it will not harm you.

    Today was full of opportunity. A chance to seize and to share. A chance to be better than yesterday. To move forward to new beginnings. It packed all the emotions of wracked nerves to wide the wide open expanse of ease and elation. Today and all its opportunity capped itself in an illumination of natural pastel.

    I knew it had been a long while since I last made a sunset photograph. I did not know that gap spanned back all the way to June, 30. Damn near 25% of the year gone without a capture. I know my photography has taken a dip in output and it is my sincere hope the auspices of today are a portents of things to come.

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  • The Forest and the Trees

    The Forest and the Trees

    14mm wide angle photograph of Pinelands pine trees and ferns.
    The Forest and the Trees — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/50

    On June 16, 2018, I had the opportunity to photograph Baker’s Acres Campground in Little Egg Harbor, NJ. A wooded, family forward establishment, Baker’s Acres offers a picturesque retreat for any and all campers. Nestled off Garden State Parkway exit 58, Baker’s Acres is a secluded getaway so good at maintaining a low profile I had never happened across it in my 25 years living down here. But don’t let its low key nature fool you, Baker’s is happening with plenty to do and fun for the whole family.

    I don’t exactly know how to photograph a place to make it look nice, but I spent about 90 minutes walking the premises, photographing its amenities. (They even have a dog park!) All the while passing tons of happy and friendly campers who did not seem to mind the guy milling about with the camera one bit. That was a relief.

    Ensconced in the Pinelands on all sides, at the far edge adjacent to said dog park sets a stand of beautiful pines beset by ferns. Transfixed my mind immediately drifted to the forest moon of Endor. I know those were sequoias but still that is where my brain went. I took it all in for five minutes are so and made my way back to exploring the friendly confines of Baker’s Acres.

    Full disclosure: this is an unpaid and unsolicited plug for Baker’s Acres Campground. It’s personal commentary on an impressive little place to hang your hat.

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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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  • 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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