Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: barnegat bay

  • I, Phragmites

    I, Phragmites

    Shallow depth of field sunset photograph of phragmites along Barnegat Bay
    I, Phragmites — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/4000

    Phragmites are an invasive species robbing valuable real estate from indigenous plant life due to the dense stands that’ll readily form and quickly grow. Efficiently conquering pristine lands like an imperialist in heat. To the uninitiated conquistador like me, they seemingly fit right in to the natural surroundings—adding almost picturesque sight lines that appear to fit right in to any naturally occurring coastal Mid-Atlantic landscape. It was only recently I learned they weren’t supposed to be here. But many of us aren’t supposed to be here, are we?

    On just about any day that ends in ‘Y’ I certainly feel like a phragmites. A central Jersey transplant to Manahawkin, New Jersey, in the summer of ’93 I’ve always felt something of an outsider to the region. My insecure sense of being as coastal imposter only magnifies when I venture over to the nearby barrier island that is Long Beach Island. Here I’m twice removed; not just a Mainlander but a suburban sprawl transplant as well. You see no matter how hard I try, I’ll never climb the podium to gain acceptance as a True Local™. Sure I can wear flip-flops year round, pretend I’m clued into the the scene, all while living a few short miles from the beach, but I’ll never be one of The People. If only in my own mind.

    But this is all our struggle, isn’t it? Just where to fit in?

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  • Change Your Latitude

    Change Your Latitude

    Shallow depth of field landscape sunset photo of small bay waves lapping on shore
    Change Your Latitude — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/20

    I made my way to Surf City Sunset Park last night with modest hopes of capturing a sunset. It’s been a while since I’ve produced some wide angle goodness, and I was eager to get off the schneid. Of course a low level maritime layer brought in a cloud deck to provide just enough blocking of the sun angle. It was a shame too, as the cold air was really firing the pastels on the high level cirrus clouds blocked out by the marine layer. Plans thwarted yet again.

    After a few minutes hemming and hawing and with light fading fast, I opted to switch to the 35mm lens to try to make something out of nothing. From there any kind of skill went out the window in favor of unscientifically hoping for the best. Short on light I set my aperture wide open and dangled the camera body about an inch off the shoreline. From there I popped off a few shots hoping to get lucky and find something interesting waiting on my memory card. The result can be seen above. In hindsight I should have stopped down to f/2.8 and bumped my ISO to 400—maybe 640. This would have given me a bit more depth to my area of acceptable focus, and, coupled with the higher ISO, would have given me a bit more sharpness overall. Alas.

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  • Worse for Wear

    Worse for Wear

    =Sunset photograph overlooking Barnegat Bay and a decrepit bulkhead
    Worse for Wear — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Eastern facing sunsets some days sing supreme—and while yesterday’s western exposure was a fast moving fiery red, it was to the pastel east that I focused my gaze. With the tide well up access to Barnegat Bay Beach was out of the question, eliminating any hope I had of working the wave runner jetty into my frame. Scanning for alternatives this derelict bulkhead—seemingly none too old but certainly in disrepair—thrust up its hand, eagerly volunteering as a workable foreground. The missing boards and rusted nails made a suitable fallback, and as I was dialing in the frame the grain pattern on the support poles had me mesmerized. The pole to the right in particular with its almost camouflage pattern array. A smattering of seagrass even found itself snagged upon the remnant nails. There’s just a ton of neat little things going on in there if you stop to take a closer look.

    The strength of this photograph is all about balance. Composed of a largely symmetrical foreground squared up perpendicular to the bay and horizon. To the sky there’s a high pastel cloud deck, emblazoned pink that’s largely being blocked out by the fast moving low-level cumulus clouds that came racing overhead from west to east. For about 2 minutes they colored up just enough with a touch of red upon their underbelly. I’m torn as to whether these clouds were a welcome addition to my frame, or if they’re more accurately described as an ill-timed guest. They certainly bring some drama in the form of shape and contrast, but at the same time they blocked out what would have been a potent light show at the higher cloud levels to the east. For a time there were hints we’d replicate the eastern sunset from The Great Gig in the Sky, but in the end the timing wasn’t quite right. Embrace the chaos thusly.

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  • Better Off Bayside

    Better Off Bayside

    Landscape photograph of wispy clouds and a calm Barnegat Bay at sunset
    Better Off Bayside — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/80

    I thought about ending this photograph’s title with a question mark to convey the right inflection to reflect my second guessing as where to shoot yesterday. After Friday’s snow I was back to my regularly scheduled sunset shooting on Saturday. Initially I was going to head to Great Bay Boulevard, but idling at the intersection of Nautilus and Route 72 I had a change of heart. Perhaps not up for the longer drive due to hunger I tossed the plan and made for Surf City’s Sunset Park.

    While this spot seldom disappoints I knew I was taking a bit of a gamble. Over the winter months, as well as the tail end of fall and early spring, with the sun setting at a more southwest orientation it’s sometimes difficult to make a good angle from this purely westward facing spot. For that reason I abandoned bringing the sun disk into the frame. Relying on theater of the mind the sun can be envisioned off screen quite far to the left of my frame. This all worked out, however, with soft wisps of clouds coloring up nicely over the lightly rolling three inch waves lapping the sand and pebbles just on shore.

    It was a peaceful seen along Barnegat Bay, and several revelers made it to the shoreline to say goodbye to the day. At least three or four folks with their cameras, and what looked to be a gentleman tucked away in the northwest corner possibly making a time lapse. It’s always nice to see others making the most of the sunset muse. Yet with that my focus shifts back to the upcoming snow potential across the mid-Atlantic over the next 72 hours; because where there’s snow potential, there’s photo potential.

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  • These Are Your First Steps

    These Are Your First Steps

    Blue hour photograph of an exposed manmade jetty in Barnegat Bay
    These Are Your First Steps — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Made my way into Barnegat this evening. Deep into Jonathan Carr territory to meet up and shoot a sunset. Arriving late and short on time, I was sweating it from intersection to intersection impatiently watching pastel pink clouds glow to the north and east knowing this color only had minutes of life. On arrival I found Jon set up pointed west, buried in a patch of phragmites. With nods of acknowledgment I quickly parted ways to check the bayside and noticed a perfect foreground element exposed in the dead calm low tide of Barnegat Bay—a jetty of sorts just waiting to be framed. Combine this with a pink-purple cast to the sky as blue hour hour is setting in and you start feeling pretty damn good about yourself.

    From here I set to work on dialing in the composition. The calmness and cool color tones were evoking a mood of serenity and space. I wanted to key on this and maintain as much negative space as possible; leaving the viewer room to breathe to take in the sights, imagine the sounds, and feel the openness of the setting. This photograph wasn’t going to be about vibrant colors, dramatic cloud shapes, or intricate details fulling up a composition. Instead it was going to be about space, softness, and simplicity. I’m pleased with the outcome.

    It’s only January, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this winds up on my list of 2016’s best. This was one of those shoots where you just know while you’re out there that you’re capturing something good and making it your own. You know there’s that little something extra that makes it stand above most of your other shoots. It’s all part of the reward and fun of this great hobby. Timing wise this worked out, this was a brand new spot for me and it sure did deliver. As for the title? Yeah it’s a Star Wars reference.

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  • On Second Thought

    Square format landscape photograph of phragmites and Barnegat Bay at blue hour
    On Second Thought — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 0.6 sec

    Sometimes your shoot won’t go exactly as planned. This is OK. This afternoon my buddy Jon and I were hoping for some sunset drama. As it does the big time boom or bust sunsets ride a razor’s edge of yay or nay. Today it missed. It happens.

    Walking back to the car and at peace with said miss, my eyes quickly looked north to find sweeping blue clouds. Then downward to the illuminated houses out on the horizon; finally setting on the phragmites up in the foreground. The blue hour tones were soothing and the contour line of the jetty rock perfectly aligned with the left to right swoop up in the clouds. With a few clicks of the tripod this entire process was over and done with within a span of 20 seconds. Sometimes shots happen fast. At home in post processing I opted on the square format display ratio, deciding it tightened the overall composition.

    In their own way I hold a fondness for shoots like tonight. It’s a good test for the eye to come up with something else when your plan falls through. It’s a useful exercise in staying open to new possibilities, and as an added benefit the time crunch of fading light gets you to work fast relying on instinct.

  • The Demons of Our Dreams

    Wide angle long exposure photograph of a demonic shelf cloud over Barnegat Bay
    The Demons of Our Dreams — 14mm | f/2.8 | ISO 100 | EXP 30 sec

    When I’m titling my photographs I most always go with the first word, phrase, song lyric, or bit of text that comes to mind. It’s a quick and easy approach that keeps me from overthinking my named works. I broke that rule today. I wanted to go with Death Comes for us All, but an apprehensive voice inside me chided that might come across too strong. Death’s a touchy subject, and I’m not here consciously looking to set off any triggers. Ergo I downgraded to demons.

    What led to the death/demon connection in the first place? Well as I look at the 30 second long exposure rendering of this photograph, with its low hanging shelf cloud accentuated by motion blur marching across Barnegat Bay; a Titan’s visage, gaunt and brooding, manifests pressing downward through the clouds ready to escape its confines to breach the bay and do its worst. It is both spooky and spectacular—natures reminder of the omnipotence of the universe and our fleeting moments hurtling about our own speck of space.

    This photo session started out as an attempt to capture a less abstract look at storm clouds, and even more specifically some lightning. Instead something wholly unexpected manifested on the sensor. That’s the way photography goes sometimes, and it’s important for us to always keep an open mind to the unintended outcomes it may render.

  • Take Your Place Amongst the Revelers

    HDR photograph of a fiery sunset over Barnegat Bay as seen from Surf City, NJ
    Take Your Place Amongst the Revelers — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Last night’s sunset was well attended—emphasis on well. Unsurprising in hindsight, on a gorgeous mid-Summer Saturday night, Surf City’s little Sunset Park must have drawn in some 40-plus revelers to capture the final few moments of the Earth’s daily rotation away from the Sun. It was great to see such enthusiasm from the populace.

    Of course seeing and shooting are two different things, and it didn’t take long for me to realize I had chosen my final destination poorly. You see as the human headcount in any one spot increases, the ability to carve out a good, unobstructed view with a wide angle lens rears its limitations quickly. Unable to position myself with a more northward facing angle, where the most interesting clouds—both in shape and color—were marking the sky, I was left with no choice but to look out due west. Essentially recreating this shot from May 2014. Even with my little spot carved out I still had a few visitors get close enough for a hand or foot to sneak its way into my frame. Though I can hardly blame them: before I had gotten into photography I had no appreciation for just how wide a shot really can be.

    At the end of the day I was able to come away with a serviceable enough photo. I just wish I didn’t feel at odds with myself; on the one hand bummed that I couldn’t hunt for an ideal exposure like I usually do, and on the other hand self-conscious about feeling like my presence is just getting in everybody else’s way. Folks enjoying their vacation time looking to get a good cellphone shot don’t want to have to deal with tripod laden space hogs such as myself.

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  • 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.