Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: bleeding heart

Heart of Rebellion
Heart of Rebellion — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/200
4 May 2025. May the Fourth. Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Chat, anyone out there watching Andor season two? Two arcs deep—six episodes in total—and this political thriller keeps me on edge. Unsettling in the best way possible, it’s a welcome, if not uncomfortable, treat to be dropped into the early world of the rebellion olds like me grew up on with a story centered around—and explicitly intended for—olds like me. Andor picks at the raw under belly of the nascent rebellion’s leadership, exploring the insidious loss of humanity that corrodes slow and sure in the darkest corners of dying souls. A cause may be righteous; its effect on its people is not. And yet some fights must be fought—irrespective of the costs.
Photo details
- Photographed: 3 May 2025
- Lighting: Late afternoon
- Weather: Partly cloudy
- Location: Ocean Acres, New Jersey
- Time: ~1835
- Tripod: No
- Exposure: One at 1/200
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Hey ChatGPT
Riffing on the theme of the day, the thing that was hiding in the bleeding heart’s shape slapped me right in the face. The Rebel Alliance starbird is made to fit tattooed onto this flower. Brain gears begin to churn—let me see what ChatGPT can do. My suggestions proceeded as follows:
Me: Yo chat, happy Sunday. If I send you a jpg of a bleeding heart can you embed the Star Wars rebellion logo inside the heart-shaped flower?
ChatGPT: Yo! Happy Sunday to you too. (Smiling sun emoji.) Yeah absolutely — send over the JPG of the bleeding heart flower, and I’ll embed the Star Wars rebellion logo.
Me: Uploads above photo
ChatGPT: Shares first image
Me: Now try it with the logo inverted
ChatGPT: Second image, which is the same as the first image
Me: Abandoning the inverted starbird idea: Create the logo in the street art style of Sabine Wren
ChatGPT: Third image
Me: Nice job recreating the goated Sabine Wren. Now, can you have the spray paint logo follow the contours of the flower?
ChatGPT: Final result below
May 4, 2025
Heart Opener
Heart Opener — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/250
There was much and more I did not know about yoga before standing on a mat at my first class in November 2017. Outside of its ancient roots blossoming out of India, its possession of spiritual essence, and lots of bending and stretching, I was wholly ignorant. Turns out I was wrong about what it was I thought I knew. Such is the joy in actually diving into a thing. The ebb and flow of learning and growth coupled with failure—necessary failure—the kind that leads you down a path of humility while bringing you back on the road of learning and growth. Yoga is an excellent roadmap for life. It has had millennia to perfect itself.
In any asana class, the kind where you work the body through physical poses in time with your breath, you know heart openers are A Thing. I did not know this of course, but learned quick. Heart openers are everywhere inside a yoga studio near you. Whether through back bends, twists, or folds, constant coaching and callouts to open the heart—your heart. Such a concept dovetails beautifully with dharma talks choosing to keep the heart at the center of everything: The center of your life, your purpose, your power, and your love. Heart open. Heart center. Lift your heart. Open your heart. Let your light shine on your heart. Feel your life toward the sky. Steady coaching and reinforcement connected to movement and breath work communicates the criticality of an open heart. Loud and clear it lifts a veil on both your physical and emotional being. It’s powerful stuff.
Soon you take this lesson with you off the mat. Focusing on your heart becomes A Thing. Cultivating it. Protecting it. Honoring it. You come to understand the importance of keeping your heart open for others and for yourself. This is the love that will save the world.
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April 15, 2020
Heartstrings
Heartstrings — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/640
Whether you are hanging your heart on the line. Or drying out ye old heart machine on the laundry line of love. You are putting your heart out there. Plugging away in a world tugging on the old heartstrings. Whatever witty claim the written word could pose, bleeding hearts pluck a fancy and leave a calm repose. A unique flower, perfect heart in shape. Coupled with a tear, emotion is its fate.
It’s fascinating how this remarkable shade loving flower mirrors the presentation of heart and love in art. Or is this another situation where art imitates life? Speaking of imitation, it is a lifelong love of The Legend of Zelda that elevates me to next level bleeding heart appreciation. They make a stunning replica of the heart containers so essential to Link’s questing success. Furthering the link, the tear is a match for the Sheikah Eye—a distinct mark of an esoteric clan orbiting the heart center of the saga.
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April 30, 2019
Unbowed Heart
Unbowed Heart — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/200
The heart works. May it pump, flow, oxygenate, and enrich our lives for time unbound. The heart sparks. May it beat strong in clear, steady time setting rhythm to keep our lives apace. The heart thunders. May it power the intense moments where we need it most. A thundering thump drumming quickening cues reminding all we yet live. The heart rests. In the quiet moments of sleep, thought, meditation, and reflection it resets the world. The heart bleeds. May it work yet through the sad times, a solemn lament forlorn for those lost. The heart loves. Our epicenter of joy, kindness, fulfillment, and love. It fills our bodies and fulfills our world with the unbowed energy of peace and love for all time. The destiny of heart is love.
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April 27, 2019
You got a Piece of Heart!
You got a Piece of Heart! — 100mm | f/2.8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/500
I’ve been sitting on this photograph for just over two weeks now. It’s been processed up and ready to go and everything, I’ve just been slacking. Anyway, here’s one of my backyard bleeding heart flowers just after it hit full bloom this past May 1^st. Later that very day I scored this fine sunset at Stafford Forge; always a bonus when you walk away with two keepers in one day.
Even before my macro days began—and all the way back to my time as a youngster—I always enjoyed the company of these early season plants. Harbingers of good times, and a fun reminder of my all-time favorite video game franchise. Yes, that’s a hint toward the title I chose.
May 16, 2015
Putting your heart on the line
Putting your heart on the line — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/250
Or hearts if you’re a Time Lord.
It’s a grey, sullen day here in New Jersey. Rain, wind, and cold decided to bring shades of Winter back into the fold with highs that have struggled to get out of the 40s. But hey, it’s May tomorrow, right? Right?
This shot is a holdover from this past Saturday; today seems as good a day as any to post a reminder that Spring is in fact here—even if it doesn’t know it yet. Bleeding heart flowers are a real favorite of mine, and my yard, front and back, is appropriately fashioned with them. An early season bloomer, I’ve got both white and pink varieties. I captured their development just as the hearts are beginning to take shape descending down to their final position on what amounts to be a flora close line. As soon as the good weather returns I’m sure I’ll be photographing them in full bloom.
April 30, 2014