Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: bokeh

  • Here be Dragons

    Here be Dragons

    Black and white abstract macro photograph of a Japanese Maple that looks like a flying dragon
    Here be Dragons — 100mm | f/2.8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/100

    I’m a Game of Thrones fan. I’m a macro fan. I’m a black and white fan. So for my money here goes the trifecta. I know many folks appreciate my wide angle landscapes—the sweeping shots of the dramatic sunsets that readily pop-up along the Jersey shore. Those are great, and I love getting out there and making those photographs. But what excites me the most is getting up close and personal with the micro world at the business end of a macro lens. Old school handheld shooting I can couple with the drama of shallow depth of field and its smooth bokeh, finishing with a moody black and white photograph rendering just enough mystery and pause into the final frame. It is in these most I feel most capable—most inspired.

    And as far as Game of Thrones is concerned—am I on point in seeing a dragon here, or is that just me? Better yet? Season 5, episode 4 airs tonight!

  • Soft Spot

    50mm shallow depth of field photograph of rain soaked daffodils
    Soft Spot — 50mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/1600

    With the first turn in the weather, the calendar mandates it’s time I get back to my photographic roots. After a toddling period of crash course trial and error in the early days of 2012, flower photography quickly established itself as my go-to comfort spot behind the camera. It’s where I first felt some semblance of control in the process of making satisfactory photographs. Everything else—most certainly landscapes included—felt far too unwieldily and daunting at the time.

    But with a diverse array of flowers in abundant supply in just about every corner of my property, I had plenty of eager subjects waiting to help me learn and grow. Here I more often than not unwittingly stretched my creative muscles through soft focus and shallow depth of field with my petaled muse. I remember being quickly drawn to the way bokeh and soft focus when juxtaposed with areas of clarity can move the eye throughout a photograph, bringing layers and depth to an image. This exact relationship is what was entirely lost on me as a high schooler struggling with painting—for whatever reason I was too engrained with this hyper-realistic bias where everything had to be clearly defined and in focus. Never understanding that all that clarity, when deployed incorrectly creates competition and noise throughout a composition.

    So while the sunsets and landscapes are sure to continue, a steady dose of flowery soft focus and shallow depth of field is on the way. For now we’ll start with this daffodil—the first of my flowers to bloom.

  • A pine for every season

    This golden hour photograph features a pine tree branch and its needles in a closeup arrangement with a shallow depth of field illuminated by rich morning light.
    A pine for every season — 40mm | f/2.8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/100

    Yesterday morning was cold, and yet you wouldn’t know it from this photograph. It never ceases to amaze me, the indiscernible nature of pines. Without their pine cones as a guide or air temperature as an indicator, it’s virtually impossible to distinguish a season on looks alone. While their deciduous cousins are annually betrayed by fallen leaves the interminable pine stands above, immovable. Timeless.

    As 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 branch no more than two feet from my face. As I was already loaded up with my 40mm pancake lens, I set the aperture wide open and went for some close range shallow depth of field goodness.

  • These are for you

    A low key photograph of a late season pastel colored quick fire hydrangea backdropped by dark tones and smooth bokeh
    These are for you — 40mm | f/2.8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/640

    Friday’s are always better with flowers. At least I think so. With Fall here this is getting to be just about it for flower season. Until next year, little buddies.

  • Grooving on some sunshine

    A cross processed macro photograph of a late season quick fire hydrangea, its white petals fading to pinks and purples.
    Grooving on some sunshine — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/60

    I took this on Friday so I’ve been a little lazy in getting this posted. My plan was to post this for #floralfriday but hooray laziness. That was sarcasm. Mostly.

    Each season, for the past three seasons anyway, I make a point to photograph my backyard quick fire hydrangea in the early Fall; after its white petals bleed out to soft pinks and purples, but before said petals fall to the ground for winter quarters. This was the product of my annual rendezvous.

    I’ll miss you flowers. Until next year.

  • Just a Silver-Spotted Skipper snacking on some sedum

    A shallow depth of field macro photograph of a Silver-Spotted Skipper dining on sedum nectar.
    Just a Silver-Spotted Skipper snacking on some sedum — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/160

    Here in New Jersey we’re just about out of scenes like this for the season. As the Autumn veil descends life begins its annual retreat. Through the ebb and flow photography encourages the capture of singular moments that otherwise slip by riding the sands of time. These moments simultaneously give us both something to remember and something to look forward to. It’s wonderfully circular.

    This shot pushes the soft focus about as far as I like to go. Perhaps too far. Given a mulligan I’d try to bring the eye into sharper focus. As it stands it’s the wing edge that gets the very narrow field of sharpest focus. Which is interesting in its own right. Photography doesn’t always have to be perfect to be beneficial. Sometimes things are just good enough.

  • The last of us

    Low key macro photograph of a late season purple coneflower (echinacea). Buttery bokeh and shallow depth of field tell the story here.
    The last of us — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/250

    Just a guy getting in the very last his purple coneflowers have to offer. My potted echinacea are last men standing (barely), and I wanted to get in some eleventh hour shots before final decay.

    As afternoon light was pouring in over the rooftop I grabbed the camera and went for a slightly upward perspective shooting from a crouched position. With one good flower left I wanted to really go for a sharp cut-off with respect to depth of field, drawing attention to the ends of the front four petals. From there I’d let a low key workflow and buttery bokeh tell the rest of the story.

  • There’ll be nobody home

    This square format photograph features a cross processed treatment of a painted lady butterfly at three quarters perspective and from the rear. The buttery smooth bokeh and shallow depth of field draws attention to the butterfly as it rests on a freshly bloomed sedum.
    There’ll be nobody home — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/160

    I arrived home from the foothills of eastern Pennsylvania stretched and worn. Bettered but battered after a long weekend celebrating my cousin’s pending nuptials. A good yet exhaustive time was had by all.

    Leaving the cousin’s shiny new F-150 my mind clung to the imminent hopes of a hot shower and a nap—here it is, victory. Or so I thought. Immediately out the truck I noticed 1) my sedum have finally blossomed, and 2) a butterfly had finally come to rest on one my flowers. I’d seriously been waiting all season for this.

    With the shower and nap plan on hiatus I grabbed my gear and tried to get a capture. I only got off two shots before this common butterfly was scared away for good—my approach wasn’t exactly one of stealth—and neither of which were from a frontal perspective. Even still I connect with the story this image tells. One of time. The never ending story of the inescapable passage of all things. And somewhere out there is the future we can’t quite see.

  • Working under cover

    In this low key macro photograph of a Black-eyed Susan (yellow daisy), miniature insects are working in unison under the cover of the illuminated yellow flower petals and rich bokeh fades out the background.
    Working under cover — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/400

    Yellow daisies. Shoot ’em while they last.

    Last week I was taking advantage of the late afternoon sun to create some dramatic flower macros with my Black-eyed Susans backdropped by a Japanese Maple. Some folks find too much sun a bad thing with their flower macros while I find it to be a most useful ally. It affords me stark contrast in lighting, muting the background to a smooth, dark bokeh.

    Now that’s all well and good but it wasn’t until I got behind the viewfinder that I saw what was really going on down there; roughly a dozen as of now unidentified insects dutifully consuming what I can only guess is some kind of sugar on the flower stem—please someone correct my ignorance: I’d love to know the type of bug, and what they were doing there. Thanks! Their legs were awful close to an ant’s however the abdomen was much different; oblong, elongated and raised toward the rear.

    At the end of the day shooting macro once again reminds me just how much is going on right under our very noses (all hail the mighty cliché). This is what drove me to become a photographer. Before I ever dreamed of shooting wide angle landscapes it was macro and macro alone that fueled my initial instruction and experimentation behind the lens.