Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: bokeh

  • New Beginnings

    New Beginnings

    Spirea blossoms photo with smooth bokeh and soft focus.
    New Beginnings — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/5000

    It was April 2010. After four reliable years with my first HP laptop—a machine which held together after drinking an entire Miller Lite—I moved onto my second HP. Loaded up with impressive horsepower this machine lacked the collegiate fortitude of its predecessor and left my services immediately following its second birthday. Fresh out of warranty I had a problem with the motherboard and my time was over with HP. It was here this lifelong PC user plucked an Apple from the tree.

    I was a first time homeowner when I took the Cupertino Challenge. I have not looked back since. My priors with Apple machines included a few rounds of Oregon Trail played on an elementary school Macintosh, and a second generation iPod Nano I bought in college—back when my HP was drinking beer. When my iMac arrived in spring 2010 I was smitten. This is the first piece of technology I fell for. Once large screen ensconced in world class industrial design born of perfection. From the moment I pressed power and heard the ubiquitous chime I felt part of the family. I was all in.

    For seven great years my 27″ iMac carried me. It’s been my digital partner through my entire photographic journey. While it finally began showing some age in 2016, it remained steadfast and reliable. A total workhorse through over a terabyte of photo storage and heavy processing. While not gone before its time, it finally called it quits in late April 2017. With a long expected iMac refresh due this fall I was hoping to get six more months of service time before pulling the trigger on its replacement. Alas that of best made plans.

    And so this brings me here. Typing out my first blog post to share my first photo processed on Apple Number Two. This a MacBook Pro. I decided to go with a laptop for what is something of a two part replacement solution. This machine will more than hold me over until the new iMacs conjure into existence. If all goes well it will provide me a much needed mobile solution once I do get another desktop in 2018.

    After near four weeks without a machine it feels great to be creative again. Back on the photo grind. Back on the blog grind. I missed it. I missed sending work out into the world. It’s good to be back.

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  • Scent to Delight

    Scent to Delight

    Lilac photo captured with soft focus in afternoon light.
    Scent to Delight — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/2500

    As if summoned by the light of spring and carried upon the wind there came a smell so sweet. A crown of purple sat atop lilac bushes standing straight and proud about the marches of my backyard. A royal guard if there ever was one. Fresh as new life full of possibility and untainted by avarice and poor choice. A smell so sweet garbed in purple so pure on a bud so fleeting. It will only be a few short days that my yard will border in such well dressed, sweet smelling attendants. Oh most welcome of guests, it is my hope you do enjoy your stay.

    But enough with the flowery language let’s get real. To start I am shocked that on this my 351 post to this website this marks the first lilac photograph. The first?! Suffice to say I would have lost this bet. Yet as I pored over empty archives reality set in. Better late than never, I guess. There are reasons. First, this is the best lilac bloom my yard has seen in years. Predating the January 2014 launch of this blog at least. Second, despite being one of my favorite flowers—both in look and smell—I find them a tough study. As a collective the buds grow to large size, while the flowers themselves remain quite small. This dichotomy has left me with many a mediocre photograph.

    Yesterday busted the slump. Decent afternoon light was spilling in from the southwest as the lilacs neared peak bloom. I first made a picture with my iPhone. And how about portrait mode, huh? Silky smooth background fade for the win. Phones today, they make some pretty great photographs, you guys. With the cell shot as inspiration I went inside, strapped the 35mm on the rig, and set aperture wide open for some real deal bokeh action. This brings us here—my first shot of spring 2017. More to come.

    To all my allergy suffers: I apologize on behalf of my friends.

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  • Mind Your Bridge

    Mind Your Bridge

    Black and white photo of acoustic guitar bridge.
    Mind Your Bridge — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 800 | EXP 1/80

    Photographs have been hard to come by in 2017. We’re charging through January and this marks photo number three. Rough—suffice to say I need to pick up the pace. Here I was on a cloudy Saturday, desperate for a muse and grasping at straws, so I made a handful of frames of a Martin acoustic guitar using a wide open aperture on my 35mm lens if only to remember what it’s like. I didn’t even have the explicit intention of coming away with a photo for the website, I just needed to get my hands on the camera.

    A day or two later I finally began grappling with some post processing decisions. Thanks to strong contrast I opted for a black and white product. Upon closer inspection I wanted to hone the viewer firmly on the guitar bridge, and so for the first time ever I exceeded a 2:1 crop ratio going all the way to 3:1. For those of you saying, uh, what? this explains why the image is so wide—instead looking more like a panoramic. Specifically, a 3:1 ratio means that for every three units on the x-axis (horizontal), there is one unit on the y-axis (vertical). For a baseline, most of my photographs are displayed at a 3:2 ratio. Jargon aside, I’m down with the end result as it brings the eyes right where I want them.

    Taking a step back to talk about something more important than my photos: I hope we can push past our differences to build bridges that connect together our universal common ground. We’re all traveling on this spaceship Earth together—passengers and custodians of the future.

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  • Before You Go

    Before You Go

    Golden hour photo of a Japanese Maple with autumn red leaves and smooth bokeh.
    Before You Go — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/800

    After last night’s negative tilt trough supreme wrought a 30 degree temperature drop; rain, snow, and sleet; and gusts of winds the Anemoi would be proud of in the span of roughly three hours these leaves are now gone. But 24 hours ago they were still here, so hey, maybe almost does count? Such is the onslaught of winter. One minute you’re hanging around LBIF dropping off photos on a 66 degree day and the next minute you’re running for the coat closet. Weather mood swings be damned, I’m happy I got to see my first flakes of what I hope will be a good old fashion snow-down for the winter of 2016–2017. Big snow, people—big snow. Measured in feet. (Meters would be even better.) I’m what they refer to in nerdy weather circles as a cold weather snow weenie. I’ll own it.

    As for this photo it’s a bookend of sorts. Made one week ago it’s something of a mirrored close-out to I Saw Red which was made back in April when this very maple was in spring bloom. This tree of mine makes for a great subject as 1) it looks cool, and 2) it sits right outside my front door standing sentry at the House of Greg. This keeps things easy. Just load up the 35mm lens, set the aperture wide open, and step outside in my soft pants to squeeze off a few frames. It also gives me a chance to work on my vertical orientation game which I often ignore. Many a skilled New Jersey area landscape photographers do a great job exploiting the fall and documenting its seasonal change. As you’ll note by my lack of autumn type leafy photographs through the years you can surmise I have been measured and left wanting in this arena.

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  • Backyard Bouquet

    Backyard Bouquet

    Square format low key cross processed photograph of a quick fire hydrangea crown.
    Backyard Bouquet — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/3200

    I am suffering from an itchy shutter finger. Photos have been few and far between lately, and once I saw a spot of afternoon light touch upon my backyard quick fire hydrangea I popped on the 35mm and squeezed off a few shots. I set my aperture to a wide open f/1.4 in hopes for soft focus and smooth, buttery bokeh. Going for a dreamy feel to wash over weary eyes I imported exposures into Lightroom where cross processing seemed the obvious choice—I wanted to bring out a red warmth through a diffuse hue. Intentional soft focus at the center fades away to increasing blur as the eye works out toward the edges in all directions. Up is down, left is right; a square format crop further facilitates this spatially agnostic end game.

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  • Circular Motion

    Circular Motion

    Low key square format black and white photo of a circular form sculpture.
    Circular Motion — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/3200

    Circular motion will be something of a recurring theme as we spiral toward the 2016 Labor Day Weekend along U.S. the eastern seaboard. Recently named Tropical Storm Hermine is spooling up in the Gulf of Mexico as she creeps slowly toward the Florida Panhandle. While it’s hardly locked down there’s growing consensus that after initial landfall the storm will look to spin its way up the east coast, potentially wreaking havoc on weekend plans, fresh hairstyles, and coastal communities up and down the seaboard. Prolonged rain, wind, and tidal surge will open the door to disruptive conditions for the foreseeable future. Such is the way of things, the way of the weather.

    Subject to storm surge and flooding is LBI’s own Long Beach Island Foundation—also known as the place I made this photograph. Scattered about the grounds are a litany of visually appealing and thought provoking sculptures. I was particularly drawn to a vertical array of circular forms orderly arranged on a ladder type apparatus. If my memory serves me the whole piece was in the ballpark of three feet wide and nine feet high. I tucked in close with my 35mm lens set wide open at f/1.4 to create a shallow depth of field image that accentuated the form and contrast of the circular disks. This one is all about form fleshed out through light and shadow play.

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  • In The Abstract

    In The Abstract

    Square format black and white photo of hydrangea leaves in low key abstract noir.
    In The Abstract — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/1600

    Real talk—

    This—black and white photography brought to life in shallow depth of field, presented in a brooding low key light on abstract terms—is my favorite type of photography. Yes, the sweeping landscapes are great, and I am far better technician than I am a creative right-braining on the more artistic side of the room; but there’s just something about the weirdness and soft forms, not to mention my lifelong love of black and white mediums, that draws me to this type of look. Now don’t get me wrong I wish I was better at it, and more purposeful in my execution of photographs like you see above. I have no process, I just wing it. There’s no real plan until I look at the viewfinder and have a very ground floor superficial thought of hey, this looks cool. This photo was no different. I was barreling up my hydrangea plant from ground level with my 35mm lens and simply liked what I saw. A happy accident you might say.

    Admittedly while I like this kind of shot more than my typical landscape I become increasingly insecure about posting shots of its ilk. Not so much here on this website, more so on my Facebook page which frankly reaches more eyes. The People like my landscape work, anything else is more or less a crap shoot that runs the gamut from yawn to completely ignored. The burden of expectations. I get it, of course, this style is far more niche and lacks the widespread appeal of a stunning marsh sunset. As a result I’ve been sitting on this shot for over a month now, but I can wait no more. Be bold. Be removed from the comfort zone. Be. If nothing else it’s good to weigh the merits of popularity versus personal fulfillment. I don’t think it’s a binary choice, instead it’s more about finding the right spot on the great sliding scale of life. (Let’s see how all of this shakes out since I’ll be following this shot with another square format black and white picture. Gasp!)

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  • Daisy Do

    Daisy Do

    Square format photograph of a sunlit daisy blossom backed by smooth bokeh and soft focus.
    Daisy Do — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/6400

    I’ve been having plenty of fun making photographs of my daisies this year. To close out the month of June I put down my macro lens and went with the 35mm aperture set wide open at f/1.4 to keep the depth of field as shallow as possible. By getting my lens as close as possible to the daisy in the foreground—the flower in focus—I was able to facilitate a scene where the area of acceptable focus was roughly one quarter of an inch think. At most. This helps deliver the buttery smooth bokeh that predominates the shot—both the out of focus elements as well as the array of blended circular features milling about the square format exposure.

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  • Hosta Bloom

    Hosta Bloom

    Macro photograph of a single hosta blossom and its petals fading into smooth bokeh.
    Hosta Bloom — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/160

    During my five minute photo jaunt at my parents’ house this past Fourth of July—just before I made this black and white hibiscus macro—I set my 100mm lens upon a plant I had known for years but to which I had not the pleasure of knowing its name. How rude? After quick a conversation with one in the know, my Mom, my ignorance was shed. Enter the hosta, legitimized by name. A wonderful broad leaf flowering plant wont to grow in close proximity to the ground while fanning out quite wide relative to its modest height. When the time comes it extends its blossom skyward from the center of its leafy body. This season my Mom’s hosta plants are blooming with gusto, and I’m most pleased with the delicate mood this macro photograph evokes. By design, selective focus keeps the sharpness limited the blossom’s apex, while its petals spread out and fade away into smooth, buttery bokeh.

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