Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: cedar run dock road

Cedar Run Dock Road photography made by Greg Molyneux

Safe Haven
Safe Haven — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 0.3 sec
Last night proved a stunning evening on the Cedar Run Dock Road salt marsh. Absolute idyllic mid-summer magic on the wetlands. Serene and sublime, a pristine atmosphere intent on peeling back layers of stress and worry. You would be hard pressed to put a price tag on this kind of therapy. Always look to nature when in times of great healing. She stands ever ready to render big magic into our lives. We must but take a moment to look and see.
I am blessed to have Dock Road. Long has it reigned as a safe haven. My go-to destination whenever I my heart, mind, and soul needs a respite. I have faithfully kept a COVID-19 journal daily since my first entry on 19 March 2020, which happened to be Day 4 of isolation. Last night marked Day 121 where I shared the following:
Tuesday, 14 July 2020
Day 121 — The Salt Marsh
Location: [redacted address] Manahawkin, NJ
Time: 9:48 p.m.
Visiting the Cedar Run Dock Road salt marsh has been an essential go-to for the entirety of my adult life. Whether for storm chasing, leisure cruising with friends, or a solemn place to cleanse the mind palate. The later has been especially true since I began my landscape photography journey back in 2012. This is my spot to take a mental reset and make beautiful photographs. It truly is a place of wonder mere miles from my home. Trust me, the salt marsh wetlands will lift any mood—especially so in summer.
Tonight proved stunning on the marsh. Absolute mid-summer perfection. Temperatures were mild, humidity at bay, with a slack breeze barely palpable. Pastel sunset colors danced about the lower third of the sky, and the waters of Cedar Run laid flat, creating a pristine mirrored reflection. In ambient aural beauty birds and bugs sounded in the distance, completing the tableau. This is how I will always remember the mid-Atlantic summers on the salt marsh of coastal New Jersey. Such an underrated—and under appreciated—ecosystem.
Get out there. Find yourself a safe haven. Pull your shot and streak the sky!
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July 15, 2020
Of Land
Of Land — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
I stand upon thee shaken and uprooted. Winds of change erode the tenets of false truths exposing past misdeeds naked and afraid. Rampant theft and wanton expansion laid bare. Am I up for it? Do I possess real strength? Am I worthy of the challenge? A force for good? Will I cling to comfort, run for cover, and drape myself in the familiar linens of false prophets? Or will I see Others, hear their pain and adapt? Land is stable, of this we know. Yet slowly, near imperceptibly it shifts and moves without stopping, transforming the long view into something new. Do I have the courage to grow? Of Land, surely He would know.
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July 4, 2020
I Remember
I Remember — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
I remember sunset. I hold her grace. I see her green her beloved salt marsh, festooning her summered wetlands with pastel gossamer. Knowing, she looks up at herself and I see. Centered in all this color I remember. I remember a heart that beats to new rhythms still comforted in the familiar embrace of the melody. I remember sunset. I remember why I am here.
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July 3, 2020
This Is Not Important
This Is Not Important — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
The moment is important. The movement is important. Tectonic forces shift as fault lines give way to the titanic pressure born of our nation’s original sin. Righteous activists are drawing back the iron curtain concealing a four century legacy of enslavement, oppression, colonization, segregation, and forced separation. A reckoning is upon as, and long may it reign until we address and redress the trauma, theft, and death wrought by racism is all its insidious forms.
Ignoring the moment is not ok. Denying the moment is not ok. Choosing to undermine the movement is active participation in amoral treachery and doles out tangible harm against our BIPOC brothers and sisters. This is the time to listen, to learn, to understand, and to empathize with our fellow citizens long denied access to the many freedoms we take for granted. This is not the time to insist in our righteousness and double-down on our own spoon fed, sugar-coated worldview with history written by the winners. I am a privileged cis-gendered heteronormative white man born in the United States in the late 20th century. I hit the birth lottery. Sure I have worked hard in life and struggled at times, but I’ve earned so many undeserved free passes because I look the part and fit a certain role. This is not ok, and to deny it is heretical.
So what am I going to do? I am going to sit. I am going to listen. I am going to learn. I am going to accept the painful stories our Black brothers and sisters are sharing across the internet. The issue of racism and the violence it engenders is being met head on, and I will not stand in the way of this challenge. In the United States we love to highlight all our past glory. I get it, I, too, am passionate about our founding mythology. It is long past overdue we spend equal time peeling back a hidden shame so unconscionable we built power structures to bury it. We ask of people to be introspective, to probe and understand our failings so we can address them, correct them, and grow. Why do we not apply this same logic to our national story? Denying America’s failings makes zero sense, and it only leaves us weaker and morally bereft. Worse yet, it leaves our most vulnerable and oppressed exposed and endangered—and in too many cases dead at the hands of those whom pledged to protect.
We are only as free as the most oppressed and disenfranchised among us. Freedom is a cudgel of oppression up until the moment it fully liberates and embraces us all. We must challenge ourselves every moment of every day to live up to our highest ideals. The self-evident truth that every person is created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Can we finally make this a reality for all Americans? And in the event I was not clear: Black Lives Matter. Full stop. End of discussion.
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June 28, 2020
Blue Notes
Blue Notes — 14mm | f/22 | ISO 100 | EXP 2.0 sec
It is in evening blue light when the day’s last comings glow, ebbing slow each night as the final light of day goes. It is a soft kiss, a gentle embrace as day shares love with her partner night. For a few moments the two poles dance together, igniting passion in the pastel embers of yearning. It is devotion writ large, a passion play painting tenderness on nature’s most dramatic stage. Ensconced our lovers intwine but twice each day, and they are here to teach us whenever we choose to learn.
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May 25, 2020
Out of Exile
Out of Exile — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
A weary traveller, chastened and humbled returning from isolation made his way out of exile to this sacred place of restoration and life. To the marsh he’d seen so many times before. The same marsh he’s photographed for more than eight years with dutiful care. To this holy marsh where centeredness and peace comes easy. It is at this place he bears witness to its cyclical grace of death and rebirth marked by its annual rise and fall. The comings and goings of its grasses, the arrival and departure of migratory sea birds, the summer flourish of bugs to feed the ecosystem, and all manner of life in between. It is the marsh of his youth that will god willing serve as the marsh of his golden years. It is the marsh to which he will always return when called out of exile.
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May 3, 2020
Last Light of Eve
Last Light of Eve — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Made back on Christmas Eve, I have been sitting on this photograph for a week now. No real reason other than way too much life happening right now, and far too little of it the good kind. Nevertheless the capstone holiday for many children the world over met well with a fine burn over southern Ocean County. Doubtless the North Pole swarmed and pulsed with its final pre-flight check as the sun kissed its goodbyes.
Tonight begins another round of goodbyes. Goodbye to both a year and a decade. It is time for the ’20s whether ready or not. No choice but to embrace what is and what is about to be. My wish for the new year is more love, hope, patience, and tolerance for us all. Less reacting and more understanding. Less judgement and more forgiveness. Less emptiness and more fulfillment. Appreciate all you have—for having that which matters most is always a temporary condition. So love full and love complete, and know yours is a life well lived.
Thanks again, everyone. Happy New Year to you and yours. I wish continued blessings to those whose cups are full, yet I will not miss the chance to recognize, love, and honor those whom struggle with loss and loneliness during this time. I see you.
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December 31, 2019
Our Light Fades
Our Light Fades — 35mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/100
It’s been a week. Life is a series of give and take, and right now it is hellbent on dealing blows and stripping away happiness. It is a dark time. In light of my struggles I wish you well in your escape from the shadows.
Light kneeling before dark, while cold and uncertain, is the appropriate segue today, December, 21, 2019. Yes, it is to the winter solstice I refer. Documented above, photographed in 35mm, we meet with its final light of day. Captured at 4:35 p.m., at the Cedar Run Dock Road boat ramp staring west across Little Egg Harbor, the sun embarks on its longest journey through darkness. Long will it labor until its shadowed path brings us first light. A rebirth to our celestial cycle will illuminate dreams cast upon a distant horizon.
This photograph was simple in its execution. Shot handheld at a focal length of 35mm. This casual approach fit well with the stillness of the bay water. Calm and sublime. It was only my second frame of my total shoot—I made many more exposures at 14mm—yet its minimalism and stillness speaks to me. Wanting to key in on forms and color, I substantially reduced clarity and texture in post processing. This introduces softness and comfort to the scene. I suspect this is my own feelings crying out for softness and comfort. As it is life informs art as art informs life.
Enjoy the solstice, and happy holidays everyone.
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December 21, 2019
Wait for It
Wait for It — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Yesterday afternoon was a treat. A late stage pulsing sunset served a tonic for the soul. An overcast deck held sway even as the sun dropped below the horizon leaving grays and blues dominating. Yet I waited. There was enough breaks to the cloud and enough experience chasing sunsets to know I ought lend time to the sky. Five minutes passed and sure enough a touch of pink begin building to my south-southwest. Over the next five minutes a panoply of pastel color flourished. The game was afoot.
Unfortunately, a fellow sunset reveler about a quarter mile away threw in the towel too early. They packed up early and missed the show, reminding me too often people bail on the sunset too soon. So one quick tip I’m more than happy to share: Wait at least 10 minutes after the sunsets before punching out. (20 minutes if you have time to spare.) This simple change will take your sunset photo making to the next level. Far more often the best color comes 5-10 minutes after sundown. Remember this and please apply accordingly. Now get out there and wait for it.
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December 9, 2019