Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: controlled burn

  • Frame It

    Frame It

    NJ Pinelands photo of a controlled burn smoke plume training across the horizon at sunset.
    Frame It — 35mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/125

    It’s a quarter to eight on March 2, 2017, and I am whiling away the hours until Nintendo unleashes its latest bundle of joy upon the world. As midnight strikes across timezones the world over the Nintendo Switch, and, more importantly, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will begin its quest into consumer homes and into the hands of joyous gamers. Hyrule needs saving, yo—again. My pre-orders are set to arrive sometime tomorrow and I—AM—PUMPED. I’m a lifelong Nintendo fan(boy) and Zelda is franchise number one in my little corner of the universe. I haven’t been this excited about a Zelda release since sixteen year-old me got his covetous mitts on Ocarina of Time’s golden cartridge. Those were simpler times. Before the dark times. Before the Empire—whoa, wrong beloved franchise. To further muddy the waters of fantasy confusion I am listening to the complete Lord of the Rings soundtrack as we type. Hyrules, long ago distant galaxies mentioned only in blue font trailing off to an ellipsis with one period too many, and middle earths are colliding. And what the hell, I’m wrapping up A Dance with Dragons now, too.

    Anyway, throwback Thursday-ing it to a couple weeks ago when controlled burns were popping up all over Ocean County, I had another photograph that I wanted to share. A different kind of photograph featuring a different kind of composition from my usual. Many photographers readily avail themselves of trees to quite literally frame their composition, yet it hasn’t been a technique I’ve tried. Sure, I can remember being a kiddo doing pencil drawings and I would most always have half a tree posted up on either the far left or right edge of the paper. For whatever reason this hasn’t translated into my photography. I made this shot handheld as I was bouncing around Stafford Forge trying to settle upon a final, tripod worthy composition. Yet I find a lot to like in this image. The color and oh that orange glow, the grasses marking the foreground, the blown out sunset to the left, and yes, even the tree framing things up along the right and top of the photograph. But enough about me, what do you think? Oh, and seriously, check out these Zelda reviews.

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  • Controlled Burn

    Controlled Burn

    NJ Pinelands controlled burn photo of a smoke plume at sunset.
    Controlled Burn — 35mm | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Controlled burning—or prescribed burning, whichever your flavor—has marked the skies of southern Ocean County with plumes of smoke the past few days. Capitalizing on warmth and wind local officials have taken to their annual task of culling New Jersey’s Pinelands of restrictive low-level growth. Fire is the lifeblood of a healthy forest ecosystem, and controlled burning is a responsible method of human stewardship that keeps our beloved pine forest habitat active and healthy. Not only does it aid in the replenishment and overall health of the pines, it also helps mitigate the risk and potential impact of a large out of control fire. It has an added photographic benefit by way of subject matter and color.

    Without wanting to get too close to the action, and without wanting to put myself in the way of hard working fire professionals, I made for Stafford Forge a little before sunset to capture the action from a reasonable distance. It was worth the effort. The sky and smoke was cast in a reddish-pink glow fused with a healthy dose of yellow. Scanning for composition I found a small tree to anchor my image. The real attention, however, goes to the prominent smoke plume pushing its smoke southeastward toward the sea.

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