Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: cross processing

Color, Please
Color, Please — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/100
I sourced this one to the people by way of Instagram story poll. A choice between black and white and color. For insight into my own proclivity, I immediately began hammering away a post built around the black and white theme. I did this despite suspecting color would would carry the day. As a humble yet unelected representative of the people I must render unto them that which their votes beseech. So hyacinth in color it is.
Followers of my work may notice my macro photography always features targeted areas of focus. What is a targeted area of focus? Areas of the photo that have sharper focus juxtaposed to the soft blurry areas—referred to as bokeh. By shooting close in on your subject at a large aperture your lens produces a shallow depth of field. Thanks, physics! What is an aperture? Well that’s the diameter of the lens diaphragm that allows light to pass through into your camera and onto your sensor or film. Larger apertures have a bigger opening allowing more light to pass through. The result: a faster speed, shallower depth of field, and softer focus. Great for producing dreamy flower photos. Smaller apertures feature the opposite: slower speed, deeper depth of field, and sharper images. Ideal for producing detailed landscapes with sharpness throughout the image.
Either your camera body or the lens itself features f/stop numbers. The lower the f/stop, f/2 for example, the larger aperture. Whereas f/22 is a very small aperture, something like a pinhole. Understanding this scale and building your feel for aperture and f/stops is essential to effective execution of your creativity. Now get out there and start experimenting with different f/stops. Even the latest smartphones allow you to do this. So next time you go for that banging selfie, lower the f/stop and achieve some of the algorithmically staged blur!
I don’t write much about that how-to of photography, but if you found this helpful let me know and I can work more tutorial type posts into the rotation.
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April 16, 2020
Spring Hyacinth
Spring Hyacinth — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/125
The hyacinth. Flower of great name and striking beauty. A moniker worthy of bronze age stories first told millennia ago in far off lands. This spring flower is always well met.
Going back to childhood and my earliest memories the hyacinth stands out. Second only to the ubiquitous rose—a flower we seem to learn in utero—the hyacinth came to my consciousness early. Easter flowers is how my grandparents described them. Some of our first perennial flowers to blossom. Harbingers of springtime and warmer days, I thought. Beyond the history it was their color and form which always resonated deepest, well tuned with my small person soul. It’s a flower of imagination, fantasy, and hope. The kind of flower a concept artist would create when designing an idyllic alien world. I love them.
Of course when my one hyacinth bloomed up proper this year I found justification in my excitement. This was my first opportunity to photograph this flower since 2014. Quite a long time. And so it was, today was the day I made some time for my macro lens, my hyacinth, and me to capture its beauty.
Turns out my little opening is not at all far from the truth. A quick bit of research at the Online Etymology Dictionary revealed the following:
Used in ancient Greece of a blue gem, perhaps sapphire, and of a purple or deep red flower, but exactly which one is unknown (gladiolus, iris, and larkspur have been suggested). It is fabled to have sprung from the blood of Hyakinthos, Laconian youth beloved by Apollo and accidentally slain by him. The flower is said to have the letters “AI” or “AIAI” (Greek cry of grief) on its petals. The modern use in reference to a particular flowering plant genus is from 1570s. Related: Hyacinthine.
Awesome. Love me some etymology, you guys. History and words. The best.
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April 14, 2020
Whispers in the Dark
Whispers in the Dark — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/50
2020. LOL, what?!?
Yeah so this post could go a lot of ways. Each a varying degree of sideways. First off, this is my first photo and blog post of 2020. What? To be precise, first photograph made with my Canon rig, uploaded onto my Mac, and published anywhere on the internet since ::checks notes:: December—of last year. It’s April and this is finally a thing. Yeah, I was slumping something fierce.
Oh yeah, there’s a pandemic on and we’re sheltering in place. I’m into my fourth consecutive week cloistered at home—sans people. An insidious infectious disease made itself malignant and turned fast moving infecting all populations. In 2020. What?
Families, friends, and people riding solo are pulling together and reprioritizing. It took a unique crisis yet we have a singular opportunity to reassess life, purpose, consumption, government, health and health care,—a comprehensive reimagining of society. It is time to challenge conventional wisdom. What is the future we want?
The exceptional thing about living through history is having, if only in a small way, the rare chance to shape it. By staying home, observing social distancing protocols, calling a friend, keeping a journal, checking on a neighbor, telling someone you love them, taking a walk, or making a photograph. Small acts when executed across communities and continents affect real change in response to an entirely new environment. Rough times may indeed be ahead, but we can pull together if we choose it. What will history say about us other than what?
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April 7, 2020
Relic
Relic — 14mm | f/2.8 | ISO 800 | EXP 1/40
Great Bay Boulevard has sat out of the rotation for far too long. This photograph, made in late September, was my first shot made at Seven Bridges Road (GBB’s other name) since February. Great Bay Boulevard is like Cedar Run Dock Road with a multiplier. It is southern New Jersey marsh life writ large. The marsh extends for miles in all directions, at times leaving the observer with a solemn feeling of stark isolation. The road doglegs to the southwest running out the miles over several small wooden bridges. Alternating one way traffic is the order of the day in spots, minded by lonesome traffic light sentinels, adding to the area’s sense of place. It is splendid.
Specific to the photograph above I went about my business a bit different than usual. Using my 14mm wide angle lens I executed a shallow depth of field exposure, sitting wide open at f/2.8. This is a tactic I typically reserve for my 35mm and 100mm lenses. With wide angle work I lock into hyperfocal distance to capture sharpness throughout the entire depth of the image. This is born out in the hundreds of the wide angle sunset photographs I have published.
The remnant piece of wood, worn and eroded, marking the foreground, caught my eye. Its coloration, weathering, and grain draws the eye, and with some decent sunset light I wanted to make it the focus of the photograph. So with an open aperture I got down low, keeping the camera no higher than three inches of the ground, and worked some frames. Originally I deployed a western exposure, straight out into the sunset. Then I spied the telephone pole off to the south set over my left shoulder. I split the difference with a south-western exposure brining the pole into the frame. The shallow depth of field and off focus casting the pole in diffuse symbolism.
Photographs capture scenes to convey narrative in a visual medium. The story can be simple and straightforward, or it can mask in layers to tell multifaceted stories. It allows the viewer to imprint their own stories shaded by beliefs and experiences to connect in a personal way. This is the beauty of photographic storytelling.
Here the telephone pole will appear to some as a cross looking down upon a weathered wooden relic. An aged grained wood with a prominent knotted eye looking deep into the viewer under the auspices of Golgotha. There will be an obvious religious connection for many while others will absorb this motif in a different way. Both are correct and neither wrong. Here is the magic of imagery.
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October 19, 2019
Until Next Season
Until Next Season — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/800
It is now September. This more or less puts a wrap on flower season for 2019. I have a few photographs from summer to publish here yet, but making new flower photos is all but done. Looking back on this summer’s flower shooting, I’m pleased with where I’m at. I spent more time with my 100mm macro lens than I have in years, and made at least one photograph certain to make the 2019 best of list. I am hereby allowing myself a pat on the back.
Random musings:
- The New York Giants defense is terrible; after one game in Dallas it seems we’re onto next season
- The New York Yankees are good; a deep run of October baseball will be my football
- I am currently listening to Mornings on Horseback on Audible; excited to learn more about Theodore Roosevelt
- Did a run of Star Wars audiobooks before that (with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy mixed in)—Thrawn: Treason, Master & Apprentice, and Dooku: Jedi Lost; all were excellent. With music, sound effects, strong production values, and expert narration, Star Wars novels lend themselves well to an audio format
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was a good video game
- Hollow Knight is an exceptional video game—easily in my top 5 favorites of the past decade
- The Mandalorian is going to be great; all in on space western sci-fi
- Despite my disappoint with The Last Jedi, I am pumped for The Rise of Skywalker
- Starting my fourth week of HelloFresh™, impressed and satisfied so far
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September 9, 2019
The Collector
The Collector — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/125
Honey bees! Working, buzzing, collecting. Pollen clinging and clumping in large, impressive blobs stuck about their legs. Dutiful, the bees worked over one flower head after another, nonstop in their quest for pollen. They did not seem to mind my presence much, either. Showing no ill will toward my camera intrusion. Though getting tack sharp focus was not the easiest considering they never slow nor settle.
But seriously, I cannot believe I have honey bees. There must have been dozens milling about the flowers strewn about my property. I never remember seeing this many honey bees in an entire season, let alone on a single day, and I have been photographic my yard extensively since 2012. My little black and yellow buds were doing their best work on my other little black and yellow buds, my Black-eyed Susan blossoms. It was awesome to watch.
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July 15, 2019
Lilac Boon
Lilac Boon — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/1000
Breathe. Slow yourself. Inhale. Find yourself. Take in the soul stirring scent of lilac. Exhale. Calm yourself. Let the burdens of the day fall from your lips. The lilac boon is a perfumed pathway to rest and rejuvenation. It’s an essence of spring and its annual promise of renewal. The sweet bouquet infuses our air and our soul with the essence of all this world can be. Let it be a balm to your weariness and a fragrance forging our fortitude. So let the lilac’s joy dance upon the air, sweeten our souls, and open our hearts. And as ever, breathe.
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May 15, 2019
Cast Adrift
Cast Adrift — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 400 | EXP 1/640
I’m testing out a different style of entry here. Instead of writing to some kind of set theme, I will roll with random thoughts. Plenty of notable happenings, with some long anticipated closures are worth mentioning here.
Before all that, tonight’s post—err, this morning’s as it’s already after midnight—would not have happened without some much needed prodding. Within a 20 minute span I bumped into two long time colleagues, and all around wonderful humans, who both noted my dip in photo output. It was not an admonishment so much as a hey, we miss seeing your work. Both flattered and on the spot in the best kind of way, it stuck a chord of inspiration. Knowing I had a batch of flower photos sitting on my memory card, I committed to getting a photograph posted tonight. And while it is tomorrow, I still count this as meeting my deliverable as I have not yet gone to bed.
While I knew I had some solid photos thanks to a promising wisteria blossom, I had not known I had something so to my liking. I was immediately struck by the moody, painted quality to the macro photograph. This low key, soft focus treatise on cross processing transports us into a fantasy struggle set to enchantment fighting back the melancholy invading the marches. I am lost in this photograph, and I selfishly want to see it large and on canvas.
Notable closure happening number one: The some eleven-odd year Marvel Universe journey we’ve been on culminated with Avengers: Endgame. I would be exaggerating if I claimed myself a canon expert of all things MCU. But as a casual to enthused fan it was a splendid end to some 22 films. While it ranks right behind Infinity War in my book, the movie still rocked it. What gives its predecessor the nod for me was greater depth to Thanos, and that the stakes always felt higher in Infinity War. Nevertheless, Endgame was a heck of a victory lap for a team deserved of the praise.
Notable closure happening number two: River Ave. Blues calls it quits! I’m a big-time Yankees fan all about the #YankeesOnly lifestyle. At the center of that world, orbiting only the Yankees themselves, is River Ave. Blues. The most prodigious and prolific sports blog on the internet. Run by fans but at an absolute professional level, the quantity and quality of output since I became a reader back in 2008 (maybe 2007?) is incomprehensible. That impassioned fans with inspiration and dedication could flesh out the best analysis imaginable, on a daily basis, for a marquee global franchise is an exemplar to us all. Mike and Co. deserve (an understatement) this rest, though the rest of us fans will be poorer for it. What an incredible 12 years. Fortunately Mike has set up at Patreon account at RAB Thoughts to give us a little taste of what we will miss.
Notable closure happening number three: Game of Thrones is about to end. 2010 where have you gone? That’s right, within weeks of each other the MCU and Thrones cease to be. Two of the biggest and most followed arcs in entertainment wrap it up together. Couple this with the fact that the Skywalker Star Wars arc ends this December and 2019 is hosting a year of film making closures unlike any other. It is the definition of bittersweet that we have these long, involved, and emotional stories sing their song in full measure, though never again will hear their music the same way again.
I rather enjoyed this open format, free form posting. I will be doing it again.
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May 8, 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