Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: hdr

  • Ruinous Splendor

    Ruinous Splendor

    HDR photograph of a fiery sunset mirrored over reflective water
    Ruinous Splendor — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    I — II — II — X . . . if roman numerals are your thing.

    How about tonight’s sunset, New Jersey? Conditions from Great Bay Boulevard were just about as good as it gets—30+ minutes of standout light play working off intricate cloud structures overtop reflective bay water. If air guitar’s your thing, now would be the time.

    Normally in this situation I settle into my composition quite naturally. It’s a rare area of decisiveness for me, and I almost wholly rely on my first instinct and ride out that whim compositionally. Usually a quick walkthrough of my target location—stopping occasionally to just look down the viewfinder from at most a handful of positions and angles. Once that’s locked in I grab my tripod, dial in, and wait. Wait for the big time color that comes after the sun goes down. Free and easy, just how I like it.

    This afternoon on the other hand I was all out sorts, bouncing around from spot to spot struggling to find the ideal angle to shoot. At first I thought I had it  only to be moments later second guessing myself. This process repeated several times over. For the next twenty minutes or so. Down to the end, really. This photograph here came seconds after full sprint running, camera still fixed to tripod from the spot I thought I was going to ultimately choose—I will share its photograph here tomorrow.

    Suffice to say today I was fated to work for it. And that’s OK, because you know what? That sky tonight was incredible and it was good to feel the pressure of wanting to make the absolute most of a rare opportunity before it fades. Or maybe this was just an ill-timed dance with perfection questioning my best? Even so, I’m choosing to take this experience as an overwhelming positive. Start to finish tonight’s shoot was just awesome. Easily the best of the year. Would do it again.

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  • I can still see clear but I dare not feel

    I can still see clear but I dare not feel

    Landscape HDR photograph of pastel color cirrus clouds at sunset
    I can still see clear but I dare not feel — 14mm | f/8 | ISO | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    I’ve been sitting on this photograph for a few hours now reluctant to process. With my mind getting the better of me these past two days I was keen to not turn this picture and its subsequent post into one giant window to my struggle. So I’ll just leave it here with the statement that I wasn’t occupying the best headspace out on the Dock Road marsh in spite of this beautiful sunset Mother Nature brought before me. Most always picture making lifts my spirit. Today I was tied down in chains.

    Frankly all credit for this shot goes to the fellas at SunsetWx. They nailed today’s forecast. Under a dome of clear skies and seasonally warm temperatures all day I put zero thought toward any kind of photography today. But then during another tedious experience watching football I saw this tweet roll through my stream and if nothing else was at least offered an escape from witnessing another Giants’ loss. Once again their model was right on the money.

    Compositionally I played it safe tonight, unabashedly borrowing the setup from Look Down On It. Chalk it up to moodiness, lack of inspiration, or the simple fact that I think well of the meandering run of water that carries the eye in a slight switchback up the middle of the photograph and out into the sky.

    Here’s to tomorrow.

  • Sunset Weather

    Wide angle HDR landscape photograph of a pastel color sunset over a mirrored lake at Stafford Forge
    Sunset Weather — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Photographers: You Should Follow SunsetWx

    Information is good. Good information is better. Recently a significant offering was made to the information toolkit of sunset chasers plying their craft in the continental U.S.—or CONUS as you’ll see on their website. Little more than a week ago three meteorologists, inspired to pull together a ‘Sunset Model,’ unleashed maps output from a proprietary algorithm churning out regular reports to the general public based on data populated by the 4 km NAM weather model. In their own words factoring (emphasis my own):

    The model itself takes primary elements into account: Moisture, pressure, and cloud cover. Using our knowledge of the atmosphere, we started with a basic idea of what variables are important, and their relative importance to one another. . . We quickly realized that some things were more important than others, and decided on a weighting scheme. After many trial runs and verifications, we weighted moisture the most.

    Quick to buy in I didn’t even need to be shown proof of its accuracy, but after verifying sunsets the country over, including the two standout waves that hit the PHL-NYC corridor over the past two weeks, I was all in. So now when I see @sunset_wx tweets like the one below my sunset battle plan is armed with better, more scientific information than ever before; strengthening my decision making process on sunset spots to seek. Tonight, knowing the middle section of southern New Jersey was in the sweet spot, made choosing the western exposure of Stafford Forge the obvious choice.

    Sure enough the forecast verified with a solid to good sunset, let’s call it a B- and aligned with SunsetWx’s scale; and I, in turn, went home with some good exposures in the hopper to share with all of you. There’s no doubt I’ll be talking up the boon gifted to us by SunsetWx in the future, but for now you can find them on Facebook and Twitter. Slate’s already done a write-up. And as tweaks continue to hone their algorithm may we all someday benefit from a future ‘Sunrise Model’ soon?

  • Eye to the Sky

    Contrails line the sky over a reflective marsh tide pool at sunset
    Eye to the Sky — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    In light of this afternoon’s smoldering sunset (and here’s a really great shot of all its fiery glory) this post seems anticlimactic at best and inappropriately titled at worst—what kind of eye to the sky worth its salt would miss out on first rate glow and a rainbow to boot? But that’s just what happened today and that’s just how it goes sometimes. The sliver lining? For once I’m not too bent out of shape. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and call this progress or maturity; on the contrary it’s solace in knowing the fat, wet raindrops intermittently falling would not have kept my lens dry. So even if I was out there, shooting would have probably led to more frustration.

    Rewinding back to yesterday I was finally able to get back on the marsh, camera in hand. It had been over two weeks since I last partook of the photography, and as soon as I cleared the woods on the east end of Dock Road the marsh opened up and the whole world seemed a little brighter, problems a little lighter. Golden light sprawled out upon the marsh touching all corners in its reach. Even in the marsh’s browning death throes spirited light did all it could to trick the eyes that winter in fact was not coming. This sight coupled with a morning spent with a big group of spirited volunteers was almost enough to warm even the most frozen of souls. Yes, mine included.

    On site and out of the car my thoughts shifted to the contrails lining the sky. Immediately my cynical mind vacillated between gentle amusement and mild disappointment, as I knew this is the type of sky that makes the chemtrail crowd cry foul. Meanwhile all I’m trying to do is make a good shot. Find a good composition, make the frames, and call it a day. Here we can use the contrails to create strong leading lines in the photograph. Very simply the lines tell the eye where to look, operating as giant pointers for the viewer. And speaking of eyes, doesn’t that marsh tide pool look similar to our sight organ? It’s got a pupil and everything. Looking upward. The eye to the sky.

  • Almost Again

    Wide angle HDR photograph of sunset over Barnegat Bay taken from LBI's Surf City Sunset Park
    Almost Again — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    There’s been a theme this week: sunsets that just miss. The ingredients are there—abundant multi level cloud decks, comfortable temperatures, and enough breaks in the clouds to give hope the sun just might slip through. Saturday was a just miss and Sunday wrought more of the same. While I still managed to walk away with some keepers it’s been hard to not feel left wanting. Even last night—and while I think this is a fine photograph—it could have been more. Yes, the sun managed to poke out just long enough to color up the sky for about 3 minutes, but an ill-timed rain shower put the kibosh on that. For a minute there I thought big time color was going to wash across the sky. Color on par with this past Monday’s. Color that of course I missed.

    Last night I visited Long Beach Island’s Sunset Park in Surf City, NJ. It’s a solid spot but it’s just about getting out of season. With the sun setting further to the south it’s creating some tough angles that offer up some compositional challenges. For reference, in late June the sun will set to the right of where the main bulkhead is pointing, offerings a more over the bay kind of perspective. It may be time to retire this locale from the sunset rotation until late spring. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be back for some wintertime action if the bay decides to freeze over as it has done the past two winters. We shall see.

    And before someone calls the wambulance on my sunset whining, I’m thankful this one managed to be as good as it was. Unlike Saturday and Sunday which seemed like slam dunks, yesterday’s (Thursday) conditions showed the least promise in terms of total cloud cover. Ebbs and flows and on it goes.

  • Sweeping Skies

    Wide angle landscape HDR photograph of wind swept clouds over still water at Stafford Forge
    Sweeping Skies — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Here’s a holdover from Sunday. I’ve gotta be honest: I dismissed this out of hand, and didn’t even bother loading my brackets into Lightroom until today—Wednesday. Related: immediate uploading of the compact flash card into Lightroom as soon as I’m home is my usual standard operating procedure. The reason for my tardiness? I was annoyed the sun never got below such a promising cloud deck to light up the skies that I didn’t even bother to make something of my exposures. It was two days of back-to-back sunset busts, and I figured these shots were trash. I was wrong.

    Buried in here somewhere is a lesson in expectations. In hindsight I’m pleased with how this looks. Backlight by golden hour, the plentiful and sweeping clouds bring movement and good lines into the composition. And while I was hoping for great color to bounce off the mirrored reflection on the lake at Stafford Forge, days later and now I’m happy to make do with the photograph posted here before you. Even if I was standing on a peninsula of muck and disappointment. And speaking of great expectations—particularly ones that go unfulfilled—did any of you New Jersey people see what Monday had to offer? Talk about a top five sunset. Of course I was driving home from work and unable to capture what was certifiably an A+ sky. If I’m honest this light chaser is still cringing over that missed opportunity.

    So here’s to next time, lessons learned, and not letting expectations get in the way. Yeah right.

  • Please Step Forward

    Square format HDR landscape photograph of dock and bay at sunset
    Please Step Forward — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Happy Halloween, you guys.

    Whew—with the obligatory holiday recognition out of the way I can move on to tonight’s photograph. I’m not gonna lie, I hemmed and hawed about posting this one. I’m pretty meh on this shot, but I’m struggling to pinpoint why. Is it because the shot itself is just a going through the motions kind of place holder photograph? Or is it because tonight’s sky seduced me into thinking it was going to color up one hell of a sunset? It’s hard for me to say but either way, here’s a photo I wouldn’t exactly write home about—of course here I am blogging about it so does that even make sense?

    It’s funny how the great sunsets work. They ride a razor’s edge of boom or bust. There needs to be enough cloud action present to render a truly standout sky, but get a few too many clouds extending beyond the westward horizon and it’s cloud out central. That was tonight’s Halloween story: a sky full of grey and pastels nowhere to be found. But even with the miss, this sort of show up and hold your breath approach adds to the excitement and reward of landscape photography. Not too unlike fishing.

    Onward to next time.

  • Subtlety in Familiarity

    Wide angle HDR landscape photograph of ominous clouds backlit by a pastel sunset at Antoinetta's Restaurant
    Subtlety in Familiarity — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Fierce sky tonight, folks. Ominous. Brooding. Ever-changing. A fitting vibe on this the third anniversary of Superstorm Sandy. Context appropriate I made for an old standby location: Antoinetta’s Restaurant, down at the far east end of Cedar Run Dock Road in West Creek, NJ—an area that was beat up pretty bad from the storm. Now closed for the season, at least I think, this pointe will likely feature more regularly in my winter shooting rotation. So huzzah for that. For whatever reason I’ve had some great luck capturing dramatic skies from this spot. Perhaps none more dramatic than this. Or this.

    Not content to simply recreate an oft used composition from this location, I used what nature gave me. In this case? Puddles and some undulating sand—it should be noted I’m obsessed with this kind of sand pattern. It’s a personal Shangri-La I’m always keeping a keen eye for. But we all know sand is fleeting so it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. Either way this combination made for an interesting and complex foreground and thus I set myself and my trip up further back than usual. The key takeaway is this: even though we as shooters return to the same location over and over again doesn’t mean our shots ever have to be the same. Between the sky, natural processes such as erosion, the change of seasons, and even a little rain and/or tidal flooding can make all the difference in rendering subtle changes to seemingly familiar surroundings. No two photographs are ever the same no matter where you stand.

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  • This Will Do

    HDR photograph of a smoldering sunset over Stafford Forge
    This Will Do — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    I’m not in love with this shot. Mother Nature did all the heavy lifting today, rendering a slow burning sunset over Stafford Forge. I just kind of showed up and went along for the ride. My “problems” began on arrival. My plan was to revisit the spot Joe and Jackie brought me where I dabbled with a little astrophotography a couple weeks back. Unfortunately when I arrived at the trail there were cars—and where there are cars there are people—and where there are people there is a place Greg will not go.

    Short on time with the sun setting fast, I returned to the front lake. Completely uninspired with my first setup and unsure as to how best to frame my shot, I searched my immediate surroundings looking for anything and everything that could give me a serviceable foreground. About 20 feet away to my left I found the branch you see above and rolled with it. To further my criticism in this airing of grievances the photograph is too right heavy; which is to say there’s just not enough balance from right to left—all the action (re: weight) is happening on that side. Compounding this is the section of longer grass filling the right corner, just behind the branch. Not my best work, but it’ll have to do. On this night Mother Nature gets a B+ and Greg Molyneux is slapped with a C (probably gonna get grounded).

    Website update: I’ve been asked to participate little show coming up at the Little Egg Harbor Library on Thursday, November 12, and was tasked with putting together an artist statement and bio. Considering I went through the trouble I figured why not create a real deal about page and include it? Well, here you go.