Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: hdr

  • Those Summer Nights

    Vibrant color wide angle HDR sunset photograph
    Those Summer Nights — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Not a bad way to wrap a weekend, eh? Summer’s in full swing here in southern Ocean County—revelers abound, commerce is pumping, and the traffic? Well it’s been something . . . Good for business and that’s what counts!

    For those keeping score at home my sunset light chasing has been seriously lacking. Sure, Summer’s typically a down season for my wide angle work, giving way to more time spent with my macro lens and some good old fashion handheld shooting. But that doesn’t mean I’m still not keen on hunting one down when conditions are right. Last night offered the perfect combination of temperature, sea breeze, and cloud deck. All the ingredients for a good time on the salt marsh. With my mind in the tank for the better part of the week the fresh air was just what the doctor ordered, and fortunately my trusted camera was happy to oblige. Hands down my best sunset endeavor since I hunted down this all-timer back in late May. Keep the A+ clouds and color coming, please.

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  • Easy Going

    HDR photograph of pastel sky colors at blue hour overlooking a marsh
    Easy Going — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    This photograph is from this past Saturday night—13 June—and kicked off what turned into a great 24 hours of shooting. A span that even included a sunrise! This photograph is also a reminder that your shooting plans—and, uh, success, failure, etc.—can change on a dime. I was in total laid back cruise mode on Saturday with no plans to shoot whatsoever. The thought never even crossed my mind. For me it’s a none too common experience to forgo even the slightest consideration for shooting in my agenda; it’s just that sometimes in summer, with sunset happening so late, it’s best to just let it go.

    This is all just a long way of saying that with one quick glance out the window revealing a variably cloudy sky full of potential, even the most ardent of planners can yield to spontaneity. One quick dash about the house to gather my things and I was off to Dock Road. I arrived at my usual spot and immediately noted a characteristic unique to this sky. With a well positioned low-level cloud deck about the westward horizon, the light was being direct such that all the coloration happened in the north-northwest direction. To explain this better, I used nearly the same position here—in a photograph taken just after sunset—that I used to photograph a sunrise a mere 9 hours later. Pretty neat.

  • In Morning

    HDR photograph of sunrise over the green marsh of Cedar Run Dock Road.
    In Morning — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Wake up for sunrise, they said. It’ll be worth it, they said. Who cares if you’re tired? They said. Well score one for the they said internet meme crowd.

    I’ve been on a photo making tear these past 24 hours; racking up just over 300 exposures between my iPhone and DSLR. I’ve been shutter pressing, Instagram square formatting, Snapchat story making, Periscope broadcasting content creating machine—a legend in my own mind—or something like that.

    Mother Nature brought the goods—a unique northwest facing blue hour last night that I’ll be sure to post in all the usual places over the next few days, as well as some sights from the Seaside Heights boardwalk; finally ending with the sunrise photograph that you see above, taken just after 5:30 this morning. Summer’s in full swing, New Jersey, and I could not be happier.

    As far as this shot goes, it just so happened that after returning from Seaside and waking in a friend’s basement at 4:30 a.m. that the perfect confluence of timing brought me to Dock Road and to this sunrise. I’m not a morning person. This is well documented. But as I was driving home during the wee hours of the morning—just as first light was marking the sky in an ominous kind of deep purple—I knew the camera work would be worth my time. Besides, I could always nap it out after. And that’s exactly what I did.

    Dock Road was perfect this morning. I spent a good hour roadside taking in the sights, the sounds, and the bugs. But even those blasted no-see-ums couldn’t cramp my style. It was Greg Molyneux’s very own version of Sunrise Earth out there. And while I can’t say when my next sunrise will be, I’m sure glad serendipity worked out in my favor this time around.

    Now if you’ll excuse I’m off to spend the rest of the afternoon at the beach.

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  • Bayside Living

    High drama at sunset befalls a lone house sitting along the bayfront of Little Egg Harbor in this HDR sunset photograph
    Bayside Living — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Made just last night, I can assure you the light chasing on Long Beach Island’s southern tip was spectacular. A+ conditions, really. With pockets of haze and roiling cumulus clouds rolling west to east the setup was spectacular; late day light was creating all kinds of unique effects rendering ideal conditions for what’s easily the best photograph I’ve made in months—at least as far as I’m concerned.

    After bouncing around from spot to spot, we ultimately settled on this Holgate bayside locale to make photographs. This little hideaway Holgate park on the eastern shore of Little Egg Harbor, coupled with the hallmark cedar siding and the sharp lines on the edifice of this bayfront property seen above, provided a spot on composition as far as I’m concerned. The intense light bouncing off the clouds created an intense gradient of yellow to blue as you let your eyes move from left to right across the photograph. I think it might be a while before I make another shot that trumps last night’s drama.

    Last night was easily the most fun I’ve had behind the camera in months.

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  • Southside on the Bayside

    HDR sunset photograph of clouds, water, boats, docks and light made from Beach Haven, LBI. overlooking Little Egg Harbor
    Southside on the Bayside — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    I’ve got 18.6 miles of opportunity just to my east. It’s time I embrace it. Long Beach Island is a wonderful place—and now that I’ve found purpose by way of camera—I want to connect with my geographic neighbor better. See it in a better light if you’ll excuse me the super cheesy phrase. Particularly I want to scout LBI’s southern side. A place I’ve spent plenty of formative time growing up failing to appreciate what was staring my square in the face. There’s got to be plenty of great places to make photographs over there, and I want to find them.

    As for this here photograph? It was made last night on the west end of Engleside Avenue in Beach Haven. Just outside the newly opened Tucker’s (it’s good to see that back). It’s a simple parking lot overlooking some docks and Little Egg Harbor. This time of year, late Spring, offers a straight away view of the sunset. Allowing you to really line it up if that’s your thing.

    Conditions were pretty great last night, cloud wise. A small cell with heavy downpours managed to form just to my south. For a moment there seemed a real chance lightning might happen. While that never materialized, it was a quality shoot all-in-all. Minus the bugs. To hell with them.

  • Heightwise

    Portrait orientation HDR photograph of NJ Pinelands pygmy pine trees at blue hour
    Heightwise — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    With evening onshore flow winning the atmospheric battle for the second day in a row heading west was the lone option for sunset photos. To the Top of the World we go.

    Upon reaching said destination I began mentally framing my shot. Take a few 360° head scans across the pygmy pines. Look up. Kneel down. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Let’s hear it for #process. From this vantage point there are two pitch pines that always command my attention. Each standing twice the height of the almost comically small pitch pines running out the entire landscape in all directions. It’s a neat place. A place Gulliver might recognize.

    As far as the photo making goes—I want to work more on portrait (vertical) orientation photographs. I have always found them difficult to make, fortunately there are others who produce the most wonderful images from this perspective. While I’ve had a few successes it’s a blindspot in my wide angle landscape game I hope to address with time and practice. Failure and success.

  • Sky Lights

    Pastel skies over a calm lake reflection in this HDR photograph taken at Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area
    Sky Lights — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Lots of credit to Jon Carr. He nailed it when he picked Stafford Forge for tonight’s location for optimal sunset shooting.

    With cirrus clouds filling the air, tonight had the earmarkings of a good one. The light was energized, the temperature was crisp, and the natives (me) were restless. A veritable perfect storm for picture making. The only threat was a low level marine cloud layer, but its threatening presence along the westward horizon proved little more than a bluff as it did not inhibit the sky palette from coloring in any way whatsoever. Once the sky was coloring up at our backs, on the east side, the worries of another cloud-out drifted away. Hope sprung eternal.

    What happened over the next 15 minutes was a combination of photo making enjoyment and good old fashion natural wonderment. It’s such a thrill to watch the entire dome of the sky paint itself as a clock would—the colors slowly marching from east to west over the great arc in the sky. It was when the color was at our zenith that I quickly abandoned the westward shot I had all framed up with my tripod in order to make the photo you see above. Sometimes you’ve got to be ready to call the audible when Mother Nature surprises you with better light elsewhere.

    Tonight was a lot of fun. This photograph is just icing on the cake.

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  • Cross Process the Forge

    Square format HDR photograph cross processed for a moody look of Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area.
    Cross Process the Forge — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    I hate to say but picture making just hasn’t been much fun lately; and while it’s hard to puzzle out whether it’s for lack of inspiration, poor mood, shoddy shooting conditions, a plateauing of skills or something else entirely. Either way it’s been a grind. Last night was just another blip on the here comes another busted sunset radar. Almost just hasn’t been almost enough for what feels like months now.

    So what’s to be done when natural light doesn’t live up to its end of the bargain? We play with sliders and presets in post processing—or at least that’s what I do. Some might say this works to flex the creative muscles. I would say it’s more like pressing a bunch of buttons hoping something interesting happens that will help bail out another ho-hum photograph.

    Ironically enough I actually like this picture. I just wish I had more control of the process and felt a little better doing it.

  • Fleeting Moments

    HDR sunset photograph from Sunset Park, Surf City as the last rays of the sun break through storm clouds
    Fleeting Moments — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Nap time was interrupted by the threat of sunset. With the last line of storm clouds racing east it was a run against the clock to see if the back edge of clearing would make it over the horizon. It did. Only the cloud deck was too low and the post sundown coloration that makes a sunset so great never materialized. Instead I have this one—not a bad shot per se but littered with lens flares and water droplets on my lens. Regardless, I’m just going to work with what I’ve got and move onto next time.