Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: high key

The Technician
The Technician — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/160
Photo making is a task I invest significant time. 2020 marks year nine in my photography journey, and what an unexpected trip it has been. Beginning as a desperate distraction from depression, it has morphed into a real passion spanning the better part of a decade. I look back and ask myself what has changed since such a somber beginning? How has my perception shifted since my early days as a lost soon-to-be 30 year old with little clue how to use a camera?
For years I thought of myself as a technician. An individual proficient in making appealing photographs. Something of a process driven camera operator churning out landscape and nature photos per the rules. Viewing myself as a proper photographer, let alone creator, took many years of inner wrangling. I was a guy who followed procedure and protocols to produce a good clean image. There was nothing more to it. Follow steps one, two, and three, and a good photo you will be. As ever labels and semantics tripped me up, and I refused to think of myself as something more than a well trained individual who executes a task list. Anyone can do this, and creativity is no factor.
This view, pedantic and self-limiting, was a silly exercise. Over time I eased up on these pointless restrictions. Why put myself in a box? Or the better question, why exclude myself from other boxes? It’s foolish. After several years I grew inured to the photographer label. Being called a photographer didn’t leave me vexed and uncomfortable, with a furrowed brow looking over my shoulder for someone else with a camera . We must accept what is.
Fast forward to the past few years, and I finding growing comfort traipsing into creator territory. Might I be creative? That’s all cool and artsy sounding, so can it be true of a self-professed technician? Here I submit my writing as evidence. Even though my clear renown, such as it is, is as a photographer, it is my writing that brings the most intrinsic joy. This creative act is far less natural to me than making photographs. There is no technical process for me to follow. No clear roadmap for success. This is a wholly feel-based enterprise, and I am certain that leaves learned readers with a proper taste for grammar cringing.
English class was not my thing as a youngster, and this remained the case throughout high school and college. I showed neither promise nor interest in writing. And yet, for the past few years, it is far and away my favorite form of personal creative expression. The words I write to accompany each photograph I share means more to me than any photo I make. Do not get me wrong, it feels great to have a photo meet with broad community appeal. Those likes, shares, and thumbs up feel good! But nothing pleases me more than a person talking about what I wrote. This praise removed the technician from the uncomfortable box he placed himself in. So allow me a giant thank you to every one of you who takes time to read and resonate with my words. Your time and attention is a gift amidst this tripped up world, and I thank you all.
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July 11, 2020
Love and Lilacs
Love and Lilacs — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/5000
Today marks 43 days at home. Am I hanging in there? Yes. Am I a people starved, in need of hugging and loving, and belly laughs with friends? Also yes. I wrote yesterday how all this time home has reconnected me to my macro flower photography roots. A blessing in all the isolated madness. Well this weekend my lilacs took their first step out onto the springtime stage. They are prepping for their proper debut this week. Before I trim them up to bring their unmistakable scent inside I will get my photo fill.
Instead of the 100mm macro lens I went with my beloved 35mm. It’s a versatile lens, one that affords landscapes, portraits, and even a floral still life. It’s the lens you take along if you can only have one. She’s a show off, too; striking sharpness wide open. Allowing the photographer to execute dramatic bokeh balanced against areas of sharp focus. It’s a dream to shoot and super fast. All I had to do was frame up a pleasing composition in decent sunlight and let the glass do the rest.
Love and lilacs. Lilacs and love. Pink and purple pastel beauties surpassed in sweetness only by their unmistakable perfume. Dating back to the ancient world purple marked out royalty. It wasn’t long before they cornered the market in total. In many cases outlawing its wearing to non-royals. And the Byzantine’s, well they were flat out obsessed with the color. To the block quote:
The reason for purple’s regal reputation comes down to a simple case of supply and demand. For centuries, the purple dye trade was centered in the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre in modern day Lebanon. The Phoenicians’ “Tyrian purple” came from a species of sea snail now known as Bolinus brandaris, and it was so exceedingly rare that it became worth its weight in gold. To harvest it, dye-makers had to crack open the snail’s shell, extract a purple-producing mucus and expose it to sunlight for a precise amount of time. It took as many as 250,000 mollusks to yield just one ounce of usable dye, but the result was a vibrant and long-lasting shade of purple.” — History.com
Thanks to nature purple is for the people; no reserved for the privileged few who managed the singular feat of being born of a certain line. Mother Nature loves all, blind to class and caste, and bestows her regal colors across the lands of even her most humble denizens. Love and lilacs always win and her purple is ours to behold.
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April 27, 2020
Reaching Out
Reaching Out | 100mm | f/4 | ISO 1600 | EXP 1/200
Laid up for the weekend with back pain is suboptimal. Press conference Joe Girardi would shrug his shoulders incredulous and declare it’s not what you want. Whatever your flavor there is never a good time for back pain. And to my brothers and sisters mired in low back hell, I slouch in solidarity with thee. May your heating pad and icy hot be forever in your reach.
The good news to this story is that of this Sunday evening writing my condition has improved. Eager to product something of value I thought why not hit this neglected blog and publish a new photo on this website. The photograph is not new, per se, having made this shot in mid-September. True to form I have been slacking all year on getting photos out and into the world on any kind of schedule representing timeliness.
Yet here is a sweet little macro of what I only learned minutes ago is a silver-spotted skipper in its caterpillar phase. That is one stylish looking insect if you ask me. Rock the neon glory if you’ve got it. Before its metamorphosis stride I made some macros of it milling about an old coneflower. No doubt contemplating what comes next in life.
Presented with ample negative space this photograph has room to b-r-e-a-t-h-e. Loads of space and flat color bokeh teeing up all the wide ranging existential issues. So much room for the mind by way of the eye to sit and ruminate in a minimal motif stripped of stuff. Left hanging, we are as our little green friend: Stretched on the precipice of of existence in simultaneous reach to the Next Big Thing. As we cling to the familiar we hold battle with anxious apprehension when faced with undefined space. For those who recognize all possibility of the empty palette reach out to transform their lives.
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October 14, 2018
Prime Peony
Prime Peony — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/320
It was a great season for peonies in my neck of the woods—Ocean County, New Jersey. Backloaded winters aside, it seems extended cool, wet conditions are a peony’s friend. Check out the peony floral arrangements Eastlin Floral Design was busy putting together. This flower species is a serious boon to any bouquet.
As for my yard, it boasted a few primetime peony blossoms in 2018. They made an excellent subject for my 100mm macro lens. Lighting conditions proved ideal for creating a dreamy, high key picture set in a cool tone. Had the late afternoon sun been direct, a yellow tone with strong shadows and highlights would have cast a far different look. A high overcast was pivotal here, keeping a standout rose pink color tone on the peony petals.
To further maximize the high key effect from ample filtered ambient light I was at an open(ish) f/4 aperture at 100mm. Coupled with a close subject proximity this renders an airy focus and bokeh for days. The end result is a center weight flower macro evoking a calm, easygoing mood.
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June 4, 2018
Liquid Lunch
Liquid Lunch — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/1000
I made the most of strong midday sun and an anxious butterfly battling for a sip. While I may have contributed to this silver-spotted skipper’s general unease, to be sure it was a dive bombing carpenter bee who proved the true villain. Selfish to the last this boring bee, not content with undermining wooden structures, also suffers from an insatiable need to dominate the local plant life as well. Unprovoked harassment aside, the skittish butterfly proved tenacious and drank surreptitiously upon a purple coneflower nectar in fits and starts.
As the drama unfold I remained the steadfast dispassionate observer. Channeling my best, albeit deficient, Sir David Attenborough, I permitted nature’s battle unmolested. Instead of meddling in the travails of bugs I sat back with my 100mm macro lens and popped off exposures. I worked close and fast relying on handheld work to make my frames.
Five minutes feel about 20 when you’re front and center with nature. Time dilation further magnifies when viewed in macro. Tunneling focus sets in as your whole world collapses down to lens physics making large of the small. It’s as if descending into an enlarged world of minutia brings with it a slower perception of time, reinforcing its relative nature. It is not without other lessons. The speed of the big world evaporates. The worry over text messages, tweet storms, and emails that need answering two minutes before receipt fades in full. It’s as if nature is trying to tell those who will see what does indeed matter.
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July 25, 2017
Pinky Peony
Pink Peony — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/1000
I’m not one for literal titles yet here I am. Strange things, man, they happen. In their death throes now, my peonies had their proverbial moment in the sun in late May. Pink and glorious, oversized bulbous blossoms beautified my shrub bed with their bounty. Tissue paper petals bunched together in a gift package of pink, ready to welcome a newborn child. Hardly long for this world they bring a respite of joy to eager viewers keen to seek them out. Many people I know laude the coming of the peony, and I am happy to count myself among their rank.
On another note, does anyone have a trick to keep these things from bending under their own weight? Not long after bloom the flower heads take on the oppressed posture of a people suffering under the yolk of a tyrant. It’s unbecoming of their beauty and power. My peonies could use some support, you guys. It is clear The Man (me) has got them down.
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June 2, 2017
The White Wizard Approaches
The White Wizard Approaches — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/250
This is the second time I’ve dipped into the well of anthropomorphizing flowers in a high key macro photograph. While two times does not a trend make, I have a pseudo third example if you take the time my mid-bloom maple conjured thoughts of dragons—to be fair it was Game of Thrones time. For me this is when a dearth of landscape photo opportunities start gobbling up weeks at a clip on the calendar. Itching for some lens time I get a bit desperate—I default to selective focus macros of everyday objects floating both in and about my house. From there it’s just pouring over the exposures in Lightroom trying to find the right frame to do something with.
In this case that something brought together a couple comfortable fall backs: black and white photography and Lord of the Rings. Today’s posted photo first caught my eye as I was processing yesterday’s Jane Magnolia pic. The wizard’s cap and flowing petals of this magnolia bud had just enough suggestion to get my attention. Upon closer inspection this morning the Gandalf connection struck immediately, and I could hear the why so serious? voice of Legolas Greenleaf warning his companions of an approaching Saruman. Of course moments later we are all treated to Gandalf’s triumphant return; cloaked in the garb of the White Wizard, bathed in white light having conquered the Balrog. Now back at the turn of the tide.
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April 10, 2016
Missed
Missed — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/200
I’ve been chewing on out of focus photography for a while now—and by a while now I mean well over a year, and by out of focus photography I mean pictures that are deliberately rendered focus out, in absence of sharpness and clarity. Now I am not ready to declare this here photo the start of something new in my developmental photographic arc, but I am ready to state my affection for this kind of shooting. Done well it breaks through much of what we think are required features in a “good” photograph—strong lines, clear forms, and sharpness on our subject. Focus out instead pares down the rules to introduce simplicity, blur, and softness that brings the attention to the simpler beauty of form, contrast, and movement.
Shown here is a Jane Magnolia bud, a mere day or two from opening, presented in its stripped down form. Even in the absence of focus it’s still easy to pick up on everything happening in the photograph. The sun is warmly shining down on a single flower bud that’s part of a larger bush system. Here sharpness, focus, and clarity are not needed to tell that story. Even in its faded state the imagery is clear. This shot struck me immediately upon import into Lightroom. Even in its unaltered straight out of camera state it smacked me right in the face with that oh, I like this one feeling. A feeling that for me doesn’t come around too often.
Speaking of Jane Magnolias and the layered meaning of the titular Missed—this is the first time in about 3 springs my magnolia bush has armed itself with decent buds. I aggressively pruned and moved the bush a few years back and while it has spread its leaves OK in subsequent years, it has nary managed more than a handful of buds. This year it’s back with dozens and dozens of purple flowers ready for the appreciation of my lenses. I’d be surprised it this winds up my only magnolia capture of the year. It has been missed.
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April 2, 2016
Ephemeral Paradise
Ephemeral Paradise — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/250
The winds of change blew through the coastal Mid-Atlantic region turning 60 degree temperatures and rain on Thursday into a fleeting winter wonderland come Friday. The predawn hours saw a changeover to snow from west to east as an over-performing coastal low pressure developed along a stalled cold front just off the coast. While there were hints of this possible outcome, a mid-week fade from the models coupled with unseasonably warm temperatures sent this system to the farthest reaches of public consciousness. A trend to a northwest solution began in earnest on Wednesday and didn’t look back until widespread 3″–6″ fell upon an unsuspecting region. As as the alarms sounded many questioned whether 60 degrees and soaking wet ground could create an accumulating snow solution some 18 hours later? In hindsight such skepticism was put to bed.
For my entire life I’ve watched the weather in awe. Captivated not just by its patterns and trends, but by its consistent penchant to surprise. There are no sure things in weather, and given a large enough sample size over a long enough period of time, and you’re bound to observe rare, if not entirely unique occurrences. In this case not only did the snow show up with much surprise and in the face of doubt, it also disappeared nearly as fast as it came. While making photos out in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area just after the snow had stopped the great thaw had begun immediately. A snow melt the likes of which I had never seen. With sun-kissed energy pine boughs began shedding their load as temperatures rose and some wind worked through to ease their weighted burden. Steady streams of snow, water, and ice were melting away at a rate I’ve never before witnessed. It was as if the Pinelands were insistent upon forging forward to spring in the blink of an eye. Despite clear skies working in, the forest looked and sounded as though a robust summer downpour was working through the thicket. You could watch and hear the earth take its snow back in real time. A symphony for the senses.
Of course the immediacy of the melt brought on some needed expediency for making photographs. Matters were made a bit more tricky as softball sized snowballs were dive bombing the ground both readily and at random from the canopy. My camera and I took a few good hits before the lens and body were too overwhelmed with water, giving me just enough time to make this photograph and a few others. A brief moment in time captured before any remnant of our latest weather event fell into obscurity. A ghost storm if there ever was one.
Oh, and there are a few storm signals looming to start next week. For now, we track.
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February 5, 2016