Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: japanese maple

  • Light Play

    Light Play

    Japanese maple leaves photographed in golden hour light with shallow depth of field producing bokeh.
    Light Play — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/400

    Soft gold lingers. Midas’ hand set gently upon wine dark leaves. A ruddy remnant of the enchanted wood. The familiar maple stands firm. A trusted friend with a gift for listening. Relieved and uplifted at once you sit beneath its boughs. Evening light touches down on tired shoulders, lending patience, love, and support. Through a connection that dives beyond words and conscience thought the maple hears. A knowing companion free from judgement and avarice. Another year older, another year stronger it stands ready to see you higher than ever before. Your friend grows strong beside you. Its sinew working into your bones grafting its fortitude within you.

    You have learnt much from this tree. A guiding hand of steady silence year upon year. An living monument to patience and strength. Shared with each storm and gale, lessons of flexibility and acceptance transfer. The tree knows how to weather the worst. How best to take it head on, branches open, free of tension and fear. Only when the driving winds have passed are you left with a stronger, healthier tree. Forged by nature, shaped and hardened for more. This is the teaching it passes on to you. It is when you gaze upon soft golden light suffusing its ruddy aura you remember.

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  • Withering

    Withering

    Withered Japanese maple leaf macro black and white photograph.
    Withering — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 800 | EXP 1/320

    Winter rains descend unceasing. Blanketing the land in fog and gray. Dampness seeps into every corner. An unquenched avarice tasked to steal warmth wherever it may lay. There is no quarter. The wheel of time erodes the land upon its grindstone. Unconcerned with the changes wrought churning out universal meal. Always turning. Destroying. Creating. Transforming. Always turning.

    We grow. We flourish. We wither. We die. We renew. The great circle of all things coiling back upon itself. The world snake consuming its own tail. We are come. We are gone. We are return. And so the long night of winter with slow and ever present speed withers to the brighter light of spring. The rebirth is coming. The resurrection of that which sets withering upon the tree of all life ready to bud.

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  • Before You Go

    Before You Go

    Golden hour photo of a Japanese Maple with autumn red leaves and smooth bokeh.
    Before You Go — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/800

    After last night’s negative tilt trough supreme wrought a 30 degree temperature drop; rain, snow, and sleet; and gusts of winds the Anemoi would be proud of in the span of roughly three hours these leaves are now gone. But 24 hours ago they were still here, so hey, maybe almost does count? Such is the onslaught of winter. One minute you’re hanging around LBIF dropping off photos on a 66 degree day and the next minute you’re running for the coat closet. Weather mood swings be damned, I’m happy I got to see my first flakes of what I hope will be a good old fashion snow-down for the winter of 2016–2017. Big snow, people—big snow. Measured in feet. (Meters would be even better.) I’m what they refer to in nerdy weather circles as a cold weather snow weenie. I’ll own it.

    As for this photo it’s a bookend of sorts. Made one week ago it’s something of a mirrored close-out to I Saw Red which was made back in April when this very maple was in spring bloom. This tree of mine makes for a great subject as 1) it looks cool, and 2) it sits right outside my front door standing sentry at the House of Greg. This keeps things easy. Just load up the 35mm lens, set the aperture wide open, and step outside in my soft pants to squeeze off a few frames. It also gives me a chance to work on my vertical orientation game which I often ignore. Many a skilled New Jersey area landscape photographers do a great job exploiting the fall and documenting its seasonal change. As you’ll note by my lack of autumn type leafy photographs through the years you can surmise I have been measured and left wanting in this arena.

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  • I Saw Red

    I Saw Red

    Shallow depth of field vertical orientation photograph of a blooming Japanese Maple at golden hour
    I Saw Red — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/320

    Nouns, can we talk about how hard pictures have been to come by lately? I can’t buy a photograph and it’s weighing on me. Desperate to make something out of nothing, tonight I tried to work with the quality golden hour light pouring over my currently in bloom Japanese Maple. A staple of my front yard for years now, this is certainly the best tree my humble property has to offer. While it’s been wide angle sunset goodness I’ve been craving for weeks this is just going to have to hold me over. In the meantime the drought continues. Peaks and valleys. Peaks and valleys.

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  • Here be Dragons

    Here be Dragons

    Black and white abstract macro photograph of a Japanese Maple that looks like a flying dragon
    Here be Dragons — 100mm | f/2.8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/100

    I’m a Game of Thrones fan. I’m a macro fan. I’m a black and white fan. So for my money here goes the trifecta. I know many folks appreciate my wide angle landscapes—the sweeping shots of the dramatic sunsets that readily pop-up along the Jersey shore. Those are great, and I love getting out there and making those photographs. But what excites me the most is getting up close and personal with the micro world at the business end of a macro lens. Old school handheld shooting I can couple with the drama of shallow depth of field and its smooth bokeh, finishing with a moody black and white photograph rendering just enough mystery and pause into the final frame. It is in these most I feel most capable—most inspired.

    And as far as Game of Thrones is concerned—am I on point in seeing a dragon here, or is that just me? Better yet? Season 5, episode 4 airs tonight!