Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: out of focus

  • The Call Back

    The Call Back

    35mm out of focus photo of Cedar Run Dock Road salt marsh made with motion blur by panning the camera left to right.
    The Call Back — 35mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/6 sec

    For the first time in at least three years my urge to make more photographs—better photographs—is waxing. The call back to capture the beauty of our backyard grows louder with each passing day. My interest in this craft waned to its nadir this past spring, and I legit thought myself ready to hang ’em up. Hell, I thought giving up my gear to more appreciative hands may be the best way to move on. Instead I held on and secretly hoped for inspiration in some lesser explored corner in my mind.

    Inspiration came, though not as altruistic as I would hope. Instead ego took the wheel; nothing like some wounded pride to get you back in the driver’s seat. Perhaps there is some ten year irony at work? Seeing it was something other than moral rectitude which first motivated my pursuit of this hobby a decade ago. Whatever the merits of the impetus the call back has me wanting more.

    Considering the importance of growth and evolution I want to study further the execution of intentionally blurred photographs. Breaking down color and shape into more flowing forms. Using minimalist aspects to represent the glorious nature of our home turf. I have sprinkled motion blur shots like this into my landscape rotation over the years—now is the time to explore further this passion.

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  • All Blur

    All Blur

    35mm photograph of green summer salt marsh at blue hour. Panning left to right creates motion blur in the landscape photograph.
    All Blur — 35mm | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/6 sec

    This corner of the internet has been quiet, eh? Rest assured all the noise has moved inside my head. Photographs have been hard to come by, and if I’m honest, the drive to make them has moved on. In short: this decade long hobby is down to fumes.

    There’s little sense in making proclamations—declaring this experiment in creativity over. With luck a new spark will fire tomorrow. Yet I am willing to share my total uncertainty over how often I’ll foist the camera moving forward. I’m grateful to how much this unexpected hobby has given me these past 10 years. A near unbroken space of growth and calm. A cloistered enclave where my hamster wheel brain ceases its captured spin. Talk about a safe space.

    That’s all gone now. What once restored life now saps strength. What once vented furious forces now yields to tectonic mountains of growing anxiety. There’s no more ensconced glacier of solitude to wear down the surging crags of my mind.

    And still, may tomorrow bring with it the surprise of good fortune to turn everything around.

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  • The Sea Moves

    The Sea Moves

    14mm wide angle landscape photo of blue hour reflected over Little Egg Harbor bay. Blended with intentional horizontal motion blur.
    The Sea Moves — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/4 sec

    Minimalism with intentional hand made motion blur. I love executing this kind of photograph. Combining a handheld approach with a smooth, confident motion panning from left to right into the sunset. It is much more involved than my typical tripod landscape. The latter leaving me with the sole task of pressing the shutter once I have framed my shot. Meanwhile this technique is visceral, taking me much closer to my own work. Involving me the way a baker kneads the bread—the hands are in there. Kneading it. Working it. Making it. Body, mind, and skill all coming together to produce something personal, something special. This process alone creates an intimacy with the work, and it shows through in the result. Here I am actually creating a thing with my hands. The sea moves right here in my palms.

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  • Stop Motion

    Stop Motion

    14mm blue hour photo purposefully out of focus capturing passing clouds and salt marsh with intentional camera side motion blur.
    Stop Motion — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/15

    Back writing at The Union Market and I have a problem. Sure I have loads of problems but for the purposes of this exercise I am focusing on one. My photography is wholly uninspired. For four years now I have set adrift atop the inevitable plateau of your talent’s going no where. No gains, no challenges, no growth. Only the muscle memory motions of habit fueled machinations left manufacturing the same caliber of work over and over and over again. It’s a cycle of mediocrity. This plain, man. It’s endless. I need off.

    Feeling certain something has to give what are my options? Well let’s work the problem with a good old fashion bulleted list. We’ll even pretend it’s whiteboard style. To address my photographic dead end I could:

    • Quit—pack it in, drop this hobby and drift upon the breeze until something new falls in my lap; this is both decidedly passive and incredibly on brand.
    • Maintain status quo—stick to my modus operandi and don’t change a damn thing. Hover where I’m at but continue to find the most joy writing for the photos I make; this, too, is an extremely Greg thing to do.
    • Buy new gear—the capitalist equivalent to let’s have a child to fix our relationship; the short term gain to long term pain.
    • Identify a challenge—settle on a new photographic skill or technique; considering I only make landscapes and flower macros with the occasional bug thrown in I have mountains to climb.
    • Step out of my comfort zone—mix it up, meet new people; if you’re the smartest person in the room, find a new room. The surest path to improvement is to surround yourself with people better and more capable than you. Learn from others who’ve been in your shoes. Worn soles long shot, weary treads long tired from their time atop the plateau. While I was never a great musician by any stretch, I got pretty damn good playing guitar, bass, and even the damn banjo, when I was jamming on the regular with musical types way more gifted and trained than me. Their juice finds its way into your bones by osmosis.
    • Give a talk—combine some strengths! I am a shy ass person, few will say otherwise. Yet paradoxically I love to talk, especially in front of a live audience, and I’m good at it! Bringing together two skills into one thematic packable could be the juice I need right now. In the interest of full disclosure, I had a perfect opportunity to do this but totally flaked out. Great job, Greg. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

    Even though I am not as yet clear on what I will or will not do, I am glad I wrote this down. It helps to get your thoughts out of your mind and onto paper. It creates some separation. Some breathing room to think it through with the problem feeling a little less up close and personal. Change perspective to be objective. Even if a thing looks good it may not be serving us. The question is whether the discomfort is strong enough to precipitate change.

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  • Born of the Purple

    Born of the Purple

    35mm out of focus photograph of a bunch of purple coneflowers backlight by a striking sunset and smooth bokeh. The echinacea blossoms are set glowing in powerful pastel pink and purple tones.
    Born of the Purple — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 400 | EXP 1/13

    Last night’s sunset was a certified banger. A powered up sky show raining down pastel hues upon the green land in every direction. The pinks and purples filtering down from the 360 degree sky dome looked the work of angels. A moment in time to take your breath away and leaves your heart to skip a beat. Without question one of the best sunsets of 2020. A stunner, full stop.

    Of course I was home cooking. Instead of getting bent and pouty, the sky faeries shared with me a boon. My front yard purple coneflowers were straight glamor posing in heaven’s pastel glow. The ethereal infusion amplifying the already magnificent colors of these flowering beauties. Excited and inspired, I dashed inside, opened my camera bag, and swapped my 14mm lens for my 35mm. With aperture set wide open at f/1.4, I squatted close to my subject and went to town making frames of my echinacea friends.

    This had me amped. Ignoring the missed landscape potential, I popped off shots left and right. My muse looked a wonder under this light and she knew it. So I set about making frames with the intense glow of sunset backlighting the whole scene. It was sublime. One of those flow moments where time sits still—fostering maximum internal focus and presence.

    A brief word on the not so intentional making of this photograph. There is another happy accident worth mentioning here: It does not take a keen observer to note this picture is out of focus. Low on light I had a sluggish shutter speed set at 1/13 of a second. As a general rule it’s a safe bet to keep your shutter speed denominator north of your focal length. In this case, sitting over 1/35 or so would be the play. That said, I am of a mind the lack of focus plays right into the strength of the scene. With light cast from a usually unseen parallel universe bleeding into our world if only for a moment. It adds something of a fishbowl effect and it is the perfect accoutrement to the tableau. It conveys the mood in a far truer way than I could have intentioned. Too often we do not see the world as it is. Sometimes sharp focus leaves us blind.

    The lesson—missing out on a thing does not mean we lose a thing. Instead it gifts opportunity to see a thing in a different, more diffuse and loving light. We work with what we’ve got, and that is where we create the real magic to capture our forever.

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  • Safe Haven

    Safe Haven

    14mm wide angle sunset photo made over the Cedar Run Dock Road salt marsh creek. The photo is intentionally blurred to create a streaked, painterly effect moving left to right.
    Safe Haven — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 0.3 sec

    Last night proved a stunning evening on the Cedar Run Dock Road salt marsh. Absolute idyllic mid-summer magic on the wetlands. Serene and sublime, a pristine atmosphere intent on peeling back layers of stress and worry. You would be hard pressed to put a price tag on this kind of therapy. Always look to nature when in times of great healing. She stands ever ready to render big magic into our lives. We must but take a moment to look and see.

    I am blessed to have Dock Road. Long has it reigned as a safe haven. My go-to destination whenever I my heart, mind, and soul needs a respite. I have faithfully kept a COVID-19 journal daily since my first entry on 19 March 2020, which happened to be Day 4 of isolation. Last night marked Day 121 where I shared the following:

    Tuesday, 14 July 2020

    Day 121 — The Salt Marsh

    Location: [redacted address] Manahawkin, NJ
    Time: 9:48 p.m.

    Visiting the Cedar Run Dock Road salt marsh has been an essential go-to for the entirety of my adult life. Whether for storm chasing, leisure cruising with friends, or a solemn place to cleanse the mind palate. The later has been especially true since I began my landscape photography journey back in 2012. This is my spot to take a mental reset and make beautiful photographs. It truly is a place of wonder mere miles from my home. Trust me, the salt marsh wetlands will lift any mood—especially so in summer.

    Tonight proved stunning on the marsh. Absolute mid-summer perfection. Temperatures were mild, humidity at bay, with a slack breeze barely palpable. Pastel sunset colors danced about the lower third of the sky, and the waters of Cedar Run laid flat, creating a pristine mirrored reflection. In ambient aural beauty birds and bugs sounded in the distance, completing the tableau. This is how I will always remember the mid-Atlantic summers on the salt marsh of coastal New Jersey. Such an underrated—and under appreciated—ecosystem.

    Get out there. Find yourself a safe haven. Pull your shot and streak the sky!

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  • Marsh Brush

    Marsh Brush

    35mm sunset photo over the salt marsh using motion blur to render a brush stroke effect on the marsh and clouds.
    Marsh Brush— 35mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/13

    Take camera and lens. Set yourself a suitable focal length. (35mm demonstrated here.) Stand astride the salt marsh feet shoulder width apart. Pretend you’re the Colossus of Rhodes. Wait for sunset. As you depress the shutter, pan side-to-side in a smooth, steady motion—left to right is my go-to; sluggish shutter speeds work best. (I’m rolling with a lolling 1/13 of a second on my shutter in the photo above.)

    Follow the steps outlined above and a blurred photo will zero and one its way onto your memory card. And if you’re somehow still reading you may be wondering why written steps to produce an out of focus photo is a thing—let alone a purposeful one. Enter the subjectivity of the three letter word that starts with A—art. I may be an n of one but I do love me some motion blur by design in photographs. If you have been following this blog over the years you may now recall seeing a few photographs cut from this cloth.

    So what’s the rub? For me it is simple: executing intentional motion blur gets the viewer to the heart of an image. It cuts away the sharp focus, high resolution detail that can clutter and shroud the soul of a photograph. With forced motion blur we deconstruct down to basic movement, color, tone, and form. This allows the image to land on each viewer on a conscious level. Expectation breaks down and the photograph can exist as it is with no preconceived notions.

    Of course even with sharp focus tabled for another day we still know exactly what we are viewing. The elements of the photo are clearly discerned as we look upon a salt marsh at sunset with clouds, tide pools, and grasses. Who needs sharp focus when a little bit of motion helps us see clear?

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  • Goodbye Sun

    Goodbye Sun

    Motion blur sunset photo of pastel clouds and calm bay water.
    Goodbye Sun — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/15

    Welcome back to Standard Time!—ugh. If you’ll allow me this moment for an airing of grievances. No fan am I of the cyclical cessation of Daylight Savings Time. Being a veteran on team Not A Morning Person I need to milk as much evening daylight as possible. Were it up to me we’d bask in perpetual latter day light on the forever Daylight Savings side of things—no more of the falling back/springing forward nonsense. I’ll concede the one day we get an extra hour of sleep is nice and all, but really it’s just a cheap marketing gimmick to help us try to feel better about ourselves; and let’s keep it real, when it’s ripped away from us each spring keyboard warriors take to Facebook and decry the personal affront felt by all. And while I’m sure many of you may find appeal in a world of no more time shifts I suspect you may find your allegiances hitched up to the Standard Time bandwagon. That’s OK but I’d like to ask just one thing: is the thought of 4:00 a.m. sunrises in summer really that appealing? No thank you, I will take my 8:00 p.m. summer sunsets year in and year out.

    Quick photo talk time. I hit up Dock Road yesterday afternoon around 5:30—see the sun already sets early enough as it is!—and while it’s no doubt my go-to spot I wound up shooting from a vantage point I’ve yet to use in my half decade of photographing. Down at the far southeast end I posted up at the bulkhead of Stafford Municipal Boat Ramp and shot out over the bay with a southeast orientation. The light was great, and the clouds milling about the horizon were pretty great, too. Ditching the tripod and my usual bracketing I went handheld and executed my little motion blur technique—the one where I intentionally create a blurry, out of focus look on the exposure. Adding a bit of motion that brings a more painterly feel; it pairs nicely here with the otherwise minimalist look of the frame. That’s it for me, enjoy your next few months of 5:00 p.m. darkness.

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  • Play Your Hand

    Play Your Hand

    Motion blur photo of marsh at golden hour.
    Play Your Hand — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/50

    Your eyes do not deceive you. This is a blurry photograph. Its execution by design. Why? you may ask. While the question gets right to the heart of it, my answer makes up with simplicity what it lacks in profundity. Personal style. As simple as I like it. Every now and then when I am out shooting I will take the camera handheld, hold it out in front of my chest at a comfortable arm’s length, and rotate at the hips panning from left to right parallel to the horizon at an even pace. During the rotation I will depress the shutter to create an image that introduces motion blur, intentionally removing sharp focus from the exposure.

    While it’s hard to articulate exactly why I like this atypical landscape I think it comes down to a few attributes. First is movement. Motion blur adds a rotational element giving the viewer a sensation of spin. Look up at the clouds. Do you see the parabolic swoop from left to right that plunges downward toward the horizon at the center of the photo? Good. Notice how its inverse arcs with a rainbow arch at the bottom of the frame? Perfect. If you drew a line vertically in the center of the photo it would appear as though this image is spinning like a top. Reflective of the earth itself spinning about its axis. For me it’s a photographic reminder that we’re all objects set constantly in motion.

    Second is form. When you strip away a photograph from its sharply focused constituent parts you’re left with its raw elements. Its shape. Its essence. With the sharpness gone you don’t have to become bogged down in the details. Instead I invite you to take in the elements of the photograph on a more holistic level. What do you see in this photograph even though you can’t see it well? The clouds? The tide pool? Or is it a pond? Is that marsh? A wheat field? Or something else? How does your mind fill in the details? I suspect our answers may differ as our own preconceived notions will render this image to our own bias. Is that a house to the left on the horizon? A car? Maybe a boat? These questions, are they necessary or are they beside the point? Like this photograph the answer is purposefully blurred.

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