Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: salt marsh

The Cold Will Roll
The Cold Will Roll — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/125
It’s on, New Jersey. True arctic air is rolling across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and with it comes a polar left hook of cold to the jaw of we the lower latitude dwellers. While the bays remain open water for now, the marshes have begun the inescapable transition to pop-up ice world. In the face of possible subzero temperatures overnight I imagine said bays will not be far behind. This is a not so welcome reminder of the powerful cold we squared off against in winter’s 2014 and 2015. Fortunately this cold snap will not have that kind of staying power.
In the face of biting cold and stiff wind I simplified my shooting workflow tonight. There was no tripod. There was no bracketing. With steady gusts over 30 mph, stability and warmth was a factor. With that I had a go with some old school single bracket handheld shooting. Aided by a frozen marsh I was able to get up close and personal with the tide pool above. On my knees from right at the water’s edge, bringing the viewer right into the sunset action. Juxtapose this with a very similar shot I made earlier this month from this spot where I am set farther back, with the camera several feet higher. Notice how the perspective and intimacy change over the span of only a few feet? I prefer tonight’s tucked in look.
From now through Sunday we let the cold air roll. May it bring the deep purple sky I long for.
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February 13, 2016
On Moments of Stillness and Reflection
On Moments of Stillness and Reflection — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Life happens. Good, bad, or indifferent life happens most when we least expect. The random acts of chaos that lay waste to any and all attempts at preparation and control. Casting aside sudden change’s immediate injection of drama—positive or otherwise—the dust settles to reveal opportunities for growth, change, and renewal. Yet when the certainty of impermanence becomes all too real it can become a bit tough to remember that advice in the heat of the moment.
How we deal with the uncontrolled happenstance of life is a central part of the human experience. How we maintain perspective and sensibility in the face of upheaval works to keep us malleable enough to reshape ourselves in the face of change without losing who we are. When life gets a little bit weird it’s the little things that can help pull us through. Maybe laying eyes on the uninterrupted smoothness of a dead calm body of water, reflecting the setting sun without a imperfection. A scene with wind so still you can close your eyes to hear nothing but your heart stir, reminding us we are alive and well. These brief cuts of serenity now steel us for the insanity later.
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February 3, 2016
Orange Asunder
Orange Asunder — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Tonight’s sky, yo. Things were on fire. Smoldering clouds, disjointed and layered, torched in a fiery orange glow. Somewhere lost in time Hephaestus hammers away at his hellforge, sparks igniting the earthly sky of our modern domain. Was this the look the bronze age sky had cast as Achilles’ shield was crafted? All I can say is high drama was the Dock Road scene as a scintillating sunset pulsed upon the marsh.
Tonight getting the shot was the simple part of the process. It was corralling the 7 brackets in post processing that was the challenge. The orange and reds were amped and it took a deal of desaturation, hue, and luminance adjustments to get things under control—lest this be blow out city. Fortunately with a few whip cracks and some deft slider work things were brought back within reason. With that I am happy to close out another productive weekend of shooting. Here’s to a great week.
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January 31, 2016
A Bridge Too Far
A Bridge Too Far — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
There would be weather they said. Follow the global models they said. Disregard the NAM they said. The heaviest bands will never push north they said. Well here we are one day after the Blizzard of 2016, and I’m sure many a backs are barking from a long day of digging out after wondering, dude, where’s my car? This was one for the record books, folks, and even though the biggest snows happened just a few miles to my north and to my west, the coast sure saw a battering at the hands of a fired up Atlantic Ocean. After spending the better of the weekend weathering the storm with friends, fretting over rain/snow lines only to later find myself and swan diving into snow after the changeover, my buddy and I finally made it out for some real deal photo making this evening.
After much hemming and hawing over where to shoot, most of which happened during a pitiful attempt to clear out my driveway, an unsolicited query from family friends on Dock Road asking my Mother if I was out shooting said road solidified the final destination. Understanding the marsh isthmus no doubt took a serious tidal beating, we didn’t exactly know what we were in for at the Road of Dock.
The scene upon arrival was otherworldly. Elevated sea levels and ice flows littering the marsh dominated the landscape. While the tide was mostly down at this point, its frozen remnants were not hard to parse out. The vestiges of a foul tempered nor’easter were visible horizon to horizon, and before long the power of the wind was clearly on display. No less than four telephone poles were down, with power lines sidewinding the single road for what must have been a mile. Yes the scene was surreal but that was quickly supplanted with the sobering reality that real humans live amidst this battered place of wonderment, and here they are tasked with wintering it out sans power in the wake of a powerful winter storm—one that will most certainly be regaled as historic in the pantheon of east coast storms.
While my picture making was at a minimum this weekend, yet this photograph marks my first documentation of New Jersey in a post Winter Storm Jonas world. Here’s hoping you fared as well as possible during this powerful weather system, and were able to make the most of your time indoors. Cheers.
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January 24, 2016
Cold Milestone
Cold Milestone — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Anyone in the mid-Atlantic who even bothered to step foot outside today will find no shocking revelation in my declaration of today’s cold. Sure it was below freezing all day, but holy cow did the biting cold and piercing winds level up out on the marsh of Cedar Run Dock Road. The wind ripping across a rapidly freezing marsh plane was eye watering and hand destroying. Not even some impromptu jumping jacks were making a difference. It was no fun touching the cold metal of my tripod, clumsily thumbing the extension latches to unfurl the legs. But these are of course the chilled hazards of the job.
In hindsight extending the tripod legs wasn’t even necessary. This evening turned into one of those shoots where I wound up going with my very first set of brackets. This exposure was made with the camera and tripod low to the ground; tucked into the frozen marsh grass to draw the viewer into the scene. A big part of why I’m posting this shot is because it’s the only set of brackets that still had enough sunlight to catch the pink glow painting the frozen edge of the marsh grass. Thus bringing visual warmth to a scene that was otherwise and quite literally devoid of it. Those sunbeams didn’t hurt, either.
Celebrating Two Years
Fun bit of housekeeping: this here website is celebrating its second birthday today. Since I first uploaded Beyond the Gray Sky two years ago I’ve added 240 photographs good for 232 posts. I’m beyond pleased with my small little home on the internet, and I hope you’ve enjoyed my modest contribution to what I hope is solid internet content. Here’s looking forward to a promising third year. Thank you.
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January 18, 2016
Here Again
Here Again — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/60
Happy New Year
It was my first time back at it in 2016. Yesterday I ventured out to Dock Road and returned to The Eye to photograph a sunset. Conditions were hardly perfect, but I sure had the itch to get out and shoot. It had been a while. Driving out on the marsh I was immediately surprised by the ice. While it’s been cold these past few days it never crossed my mind that it was cold enough to freeze the brackish water of the marsh over the course of a 48 hour arctic outbreak. But here we are. A nice bonus as it brings the proper seasonal feel to the marsh. It’s a joy of mine to document its temporal changes and the pictures left behind serve as a nice little timestamp at a place defined by flux.
Follow Along
Quick reminder! If you’re on Instagram of Facebook you can easily follow along with my pictures there. Instagram followers get an added bonus as I share my mobile photography there as well—nothing taken with my cellphone has yet to appear on this site.
Shop News
Since recently launching my online shop I’ve decided to make most, if not all, of my photographs available for purchase from this point forward. Considering we all enjoy different things and should thereby celebrate our personal subjectivity I hope to have something for everyone. This should also ease the burden of potential customers having to reactively reach out to ask to have their favorite shot added. So let’s give this a try!
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January 8, 2016
Eye to the Sky
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.
November 22, 2015
Set Among Them
Set Among Them — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/20
Yesterday I posted what you could call the natural partner to today’s photograph—with all the same ingredients—a handheld shot of phragmites just after sunset. While the clouds front and center in yesterday’s offering were impressive, I think I prefer today’s rendition from an overall shot of the day standpoint. In case anyone is totally confused, today is Sunday and both photographs I’ve mentioned here were made on Friday afternoon, 6 November. More often than not I like to go with one posted photograph per session, but sometimes you come away with a few keepers to share.
If I had to express what it is I like most about this photograph it would tie back to color, perspective, and movement. I’d also add a elevated sense of preference creeps in because of its departure from my standard workflow, as I discussed yesterday. Here again was another handheld shot, but also from a perspective I don’t regularly utilize. I was up close and personal with the phragmites, sitting among them with my lens no more than 3 feet from the ground and no more than a foot behind the plants at an angle of roughly 15 degrees above the horizon (I’m spitballing here). This coupled with a lazy enough shutter of 1/20 of a second and just enough wind able to create the areas of motion blur you see among the stalks, adding to the sense of place. Close your eyes and you just may hear the breeze.
November 8, 2015
The Other Side of Things
The Other Side of Things — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/30
I went old school yesterday—making single bracket handheld exposures along Dock Road just around sunset. Gasp! I took a step back from the usual Tripod Only, Brackets Only, Sunset Only wide angle workflow to which I fall prey. Creature of habit and all. But sometimes you have got to break away.
Yesterday afternoon offered the chance. Sunset was shaping up to be so-so at best. So tasked with figuring out how best to salvage to shoot, I took a gander behind me to the northeast exposure and noted some detailed cloud shapes behind me. Photogenic clouds, even. Thinking these may color up when the sun slipped down, I disconnected camera body from tripod and walked across the street. And from there, directly opposite to my initial position, it went. A few purposeful exposures working in the invasive—albeit visually pleasing in the right light—phragmites as a foreground element. The shutter was lazy enough at 1/30 a second to produce a hint of movement in the pesky plants. I’ve got another shot from last night that I will post next that maximizes the movement and lines of the much maligned phragmites.
The lesson? Always keep your head on a swivel. No need to jump right into the act of shooting. Take the time to scan your environment, observing the landscape from different angles. Break the mode and let go of the status quo.
November 7, 2015