Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: sunset park

Center Mass
Center Mass — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 400 | EXP 1/30
More Sunday action, people. One more to go and then I can finally move on from last week. As far as the sequence of shots goes, this was the first photo made. Before the rainbow and before the sunset I first posted. Rain was just starting to fall and I was enthralled by the orange glow bouncing off the stormy cloud deck. All was awash in orange, and while I was left to hide under gazebo cover as the rains came I made this handheld shot. (Hence the ISO 400 to get the exposure time up to 1/30—no tripod for this one.)
What drew me to this composition, aside from notable light, was the symmetry of the scene. While I try to bring balance to all my shots it’s rare when I center up all the key elements of the frame. That’s essentially what we have here—with the sun just a tick to the left of center. It’s a soothing shot. A calming photograph leaving behind two empty benches to fill in with your own story.
June 11, 2016
From One End To The Other
From One End To The Other — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Kicking it back to Sunday again. With light so good you know there’s gonna be at least a few photographs posted from what was a jaw-dropping 15 minute light show. With rain once again falling as the final moments of sun pulsed through a narrow opening in the cloud deck to the west an eastbound and down rainbow was all but inevitable. One quick turn to the oceanside and there it was—arcing majestically over Long Beach Island homes bathed in rich gold. With the pulse rate thumping I did the best I could to capture the rainbow while staying under just enough Sunset Park gazebo coverage to keep my lens dry. I’m not going to sit hacking away at letters on a wireless keyboard pretending this is the kind of composition I would have wanted, but considering the circumstances—notably falling rain and a ticking rainbow clock—this is the best I could muster. And so it goes, shot number two from Sunday. At least one or two more still to come.
June 10, 2016
The Home Fire Still Burns
The Home Fire Still Burns — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/5
Sunday began what is now day four in a stretch featuring potent storms, dramatic clouds, and fiery sunsets. While I’ve been tied down and largely unable to shoot, it’s been impossible to miss what has to be the best consecutive stretch of sky goodness in recent memory. New Jersey based social media accounts have been set afire with countless jaw-dropping photographs for the better part of a week. Thanks to ubiquitous smartphone adoption the degree of documentation has sailed far beyond unprecedented levels. Everyone is a photographer now, and I think it’s is great. Scrolling through my Instagram feed this week has been a total treat.
Above is my small contribution for the week. This photograph was made at Surf City Sunset Park on Sunday evening. Strong to severe storms were powering across the mid-Atlantic, bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall. Unfortunately the line fizzled just as it made its way to the coast. While a proper shelf cloud never materialized over Barnegat Bay, it was becoming readily apparent the clearing would time up perfectly with sunset. My friends and I bailed from our Barnegat Light thunderstorm position and made our way south into Surf City. From there it all came together. To the east was a properly majestic double rainbow backlit by a stunning array of pink storm clouds. To the west, a potent sunset stretched across the sky. So powerful was the light differential from sun to storm clouds that auto white balance was rendered effectively useless; leaving RAW files cast in a strong purple hue if left untouched. When this extreme is achieved you know you are in the presence of some properly dramatic light play. For me, I was simply dumbfounded; left holding my gear, smiling ear to ear.
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June 8, 2016
Disrupt
Disrupt — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/125
Wild weather bore down on Surf City’s Sunset Park yesterday afternoon. I was fortunate enough to be out storm chasing with JC of Weather NJ fame, and we set up shop on a favorite Long Beach Island bay beach. With a dead west exposure over Barnegat Bay, winds were already ripping from the same direction, and a well defined shelf cloud was easily seen contrasted by the dark brooding cloud shadows behind it. Most striking, however, was the eerie green hue that illuminated the roiling bay water. It was an unnatural savage green, amped by full afternoon sun pouring in unfiltered from the south that was magnified as it bounced off the cumulonimbus cloud bottom. This, in effect, created lighting conditions that would be something akin to millions of pool table lights draped only feet over the bay. It was one heck of a sight. I’m sure my Snapchat followers could hear my excitement. (Not to mention a few expletives born of exuberance.)
No less than two minutes after popping off the photo above, the gust front made landfall, temperatures dropped 20 degrees within 10 seconds (no exaggeration), and the winds went from about 35 mph sustained to ~60 mph. Severe storm criteria is defined as 58 mph winds or greater, and we were certainly there. Of course, the lion’s share of thunder and lightning slipped just to our north, but man it was fun being out there. Talk about a charge of energy. Here’s a short film JC shot to give you a sense of the sandblasting wind. (That’s me standing out there trying to capture cellphone footage.)
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April 27, 2016
Change Your Latitude
Change Your Latitude — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/20
I made my way to Surf City Sunset Park last night with modest hopes of capturing a sunset. It’s been a while since I’ve produced some wide angle goodness, and I was eager to get off the schneid. Of course a low level maritime layer brought in a cloud deck to provide just enough blocking of the sun angle. It was a shame too, as the cold air was really firing the pastels on the high level cirrus clouds blocked out by the marine layer. Plans thwarted yet again.
After a few minutes hemming and hawing and with light fading fast, I opted to switch to the 35mm lens to try to make something out of nothing. From there any kind of skill went out the window in favor of unscientifically hoping for the best. Short on light I set my aperture wide open and dangled the camera body about an inch off the shoreline. From there I popped off a few shots hoping to get lucky and find something interesting waiting on my memory card. The result can be seen above. In hindsight I should have stopped down to f/2.8 and bumped my ISO to 400—maybe 640. This would have given me a bit more depth to my area of acceptable focus, and, coupled with the higher ISO, would have given me a bit more sharpness overall. Alas.
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April 11, 2016
Better Off Bayside
Better Off Bayside — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/80
I thought about ending this photograph’s title with a question mark to convey the right inflection to reflect my second guessing as where to shoot yesterday. After Friday’s snow I was back to my regularly scheduled sunset shooting on Saturday. Initially I was going to head to Great Bay Boulevard, but idling at the intersection of Nautilus and Route 72 I had a change of heart. Perhaps not up for the longer drive due to hunger I tossed the plan and made for Surf City’s Sunset Park.
While this spot seldom disappoints I knew I was taking a bit of a gamble. Over the winter months, as well as the tail end of fall and early spring, with the sun setting at a more southwest orientation it’s sometimes difficult to make a good angle from this purely westward facing spot. For that reason I abandoned bringing the sun disk into the frame. Relying on theater of the mind the sun can be envisioned off screen quite far to the left of my frame. This all worked out, however, with soft wisps of clouds coloring up nicely over the lightly rolling three inch waves lapping the sand and pebbles just on shore.
It was a peaceful seen along Barnegat Bay, and several revelers made it to the shoreline to say goodbye to the day. At least three or four folks with their cameras, and what looked to be a gentleman tucked away in the northwest corner possibly making a time lapse. It’s always nice to see others making the most of the sunset muse. Yet with that my focus shifts back to the upcoming snow potential across the mid-Atlantic over the next 72 hours; because where there’s snow potential, there’s photo potential.
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February 7, 2016
Almost Again
Almost Again — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
There’s been a theme this week: sunsets that just miss. The ingredients are there—abundant multi level cloud decks, comfortable temperatures, and enough breaks in the clouds to give hope the sun just might slip through. Saturday was a just miss and Sunday wrought more of the same. While I still managed to walk away with some keepers it’s been hard to not feel left wanting. Even last night—and while I think this is a fine photograph—it could have been more. Yes, the sun managed to poke out just long enough to color up the sky for about 3 minutes, but an ill-timed rain shower put the kibosh on that. For a minute there I thought big time color was going to wash across the sky. Color on par with this past Monday’s. Color that of course I missed.
Last night I visited Long Beach Island’s Sunset Park in Surf City, NJ. It’s a solid spot but it’s just about getting out of season. With the sun setting further to the south it’s creating some tough angles that offer up some compositional challenges. For reference, in late June the sun will set to the right of where the main bulkhead is pointing, offerings a more over the bay kind of perspective. It may be time to retire this locale from the sunset rotation until late spring. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be back for some wintertime action if the bay decides to freeze over as it has done the past two winters. We shall see.
And before someone calls the wambulance on my sunset whining, I’m thankful this one managed to be as good as it was. Unlike Saturday and Sunday which seemed like slam dunks, yesterday’s (Thursday) conditions showed the least promise in terms of total cloud cover. Ebbs and flows and on it goes.
November 6, 2015
The Demons of Our Dreams
The Demons of Our Dreams — 14mm | f/2.8 | ISO 100 | EXP 30 sec
When I’m titling my photographs I most always go with the first word, phrase, song lyric, or bit of text that comes to mind. It’s a quick and easy approach that keeps me from overthinking my named works. I broke that rule today. I wanted to go with Death Comes for us All, but an apprehensive voice inside me chided that might come across too strong. Death’s a touchy subject, and I’m not here consciously looking to set off any triggers. Ergo I downgraded to demons.
What led to the death/demon connection in the first place? Well as I look at the 30 second long exposure rendering of this photograph, with its low hanging shelf cloud accentuated by motion blur marching across Barnegat Bay; a Titan’s visage, gaunt and brooding, manifests pressing downward through the clouds ready to escape its confines to breach the bay and do its worst. It is both spooky and spectacular—natures reminder of the omnipotence of the universe and our fleeting moments hurtling about our own speck of space.
This photo session started out as an attempt to capture a less abstract look at storm clouds, and even more specifically some lightning. Instead something wholly unexpected manifested on the sensor. That’s the way photography goes sometimes, and it’s important for us to always keep an open mind to the unintended outcomes it may render.
October 10, 2015
Take Your Place Amongst the Revelers
Take Your Place Amongst the Revelers — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures
Last night’s sunset was well attended—emphasis on well. Unsurprising in hindsight, on a gorgeous mid-Summer Saturday night, Surf City’s little Sunset Park must have drawn in some 40-plus revelers to capture the final few moments of the Earth’s daily rotation away from the Sun. It was great to see such enthusiasm from the populace.
Of course seeing and shooting are two different things, and it didn’t take long for me to realize I had chosen my final destination poorly. You see as the human headcount in any one spot increases, the ability to carve out a good, unobstructed view with a wide angle lens rears its limitations quickly. Unable to position myself with a more northward facing angle, where the most interesting clouds—both in shape and color—were marking the sky, I was left with no choice but to look out due west. Essentially recreating this shot from May 2014. Even with my little spot carved out I still had a few visitors get close enough for a hand or foot to sneak its way into my frame. Though I can hardly blame them: before I had gotten into photography I had no appreciation for just how wide a shot really can be.
At the end of the day I was able to come away with a serviceable enough photo. I just wish I didn’t feel at odds with myself; on the one hand bummed that I couldn’t hunt for an ideal exposure like I usually do, and on the other hand self-conscious about feeling like my presence is just getting in everybody else’s way. Folks enjoying their vacation time looking to get a good cellphone shot don’t want to have to deal with tripod laden space hogs such as myself.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
August 9, 2015