Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: sunset

Sunset photography

  • Summer sunset on the salt marsh

    A subtle lens flare sends a rich golden glow across the lush green salt marsh in this stunning HDR sunset photograph.
    Summer sunset on the salt marsh — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Finally, folks. Finally

    I’ve been in some kind of sunset slump. Whether by poor scheduling or just busted weather conditions, it’s been months since I’ve caught me a quality sundown. Somehow tonight my spider sense was tingling.

    During my commute home I was noticing some promising cloud development and decided to bail on my evening run. Somewhat hesitant in my decision, I got home, packed my things and made for my old standby: Dock Road. As pine forest gave way to sweet salt marsh the horizons opened up before me; I knew my slump was over. Drama was written the sky over and there I was to take it all in. Camera in hand. Finally.

    Interestingly, the photograph I wound up posting was not one of the shots I originally had in mind for a final product. I assumed I was going to go with one of the bracketed exposure sets that came about 7 minutes after sun went down, as is the my norm. Instead I went with a shot featuring the sun still with us. It just goes to show that you can’t always go with your assumptions (and the back of your viewfinder). You’ve get to get home, upload and take it all in. Let your photographs speak for themselves.

  • As he faced the sun he cast no shadow

    A sunset photograph taken during peak summer at the Huntington Beach, California, pier. A young man kicks up dust as he walks between palm trees with beautiful twilight approaching.
    As he faced the sun he cast no shadow — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/400

    As I was spending my last night sitting in Huntington Beach on a retaining wall wondering just what the hell I was going to photograph I spotted a patch of palms. Four palms. Four. Leaving my seat I made my way to said palms and tucked tightly into a crouch. I had my wide angle lens so getting close was key. As I was framing my shot I had a stroke luck: a young man strode past kicking up a cloud of dusk. Drought is the unfortunate order of the day in California and this, while certainly only beach sand, summed up the situation succinctly. I think it made for the perfect shot.

  • All I wanna be is by your side

    An HDR photograph taken at sunset from along the jetty at Sunset Point in Ship Bottom, New Jersey. The in water perspective hugs the darkened jetty rock and frames the colored sky and water.
    I’ll I wanna be is by your side — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Yesterday I had helping hands (thanks, Jennifer Carr!). I was able to take some chances.

    While heading over to Sunset Point for The Daily Sundown™ my hope was that the tide would be low enough to expose the bay sand on the lagoon side of the jetty rock (the right of the jetty in the shot above). #nope. The tide was already working its way back in. Temps were mild so I rolled up my jeans, hopped over the jetty rock, and made my way into the water where I had hoped said sand would be. The bay water was notably warm; summer’s coming, you guys.

    At first I was shooting handheld since I was water bound and there was no place for my tripod. Handheld is all well and good except it does not afford the tack sharp stability of a tripod. Nor does it allow me to bracket exposures as I most always do when shooting landscapes. Time to turn that on its head.

    About ten minutes in I turned to Jen, handed over my camera for safe keeping while she passed over the tripod in return. I took the device, splayed its legs wide, and began to sink it in the sand under about three inches of water. Once I was able to get a stable, level hold I reclaimed my camera from Jen and locked it into place. I let the sun get fully below the horizon and that’s when I went to town on my bracketing.

    In post processing I went with a darkened silhouette of the jetty instead of its much more illuminated brother. I’m all about mood and this version just seemed to have it. The tradeoff: the bright green moss is far less prominent in this rendition—only some faint hints of green brush the outer rocks. To its credit, this darker treatment really brings out the color festooned upon the calm waters.

  • Barnegat Bay dockside

    Barnegat Bay dockside

    A late evening HDR photograph taken just after sunset from Sunset Park in Surf City, New Jersey. The exposure looks out over a very calm Barnegat Bay and features the unfinished wood of the dock at the edge of the park with a small stone in the foreground.
    Barnegat Bay dockside — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Part of me thinks the stone in the foreground needs to be swapped out for a Corona bottle, no? I’m down for changing my whole latitude.

    Last night almost didn’t happen. After a Mother’s Day dinner of steak and ribs I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d muster up the energy to head out for sunset. Game of Thrones was fast approaching and the cloud setup wasn’t screaming drop everything and grab your camera. But once my buddy Jeff swung by and mentioned he wanted to head to the M.T. Burton Gallery to measure out our spot for an upcoming gallery event I figured I might as well grab my camera and be prepared.

    We stopped off at Sunset Park in Surf City and the first thing that jumped out at me was how glassy the bay was. Outside of lazy one inch rollers, Barnegat Bay was just about as calm as you’ll ever see it at sunset. There was still a problem, though: the tide was in and I wasn’t seeing much for a foreground.

    As I was grabbing my gear and walking under the gazebo I noticed a rock resting gently on the bayside bulkead and thought to myself, this just might work. And it did! And to top it off I was bestowed with great color in the evening sky. Last night was one of those nights the color really lingered, too. This exposure—which is the composite of seven bracketed exposures—was taken a good 10–15 minutes after sunset. As such, the sub horizon sun angle was still painting the sky in soothing pastels of orange and pink. What a great welcome to the inevitable coming of Summer.

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  • Watching the sky unfold

    An HDR photograph taken at sunset from Rand's on Great Bay Boulevard featuring an imposing cloud deck backing in off the ocean awash in pinks and purples from the just departed sun.
    Watching the sky unfold — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    It’s not my wish to distract too much attention from this photograph with words, but wow. Just when tonight’s sunset seemed it would fizzle a light show exploded upon the imposing cloud deck that was back-building off the ocean. I had an entirely different shot dialed in—one facing toward the setting sun. And as much as I liked said composition it became impossible to ignore the drama happening off to the south and east. Knowing I’d be short on light, I composed a frame from the same spot and began bracketing.

    Considering there was such a sky show, I’d have liked to be over the flat marsh without any obstruction, bringing all the focus to the intricate pastel washed cloud patterns. But I had to work with what I had. I’m still pretty pleased for working in a pinch, and I’m very pleased I was out shooting tonight and able to bear witness.

  • The Burned Lands

    An HDR photograph take just after sunset from the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area. The foreground is marked by the charred remains of a lone tree stump. Fresh grasses begin to fill in the ashen remains.
    The Burned Lands — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    While not like to evoke thoughts of General Sherman and his strategy of scorched earth, the charred remains of a solemn tree stump flanked by the onset of lush grass rising in the ashen remains of last month’s controlled burn make for a calming scene, particularly at sunset. Carefully planned fires are a way of life down here—in the quiet Pinelands of New Jersey—overgrown undergrowth and grasses are burned away allowing new, more healthy flora to take hold. And if it wasn’t purposeful humans setting the fires, nature and/or the careless ash of a cigarette butt would do the same—only more often; jeopardizing the homes and wildlife throughout our region. Kudos to the local fire service for safely making this happen.

    The Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area was transformed a few week’s back by a manmade blaze. In a matter of days fresh grasses began to spread, setting the stage for the next generation of growth at the outer boundaries of the Pines. As I was milling about looking for my shot, I spotted the remains of this torched stump hiding in plain site amidst a field of nothing but nascent grass the color of lime. Immediately I knew I had my foreground.

    The sky was hardly the greatest but conditions were solid all around. It’s my goal to return in the near future to use this stump as a foreground prop at least once more before the tall grasses return, swallowing the burnt remains whole. As always the cycle continues.

  • Soft focus

    HDR photograph taken just before sunset at Sunset Park in Surf City, New Jersey. This photograph features a bulkhead capped by fence and fiery sunset colors over Barnegat Bay.
    Soft focus — 14mm | f/3.2 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    It feels like forever since I’ve gotten out for a sunset. Fortunately, conditions worked out tonight providing a solid setup for shooting. To change things up I made for Sunset Park in Surf City. I figured I’d give Barnegat Bay some love. I’ve always liked the vantage point here, especially in Spring and Summer months, but sometimes struggle framing up an interesting foreground. Tonight I went with the bulkhead to fairly pleasing results. Except I made one key mistake. I made these seven bracketed exposures at an aperture of f/3.2—almost wide open and hardly conducive for sharp images. I adjusted my post processing approach accordingly.

    The takeaway? Always check your settings.

  • It doesn’t matter; it’s in the past

    An HDR photograph taken at sunset from the east end of Cedar Run Dock Road. Rolling waves from Barnegat Bay move onshore leaving heavy foam upon the small shell-laden beachfront.
    It doesn’t matter; it’s in the past — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    Lazy poster alert

    This photograph is a holdover from this past Sunday and I’m only now—Friday afternoon—getting around to posting it. As it was a Sunday evening I had more pressing priorities, ya know, Game of Thrones premiere and stuff like that. As for why I couldn’t post it some other time this week? Well, I have no excuse. Except baseball.

    Thinking back to last Sunday conditions were cold. And windy. I was greeted by a nice headwind off Barnegat Bay as I was making my bracketed exposures and was concerned that sturdy tripod be damned, I’d face some camera shake. Fortunately the sharpness seems solid enough so I don’t think it was much of a factor. The low-lying clouds hanging just above the horizon was actually smoke from an area forest fire that happened in Chatsworth, New Jersey, Sunday afternoon. To my knowledge it was not a controlled burn. Hopefully the damage wasn’t too extensive.

    This spot, while on Cedar Run Dock Road, was a new vantage point for me. All in all, not a bad spot.

    Upcoming

    I’m heading down to Washington D.C. on Saturday afternoon with some friends for the Cherry Blossom Festival. With any luck I’ll have a few pictures to share. Until then happy weekend!

  • Beset by light

    HDR photograph taken at Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area featuring a fiery sunset offset by a few blowing blades of golden marsh grass in the foreground. The grasses look touched by sunlight.
    Beset by light — 14mm | f/8 | ISO 100 | 7 Bracketed Exposures

    It’s been a while. Thanks to poor weather, uneventful skies, the return of major league baseball season, and poor scheduling I haven’t been out shooting in almost two weeks. And while it’s good to step away, double digit sabbaticals get a bit too long for me. Suffice to say, I’ve been jonesing.

    With what looked to be a solid setup I made for the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area. It had recently gone through a scheduled controlled burn and all the undergrowth had been taken down to sooty black earth weeks ago, yet low green was already beginning to thrive in the nutrient rich remnants. Fire is life down here in the pines. It’s just amazing how quickly this place can transform in a manner of weeks. I took a picture of the clearing riddled with nascent grasses that I’ll post tomorrow.

    As for tonight’s picture, well after some largely meh long exposure attempts I switched on the fly and transitioned to bracketed exposures as the sky really started doing its thing. It played it coy tonight, colors were tempered and muted well past the sun slinking under the horizon until suddenly the lights really came on. I particularly like how the offset oranges and reds to the right reach across to kiss the golden marsh grasses to the bottom left. For me, it makes the photograph. I hope you enjoy.