Greg Molyneux Photography

Tag: wisteria

  • Wisteria in Black and White

    Wisteria in Black and White

    Low key abstract photo study of wisteria blossoms in black and white.
    Wisteria in Black and White — 35mm | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/500

    Those who have been following along for a while may note I don’t go in for straightforward photo titles. A literal labeler I am not. Yet here I am breaking my own rules with a boring name. Sometimes it is what it is; I beg you allow me this exception.

    This photograph has several notable attributes that excite my artistic sensibility. It’s black and white. It presents a strong visual contrast between light and dark. Wisteria blossoms are its primary feature. There is a strong allotment of negative space gives all the elements room to breathe. And finally an abstraction blurs enough of the frame to call the mind to parse out what it thinks it sees.

    I recognize this is a far departure from my colorful landscapes. Sometimes we need to put away the calling cards and dial up our passions even if they are less mainstream. It’s the cryptic and weird that makes me feel more creative. So scratch that artistic itch sometimes and be not concerned with Instagram likes. Portraying less concrete subjects in a presentation falling outside perceived norms is art. Art as an end in and of itself free of any other expectation. So get out there and get weird.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • Identify Yourself

    Identify Yourself

    Macro photo of a carpenter bee collecting wisteria pollen.
    Identify Yourself — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/640

    My brain gets the best of me. Often I wrap myself sideways in details that stand meaningless to most. Mired in Minutia: A Greg Molyneux Memoir. Case in point, I present this photograph. I’ve been scrutinizing Google images for days, sweating over proper bee identification. Is it a bumblebee? A carpenter bee? A rusty patched bumblebee? Which until yesterday I knew nothing about; bombus affinis is one cool species name, though. Or is it some other bee I don’t even know about? Ah yes, the endless fretting of a runaway mind.

    Taxed and unable to commit I sent a photo of my photo to Ben Wurst today. South Jersey’s Captain Planet, Ben’s the clear choice for local wildlife identification. Almost immediately Ben confirmed my suspicion. Declaring this here bee of the carpenter kind. Whew! Are you tired from this tedium, too?

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • Speak Softly

    Speak Softly

    Wisteria blossom macro photo with soft focus and bokeh.
    Speak Softly — 100mm | f/3.5 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/80

    Speak softly and carry a macro lens. And that’s enough Teddy Roosevelt for this post. Besides, I’m quite a loud talker. Despite being sans computer for the better part of the past month I was still out in my yard making photos. I’m sure my Mid-Atlantic flower peeps noticed the stellar wisteria bloom that manifest this spring. It was something else. When these little beauties go they create one of my favorite flowering spectacles. Tentacles of blossoms unfurl with columns of flowers serving as would be suction cups upon chlorophyll tentacles.

    Centered in my backyard sits a small wisteria. It annoys me to know end come late spring; stretching without mercy to attach itself to most anything. These bad boys grow at an alarming rate. The only way to greet it is head on—trimming shears in hand—and on a regular basis. But during the years they bloom en masse, all the invasive conquest that comes later is worth it.

    As for the photograph above we’ve got a few things working here. Some good and some accidental. The good? The light play. Rich afternoon light set up ideal conditions to capture the petite blossoms. The accidental? I was shooting handheld with my 100mm lens and not paying enough attention I dropped a 1/80 second exposure. As a general rule I like my exposure to be greater than or equal to the focal length of the lens. In this case an exposure greater than (re: faster than) or equal to 1/100 second. Holding to this formula helps keep your handheld shots sharp. Yet in this case the accidental soft focus builds on the photo. It drops a layer of whimsy onto the frame; a warm glow calming the soul. Sometimes our mistakes work in our favor.

    Interested in buying? Purchase

  • Floating on

    A macro photograph of a several wisteria blossoms. The diffuse processing lends a soft dreamlike mood to the picture.
    Floating on — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/125

    I know. I’m going nuts with the wisteria photos. This one should be it. For this season anyway.

    I’ve come to appreciate my wisteria. It’s seasonal bloom makes the extensive maintenance of trimming (re: hacking) and shaping worth it. If you’ve never encountered a wisteria just know that left unattended its creepers will reach out and take over just about anything. You can work this aggressive expansion to your favor if you plan a setup accordingly, as seen here. With a little forethought it’s certainly all worthwhile. In the interest of full disclosure my wisteria is not set up accordingly. I’ve always been better at giving advice than taking advice.

    As for the picture, I’m drawn to the diffuse processing; reducing the clarity lends an ethereal feel to the finish product. As I look about the photograph my whole world slows down. I better appreciate the little things that while small simply hide in plain sight.

  • Homing in on Wisterias

    A cross processed, close cropped portrait orientation macro photograph of a single flowering wisteria bud.
    Homing in on Wisterias — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/250

    This photograph is a holdover from this past Sunday and represents a bit of a departure for me. It started as a standard landscape orientation macro shot that I wound up aggressively cropping and flipping to a portrait orientation. This is the first time I’ve ever done the latter and one of the very few times I’ve done the former (aside from going to a 16:9 for some landscape shots). But for me, homing in on this single flowering wisteria bud, as it readied to unfold, and eliminating the extraneous negative space was the right decision here. Perhaps I’ll look to explore more with cropping in the future.

  • Wisteria when you’re near

    A macro photograph of a freshly bloomed wisteria flowering plant. The shallow depth of field and deep vignetting evoke a moody feel among the flowers.
    Wisteria when you’re near — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/640

    I made some time with my camera yesterday albeit it brief. A steady wind backed by strong gusts made for futile macro conditions. Or so I thought. Having just uploaded my shots into Lightroom I quickly saw there were some winners in the set—in fact there were several. Luck was on my side, I somehow managed to snag some interesting selective focus with a shallow depth of field as blossoms erratically moved about the frame. Sometimes you gotta just go with it, right?

    Bonus points if you get the lyrically inspired play on words in the title.