Greg Molyneux Photography

New Jersey landscape and nature photography

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Working under cover

August 28, 2014 by Greg Molyneux

In this low key macro photograph of a Black-eyed Susan (yellow daisy), miniature insects are working in unison under the cover of the illuminated yellow flower petals and rich bokeh fades out the background.

Working under cover — 100mm | f/4 | ISO 100 | EXP 1/400

Yellow daisies. Shoot ’em while they last.

Last week I was taking advantage of the late afternoon sun to create some dramatic flower macros with my Black-eyed Susans backdropped by a Japanese Maple. Some folks find too much sun a bad thing with their flower macros while I find it to be a most useful ally. It affords me stark contrast in lighting, muting the background to a smooth, dark bokeh.

Now that’s all well and good but it wasn’t until I got behind the viewfinder that I saw what was really going on down there; roughly a dozen as of now unidentified insects dutifully consuming what I can only guess is some kind of sugar on the flower stem—please someone correct my ignorance: I’d love to know the type of bug, and what they were doing there. Thanks! Their legs were awful close to an ant’s however the abdomen was much different; oblong, elongated and raised toward the rear.

At the end of the day shooting macro once again reminds me just how much is going on right under our very noses (all hail the mighty cliché). This is what drove me to become a photographer. Before I ever dreamed of shooting wide angle landscapes it was macro and macro alone that fueled my initial instruction and experimentation behind the lens.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 100mm black-eyed susan bokeh flowers insects low key macro yellow daisy

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Photos from the archives

Low key photograph of the Cedar Run Dock Road Octagon House
Wide angle landscape photograph of pastel clouds over phragmites and marsh at sunset
A low key long exposure black and white photograph taken over Barnegat Bay from Sunset Point in Ship Bottom, New Jersey. This photograph is marked by dark tones and strong contrast across the horizon.
In this HDR Pinelands photograph, early morning rays pierce through the tree line illuminating an eastward path through the pines
Sunset photo of pastel color clouds over reflective water and green salt marsh.

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