A Fictional Skeptic http://fictionalskeptic.net Books, Music, Movies, Photography Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:33:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 The Dance http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/21/the-dance/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/21/the-dance/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:25:55 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/21/the-dance/ RKR-3042 - Version 2

Nikon d70s: ISO 200, f/3.5, 10s @18mm

I picked up two neat books the other month on daring photography.  Now I don’t know how daring photography can be (unless you’re a combat photographer) but the ideas and the techniques really gave me some neat ideas to play around with.  And since digital imaging is so much cheaper than film, it doesn’t matter if it comes out crappy.

“The Dance”  © Paul Puglisi

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]]> http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/21/the-dance/feed/ 0 Empty Night http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/10/empty-night/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/10/empty-night/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2011 01:27:05 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/?p=1258 RKR-3037 - Version 2
And the experiments have continued.  The other night I did some long exposure photography and came up with some interesting shots.  This particular one was processed in Aperture as an infrared image with some minor tweaks here and there to bring out the contrast between the trees and the background.

“Empty Night” © Paul Puglisi
Nikon d70s: ISO 200, f/3.5, 20s @ 18mm

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]]> http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/10/empty-night/feed/ 0 Cyanotype http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/05/cyanotype/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/05/cyanotype/#comments Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:15:02 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/?p=1254 DSC_0154 - Version 2This was processed in Adobe Photoshop Elements to simulate a cyanotype effect from the original shot.   Playing around with Elements has been a lot of fun.  I have started to learn that photographs, as art, don’t need to be a realistic interpretation of what the sensor captures.  Though there are great photographers that do just that, capture reality in ways that make you look at the world from different angles.  I like taking those shots as well.  But right now I am feeling the pull to experiment with my shots.  Both at capture and post capture processing.

“Cyanotype” © Paul Puglisi -Nikon d70s: ISO 200, f/29, 1/5 @ 70mm

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]]> http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/04/05/cyanotype/feed/ 0 The Vertical and Horizontal http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/17/the-vertical-and-horizontal/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/17/the-vertical-and-horizontal/#comments Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:38:28 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/?p=1249 Yes I know I have posted mostly photography posts since I started the blog again.  Mostly because I am in the middle of reading a few books that I would like to write about and I need to reacquaint myself with the last three Aubrey/Maturin books I read so I can write about them.  Right now I am rereading Neal Stephenson‘s The Baroque Cycle.

In the meantime I get to display my photos.

Vertical and Horizontal by Paul Puglisi ©2011 All rights reserved.
Nikon D70s: ISO 200, f/6.7, 1/2000 @ 46mm

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]]> http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/17/the-vertical-and-horizontal/feed/ 0 Ranger http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/16/ranger/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/16/ranger/#comments Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:47:49 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/?p=1247 This is Ranger.  He is just about a year and a half old.  He is an American line sable German Shepherd Dog.  He is our new GSD.  We rescued him from North Carolina back in August of last year.  When the rescue got him he was infested with fleas, heart-worm, and hookworm and he only weighed 46 lbs.  When we adopted him he was 62 lbs and now, as of today, he is 75lbs.  And he has filled out.  He has the best temperament and loves playing with every other dog he comes across. And since he is great with people and adores getting mushed, we are training him to be a therapy dog.

When we lost our other two dogs in 2009, I never thought I would be able to get another, but my wife surprised me with Ranger, much to my chagrin, and he and I have been pretty much inseparable since he got here.

Ranger © 2011 Paul Puglisi. All rights reserved.
Nikon D70s: ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/90 @ 70mm

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]]> http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/16/ranger/feed/ 0 Into the Woods http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/09/into-the-woods/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/09/into-the-woods/#comments Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:51:44 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/?p=1243

This image was processed with HDR Efex Pro from three bracketed photos.  Here in New Jersey we have received a huge amount of snow in the past month and this one morning while walking my dog, Ranger, I came across this scene with the sun just peaking through the branches.

Ranger was none too happy that he had to wait while I stopped and took a series of bracketed photos for 10 minutes since he was tracking a bunny.

“Into the Woods”© Paul Puglisi
Nikon d70s: ISO 200, f/6.7, 1/750 @ 18mm

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]]> http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/09/into-the-woods/feed/ 0 Nobody Ever Looks Up http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/05/nobody-ever-looks-up/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/05/nobody-ever-looks-up/#comments Sat, 05 Feb 2011 22:35:25 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/?p=1240

Nobody Ever Looks Up by Paul Puglisi

While hanging out with my GSD at the dog park I take shots of him and the other dogs playing and sometimes during a lull in the action I take other shots.  This is one of them.

Nobody Ever Looks Up by Paul Puglisi

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]]> http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/05/nobody-ever-looks-up/feed/ 0 Frozen Water http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/01/frozen/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/01/frozen/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:00:19 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/01/frozen/

Nikon D70s: ISO 200, f6.7, 1/350 @300mm

Frozen Water
Originally uploaded by Paul Puglisi

With these past storms hitting New Jersey I was able to find some cool subjects to photograph. This single exposure was captured during the middle of the day. I love how when you get close up to certain things you create an image that might not necessarily look like anything but as an abstract work highlighting a certain feature makes it beautiful.

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]]> http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/02/01/frozen/feed/ 0 Boardwalk http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/01/28/boardwalk/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/01/28/boardwalk/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:44:43 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/01/28/boardwalk/
HDR-1507 – Version 2
Originally uploaded by Paul Puglisi

This was shot at the end of October. Composed of three exposures (-2ev, 0, +2) processed with HDR Efex Pro and Aperture.

Nikon D70s: ISO 200, f/13, 1/60, 38mm

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]]> http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/01/28/boardwalk/feed/ 0 Ethereal Jetty http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/01/26/ethereal-jetty/ http://fictionalskeptic.net/2011/01/26/ethereal-jetty/#comments Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:01:58 +0000 Paul Puglisi http://fictionalskeptic.net/archives/1217
DSC_0159 – Version 2
Originally uploaded by Paul Puglisi

This was taken at the shore around sunset of the jetty that reaches out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Nikon D70s at ISO 200, f/32, 5 sec exp. at 70mm.

It was processed in Aperture from color to black and white.

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