Deft Punk🌻
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alchemist-x.bsky.social
Deft Punk🌻
@alchemist-x.bsky.social
490 followers 590 following 180 posts
Live in St. Paul, spent 13 years in DC, born and raised in Pittsburgh. Photographer, human/cat dad, and progressive hillbilly.

Goonies never say die!
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alchemist-x.bsky.social
It's still #caturday to me, dammit. Today is my girlfriend's cat, Scruffy, who we simply call "Kitty". He was desperately clinging to what little Minnesota sunlight was breaking through the curtains on a chilly day.

#cats #photography #kitty #meow 📸

📷Sony a7RIV
👁️SOny 50mm f/1.4 GM
December 21, 2025 at 6:23 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
I truly believe everyone needs a desk-cat (or dog, if they prefer!) to get them through the workday. Garak agrees.

#meow #kittycat #catpics
December 18, 2025 at 8:01 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Move to #Minnesota they said. You'll love it there they said.

(Yes, this is me, and yes, I love it here.)

#oopse #fail #funny
December 15, 2025 at 7:45 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
May everyone's holiday be a bokehlicious one. 📸

📷Sony a7RIV
👁️ Sony 50mm f/1.4 GM

#bokeh #christmas #holidays #happyholidays #mnphotographer #minnesota #photography
My christmas tree taken out of focus with a 50mm lens with a f/1.4 aperture.
December 15, 2025 at 7:36 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 7:29 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Expectation vs reality. Look, I get it. It's assembled by criminally underpaid people who are reprimanded if they don't keep up a certain pace, so it's not going to look picture perfect, but Jeeze Louise, could they at least have put the pickles and onions on it?
The expectation: An image of a perfectly assembled McRib sandwich taken from McDonald's own website. The reality: image of a sad, sad excuse for a McRib sandwich soaking in its own misery, slathered in way too much barbecue sauce and no accoutrements like pickles or onions. I literally feel sad for this abomination.
December 8, 2025 at 5:42 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
My girlfriend indulged me on a snowy #photography walk in Owatonna yesterday. I love being out in the snow and cold, even if there's a lot more of it here in #Minnesota than there was in the DC metro.

📷 Sony a7RIV
👁️ Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM

#snow #winter #owatonnamn #sonyalpha 📸
December 8, 2025 at 3:19 AM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Cathedral of St. Paul on my walk home from work tonight. iPhone - I didn't have my camera with my :(

#photography #iphonephotography #minnesota #minnesotaphotographer #iphone16promax #cellphonephotography #stpaulmn
November 13, 2025 at 5:59 AM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
I've never seen the Northern Lights before. My girlfriend texted me to let me know they were out. She's down in Owatonna so I figured I'd not see too much here in St. Paul because of light pollution. I was wrong.

📷 Sony a7RIV
👁️ Sigma 14-24 DG DN | A

#photography #northernlights #MN #minnesota 📸
November 12, 2025 at 3:19 AM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Did I want it? Yes. Did I need it? Yes.

#tchotchkes #catsass
November 11, 2025 at 2:23 AM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
The endless Blue Ridge Mountains as seen from #Shenandoah Nat'l Park for #mountainmonday

I'm thrilled I moved to Minnesota, but I do miss the #Appalachian mountains terribly.

#mountains #landscapephotography #blueridge #skylinedrive #blue #depth #photography 📸📷
November 11, 2025 at 1:02 AM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Sarah posed as Red Riding Hood, for me on a Halloween-themed shoot at Hidden Falls park in St. Paul last weekend. It was a blast to shoot.

#halloween #modelphotography #redridinghood #minnesota #stpaul #sonyalpha 📸📷
October 25, 2025 at 8:17 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Forest Hill Cemetery in Owatonna is showing the fall colors of #Minnesota quite nicely. It's a shame to hear reports of muted fall colors from family back home in PA/MD.

#photography #autumncolors #happyfall #owatonnamn #minnesotaphotographer #sonyalpha #cemetery #momentomori 📷📸
October 19, 2025 at 5:57 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Minnesota State Capitol. After 13 years of photographing the US Capitol, it was cool to shoot something different. It's not the PA State Capitol, but it's definitely growing on me as far as state capitol buildings go.

📸Sony a7RIV
👁️ Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM

#photography #minnesota #architectutre 📷
October 12, 2025 at 10:55 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
I was thinking of starting a #photography series titled "Statues in Minnesota of People Who Never Stepped Foot in Minnesota."

My first entrant? Nathan Hale in a little park on Summit Ave. in St. Paul.

Sony a7RIV + Sony 50mm f/1.4 GM

#minnesota #stpaulmn #statues #urbanphotography #neverbeen 📸📸
Statue of Nathan Hale in Nathan Hale Park in St. Paul, MN. He never stepped foot in Minnesota.
October 10, 2025 at 12:21 AM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Walked 3 miles home up Summit Ave. from my work in downtown St.Paul to my apartment and was greeted with a pretty awesome sky. Shane I took my camera in with me yesterday and not today, so I'll settle for a iPhone shot.

#dusk #minnesota #stpaulmn #bluehour #mynewhome
October 10, 2025 at 12:11 AM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
🎶I'm a cowboy🎶
🎶On an iPhone I type🎶
🎶I'm texting... texting my wiiiiife🎶

Mankato, MN
📸Sony a7RIV
👁️Sony 100-400 GM

#photography #streetphotography #minnesota #mankatomn #cowboy #blackandwhite 📷
September 29, 2025 at 4:27 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
[ from the archive ]

Some shots I took of the lovely Shoshana at Metrobar in DC last September.

Model: instagram.com/shoshana.official
📸Sony a7RIV
👁️Sony 135mm f/1.8 GM

#photography #blackandwhite #portraits #model #washingtondc 📷
September 26, 2025 at 10:24 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Not having my 📷 with me didn't stop me from doing some #photography before and after work yesterday with my iPhone.

St. Paul, MN

#iphone16promax #stpaulmn #urbanphotography #iphonephotography #blackandwhite #streetscenes 📸
September 25, 2025 at 4:17 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Forest Hill Cemetery in Owatonna, MN.

Sony a7RIV + 24mm f/1.4 GM, 50mm f/1.4 GM

#photography #blackandwhitephotography #cemeteries #momentomori 📸📷
September 22, 2025 at 5:23 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
One of my prized possessions - my bust of Jefferson. Normally, it's a reminder of the 13 years I lived in the nation's capital, and how much I miss it, but here, it allowing me to scratch my light and shadow itch on a rainy day.

#photography #minnesotaphotographer #lightandshadow
Black-and-white photo of a classical-style bust of Thomas Jefferson, dramatically lit from one side against a dark background.
September 19, 2025 at 3:29 AM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Happy #caturday from Garak (grey tabby) and Kira (orange tabby/calico).
September 14, 2025 at 3:03 AM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Took my camera to work today so I could take advantage of the view of the MN state capitol from the office.

Sony a7RIV + 100-400mm GM
Wide view of the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul under a partly cloudy blue sky. The white marble building with its large dome and golden quadriga statues is centered, with flags flying at half-staff. Trees and green lawns surround the Capitol, and a modern gray building is in the foreground.
September 10, 2025 at 10:58 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
My son flew out from Pittsburgh and visited me here in St. Paul last week. I was super-honored when he asked me to take his Senior Photos. He chose Mill Ruins Park as the place he wanted to shoot and asked me to use the coloring style I use for my street photography.
August 22, 2025 at 5:07 PM
alchemist-x.bsky.social
Why do the best sunsets seem to happen when I'm out shopping and I don't have my camera with me?

#parkinglotsunsets
Sunset sky over Super Target in Lakeville, MN. Sunset sky over Super Target in Lakeville, MN. Sunset sky over Super Target in Lakeville, MN.
August 15, 2025 at 2:41 PM