A/NZ PX Round #16 - Comments and Feedback

Thanks Fred for the helpful feedback. Your experience serves you well. It was a hand held picture, I was not using a fast lens and from memory it was morning and of course in the shade. Hence the lack of sharpness.

Prints arrived Tuesday. I have just opened the package and wow. Will take some time this week to look at the prints and try to comment on Sunday (Monday morning your time).

Thanks for the comments, Fred. I didn't think too much about printing down the shopfront darker. I was mainly thinking to get more detail back as it was blown out if i left it straight. Definitely food for thought and you're probably right that it could be darkened further.

Here are my comments for everyone. Feel free to ignore them as you like.

Tony Egan – I like the combination of the large blocky shapes of the building against the sky and background and the texture and detail in the rusted panels on the building. I also find the the lighting adds extra interest. I quite enjoy coming back to this photo to examine the detail. I also liked how you presented the image on the card with the text on the back.

Psoul – I agree that this print isn’t great but I don’t think it’s terrible. Looking at it closely, there’s interesting detail and the overall shapes are nice. To me it feels unbalanced with the light tones in the sky drawing focus but its such a small part of the image. If I was giving it another go I’d probably start by seeing what trying to increase the contrast locally in the currently darker areas would be like. I’m happy I got a chance to see your photo. Thanks.

Oxleyroad – I’m in two minds about this image. I really like the tones, how the light mushroom is in front of the shadows and how you’ve framed it. However, I keep wanting to look closer but the softness then becomes apparent and detracts from it for me. I think I might prefer the image printed smaller as I quite enjoyed viewing it from just over arm’s length. Overall I still like it.

Hoffy – I was half looking forward to adding to my car photo collection but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I like the composition and your tonal choices on the print. It’s also nice seeing a darkroom print of some P3200. The grain looks good.

Kevin Caulfield – I always love photos of Melbourne and this is no exception. I think it looks best under strong light as when I first opened the envelope in dimmer light it looked a bit washed out. However under stronger lighting I love looking at the detail, the contrast of the lights with the buildings and the few reflective buildings too. I like how you’ve included the suburbs in the background too.

Michael W – First of all, thanks for the two prints! I agree about the minimalism being a feature of Print #1 and I like the contrast of the lady’s coat with the rest of the scene. I probably would prefer the print a tiny bit darker to get the upper horizontal lines slightly more visible. In print #2, I love the fine detail in the masonry, the floor and the ceiling. Also, I like how you get a feeling of how cavernous the three floor room is. I also agree that the heavier portfolio paper is quite nice.

Ozxplorer – This is wonderfully printed. The smoke looks great and the tones in the darker areas do too. The size of the trees in the foreground I find a bit dominant as my eyes get dragged down after first looking at the smoke but their size means they get in the way of the shape of the mill. I’m not sure there’s much that could be done given the reality of the situation. Regardless, I still really like the photo and the printing of it.

Thanks Hoffy for running this again and thanks to everyone for participating.

Thanks for the feedback Carriage. Much appreciated.

OK, are people keen to go onto round 17? I need to look at timing, as the Delivery by date will be the end of December. If people are happy with that, I'll set up the sign in shortly.

Cheers

I'm keen and I'm also trying to encourage a few Sydney darkroom people to give it a try.

hoffy said:

OK, are people keen to go onto round 17?

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Yes.., count me in too. Thanks,

Carriage said:

The size of the trees in the foreground I find a bit dominant as my eyes get dragged down after first looking at the smoke but their size means they get in the way of the shape of the mill.

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Daniel, thank you for taking the time to comment on my Round 16 entry. I agree, your observation about the tree line... on reflection it is, indeed, an intrusive element preventing a clear view of the mill. I enjoy the opportunity to learn from others’ suggestions about possible improvements I can make to enhance my picture making. Thank you too for your other supportive comment....

Michael W said:

I'm keen and I'm also trying to encourage a few Sydney darkroom people to give it a try.

Click to expand...

Well, they're a remarkably shy and secretive lot! Very surprised in a city of 5 million there isn't a bit more activity. Perhaps they are all too cool to spend time in forums like this?
There was one APUG inspired get together 9 years ago, almost to the day, but nothing since. Melbourne scene seems to be much more vibrant.
https://www.photrio.com/forum/media/sydney-apug-gathering-sept-12-2009.23945/

Ok, so it's a go. Unfortunately the power is out here (well, I do live in Adelaide..... There is a tree down on a power line around the corner), so I'll do the thread later

Hi all I am out for the next round. Having to declutter the house in preparation for selling it. Don't know when I'll next have a darkroom as the next place will need a darkroom constructed and that takes time.

However I'll be back at some point in time.

You're always welcome Andy

Rnd 17 will be the first one I have missed since the exchange started. For me it kinda sucks.

No community darkrooms in Detroit?

I'm sure I could go find some. Never thought of that.

Signup thread for round 17 can be found here:

Round 17 Signup

I remembered that I would post my comments, so sorry for being late, but here are my thoughts.

Tony Egan - I love the strong lines and the textures of this old power station. The presentation is superb. The Tetenal paper has great character.

PSoul - This looks like an amazing scene. I think the negative is probably worth revisiting in the darkroom, when you have time to experiment. This has loads of possibility.

Oxleyroad - Nice contrast and detail. Interesting subject.

Ozxplorer - I love the use of negative space above and to the right of the stack. Thanks for the information on sugar cane production.

Michael W - Firstly, thanks for submitting two prints. The photo of the old Darlinghurst Gaol is awesome. This looks like an official postcard (and I mean that as a compliment). The lady doing Spakfilla repairs in the gallery is one of three portraits in this round, and what they all have in common is that there is no eye contact with the viewer (and again that's a good thing). I like the subtle shadows.

Hoffy - Great shot of this rocker on the double bass, and again, an awesome portrait proving that eye contact is not necessary. You caught him at his rockiest and you got buckets of grain as expected.

Carriage - An interesting and humorous portrait again with no eye contact (which is still a good thing). Do they know each other or not? The poses are almost exactly the same. I like the way you included people in the background as I feel that it adds context. Do they know each other? The ID tags are pointing towards each other, hinting at a connection.

Looking forward to seeing the next bunch of prints. Thanks to all for taking part and especially to Ashley for once again coordinating us.