A/NZ PX Round #18 - Comments and Feedback

Hey Folks,
Welcome to the 18th round of the A/NZ Print exchange. This will be the thread to make your comments on progress, critiques and general chit chat.

The list of participants:

1. Michael W
2. Ozxplorer
3. Kevin Caulfield
4. hoffy

As per the signup thread, you have until the 1st of April to get your prints to me. My address details should have been sent to you in a separate PM.

As there are 4 participants, you have to print 3 images. Just remember, your prints are to be no more than 8 inches on the shortest side and 10 inches on the longest side. And as per the new clarification of the rules, we will no longer accept prints that have been made via digital means. This excludes: inkjet prints, mini lab prints, laser prints, etc - basically, if a computer sent it to the device that printed it, its out. Sorry, but the tribe has spoken.. If you need clarification, either send me a message OR post to this thread.

I have also attached the Information template that has been used for previous rounds.

Cheers and have fun!

My package arrived today. As always thanks to Hoffy for facilitating this exchange.
This round I was a bit apprehensive about there being so few participants. What are the chances that I will like all the prints when there are only three other people taking part? As it happens, I love all of them, it's one of the best print exchanges I've taken part in.
In the order they came out of the packet

Kevin Caulfield - macro, painting with light. A beautiful rendition with gorgeous out of focus specular highlights. The deep black background makes the pocket watch look like it's floating in space.

Ozxplorer - Jenny. A classic portrait in style and printing. It could be a vintage portrait printed in the 1970s or '70s, i.e. timeless. I tend to get prejudiced against certain papers and in recent times I may have been heard to express my intense dislike for Ilford RC Pearl surface and yet that is what Fred has used and it is the perfect paper for this image. I am also intrigued by the mention of the portrait diffusion filter used under the enlarger lens.
Ozxplorer - caffenol test. Very interesting. I used Caffenol a while back and was fascinated and impressed by the results. I also remember the awful smell of cheap coffee. Anyway, this is an impressive result.

Hoffy - Horny Bird. Wow, another great print on Ilford Pearl. I must have been doing something wrong when I tried it, I seem to recall it printed quite flat. Perhaps it needs the right negative. I also love the look of 1960s American cars (used to drive a 1967 Pontiac GTO years ago). This photo has excellent composition and tonal range.

Thanks to all, I will continue to enjoy looking at these prints.

My package arrived today too... thank you all for your participation - Hoffy for administering the round and Michael for his comments. Michael, agreed, the Caffenol brew doesn’t quite trigger that all to familiar early morning wake up coffee aroma! Having spent my day cleaning my darkroom/studio space I will get to enjoy the photos later this evening. Kevin, I’m visiting PeterMac next week on Tuesday & Wednesday returning to the Gold Coast on Sunday week. Maybe we can try to meet up for a “famous” Melbourne coffee?

Glad to see these have arrived prior to Easter.

Ozxplorer said:

My package arrived today too... thank you all for your participation - Hoffy for administering the round and Michael for his comments. Michael, agreed, the Caffenol brew doesn’t quite trigger that all to familiar early morning wake up coffee aroma! Having spent my day cleaning my darkroom/studio space I will get to enjoy the photos later this evening. Kevin, I’m visiting PeterMac next week on Tuesday & Wednesday returning to the Gold Coast on Sunday week. Maybe we can try to meet up for a “famous” Melbourne coffee?

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Hi Fred, you're on. That would be great Pm me please.

My package hasn't arrived yet...

Fred, I sent you a PM.

Michael W said:

My package arrived today. As always thanks to Hoffy for facilitating this exchange.
This round I was a bit apprehensive about there being so few participants. What are the chances that I will like all the prints when there are only three other people taking part? As it happens, I love all of them, it's one of the best print exchanges I've taken part in.
In the order they came out of the packet

Kevin Caulfield - macro, painting with light. A beautiful rendition with gorgeous out of focus specular highlights. The deep black background makes the pocket watch look like it's floating in space.

Thanks to all, I will continue to enjoy looking at these prints.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your comments Michael. It's an ongoing project (turning into a long-term one - it's a long story) and that was just my first crack at it, but glad you liked it and I appreciate the feedback.

By the way, my deep black background in my photo is a Stonehenge t-shirt turned inside out.

Hi all, just letting you know that my package of prints arrived yesterday. Great work by all. I'll post more detailed comments later, but just for now, I love the range of subject matter, films and developers used, papers used, etc, etc.

Fred, that is the first time I've seen a caffenol print in person.

Anyway, Fred and I are actually going to meet in person later this week, so we'll discuss the prints then of course. I'm hoping to be able to show him the latest improved version of my exchange print.

More later, but once again thanks to all participants and again a huge thanks to hoffy for cooordinating it all so well.

Hey Kevin,

Sorry I missed these last few posts. Glad to see your prints have arrived.

I hope you enjoyed your day out with Fred. I have to admit, I am a bit slack when visiting other cities and meeting others.

Anyhow, back to the exchange. I am a bit hot and cold with photography of late, hence no comments on the prints. I am also on the fence about continuing the exchange. I do find it worthy, but numbers have dwindled as we all know. IS it a sign of the forum that is Photrio/APUG, or is there no interest any more?

Something to ponder for a few days as I half go off the grid.

Cheers

Hi hoffy,

Sorry I missed your post. I understand how you feel. I sometimes find it difficult to be inspired, but then it's all worth it for those times when you're not sure what to expect and the light is just right and you end up losing an hour shooting five rolls of film. That happened to me at Apollo Bay a few weeks ago.

Fred and I had a great meeting and discussion. Two and a half hours just seemed to vanish. We did discuss the latest print exchange and I still will make some comments on the prints.

I'm happy to continue with the exchange but you have the hard job coordinating it. What do others feel? Anybody else back interested again?

Kevin

Thank you Kevin... while there is a large Aussie contingent here at Photrio our Australia/New Zealand Print Exchange fails to attract strong support. The question is “why”? Why is the participation rate so low? It certainly is not the pressure of needing to meet deadlines as our completion rate is about 3 maybe 4 rounds per annum. Other factors might include the cost, the format, lacks special interest groups or even the low frequency of round completion? Evident too is some participants have not really encouraged a full discourse or engagement between members suggesting they are not interested in others comments nor feedback plus they do not provide any appreciation of other member’s work - an air of superiority about their photo/art competence not open for critique! I don’t know... But what I do know is that if one styles themselves as a traditional photographer you would want to spend time in the darkroom producing prints and not manufacture reasons why not? No doubt traditional photography is a often a lonely activity thus being able to share outcomes does create a community of likeminded people which can help to elevate individual skill set. We need to talk...

In reality, the exchange isn't that hard to co-ordinate. Its a bit of copy paste update, a bit of followup from time to time and then an evening packaging.

This sounds like a great idea! I am new to the forum and wondering if this is still running or, if not, are there any plans to co-ordinate it again?

mexicoke said:

This sounds like a great idea! I am new to the forum and wondering if this is still running or, if not, are there any plans to co-ordinate it again?

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Hello… sadly, the answer to each of your questions is: no & no! But, you are more fortunate than many Aussies as it seems the film photographer community in Melbourne is quite strong and connected. Maybe a good idea would be for you to consider membership of the Melbourne Camera Club and spread your wings from there… possibly also look through this and preceding exchange posts for locals then drop them a line… BTW, welcome to Photrio! Enjoy & good luck! Fred

As Fred says, there's an awful lot of film photographers lurking 'round Melbourne!! Melbourne Camera Club is not a bad idea, and they have a thriving traditional darkroom group...

Marc!