Postcard Exchange Round 12 Comments and Results

rst · Nov 4, 2007

Hi all,

thanks again to everyone for being part of this round! I've created this thread to post comments and feedback for this round. So please post here and not in the sign up thread.

If one of the moderators of the postcard forum can please make this thread sticky and maybe the sign up thread "unsticky".

ciao
-- Ruediger

gr82bart · Nov 4, 2007

If anyone wants to send a postcard with a note of support to Kodak, write to:

Mary Jane Hellyar
President Film Products Group
Eastman Kodak Company
343 State Street
Rochester, New York 14650

Hopefully, people will take this opportunity to be supportive of Kodak and demonstrate to her that there is a market for traditional film products. Here's her bio: http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2710&pq-locale=en_US&gpcid=0900688a8023249d

All mine are in the mail. I asked Mary Jane to sign up for an APUG membership too. Cross our fingers.

Regards, Art.

Tim Gray · Nov 4, 2007

Awesome Art. I printed out an extra card in hopes that an address would be found for Kodak!

Black Dog · Nov 4, 2007

I'll do an extra one too!

Buster6X6 · Nov 4, 2007

gr82bart said:
...

Hopefully, people will take this opportunity to be supportive of Kodak and demonstrate to her that there is a market for traditional film products...

Regards, Art.

This is awsome Art thank you very much for posting this info, it is worth a try

Cheers Greg

Tim Gray · Nov 5, 2007

Cards went out today. Hope you guys enjoy them.

Mike Wilde · Nov 5, 2007

Mine are all mailed

I was keen, and printed a whack a few weeks ago, and tagged the cards onto the print run I was in the middel of.

Then this weekend I was otherwise home, but did not feel like printing. Wierd how the urge to print comes and goes. I did get more than 8 hours sleep for three nights in a row, so perhaps I will have the mojo back for a few late night sessions this week.

AdamKap · Nov 7, 2007

I just got your card yesterday Tim. Great shot

Valerie · Nov 7, 2007

Received randyman's card today.... and taken just "down the road" a bit! Great image, Randall. Thank you!

Valerie

Tim Gray · Nov 7, 2007

AdamKap said:
I just got your card yesterday Tim. Great shot

Thanks! I'm always blown away by the cards I receive in this exchange so its always good to hear a nice word

AdamKap · Nov 7, 2007

Just got Art's card today as well. Wasn't expecting a cyanotype

BWKate · Nov 8, 2007

Art,

I'll send Mary Jane an infrared image on a postcard. I just found out about HIE being discontinued and I've set aside a day of mourning. Man, this is such a bummer. This film has been so important to me for so long that I'm pretty upset. I think I'll talk to Kraker about the Rollei version of HIE.
I better order as much HIE as I can afford.

gphoto120 · Nov 8, 2007

I just received Art's cyanotype today - this is this first card I have received and my first postcard exchange as well! Great image! Thanks so much.
gphoto120

Black Dog · Nov 8, 2007

Glad I still have a few rolls of HIE in the fridge-I'll dig out a neg done on the 5x4 version [RIP]. Posting about 30 cards today and tomorrow and just a few left to print now. Looking forward to recieving the next lot!

randyman · Nov 8, 2007

Valerie said:
Received randyman's card today.... and taken just "down the road" a bit! Great image, Randall. Thank you!

Thank you for the feedback, Valerie. This is my first exchange on here, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone's cards.

Randy

BWKate · Nov 9, 2007

Received Mike Wilde's postcard yesterday. Thanks for your kind comment about my photos in B&W. It' such a treat to get a colour image in this exchange and I enjoyed this one. It came relatively unmarred.
I'm still reeling about Hie being discontinued and will continue to be in mourning.

Pete H · Nov 9, 2007

Received the first 3 cards today:
Mike Wide's Toronto skyline. I like the subdued colours.
George's (gmessarit) random tree, with an interesting dof.
Tim Gray's cyclist - great fun!

Thanks all.

Valerie · Nov 9, 2007

3 more fantastic cards!!
Tim Gray's wheelie kid
Art's cyanotype
DRPSilver's Evergreen Barn

These are all absolute treasures!

randyman · Nov 9, 2007

And here they come! I suspect Valerie and I will receive our cards on a nearly identical schedule, given our proximity. So, ditto the above. Can't wait to see more.

Mark Fisher · Nov 10, 2007

Printed, signed and "stickered" them today to go out Monday...mine is another in the series of County Fairs in the Midwest (US).

I also wanted to share a little of what I've learned after being in a bunch of these exchanges:
I'm finding it really interesting how I am selecting negatives. I have a lot of negatives that I can make good prints from, but some of them take a fair amount of work to print. Beyond being a good image, I tend to choose negatives that I can print in one setting of the timer. In this case, I had the base exposure and a partial dodge in the middle of the print. In other negatives, I've has a base exposure with a couple of edge burns. I'm always willing to crop a little. Sometimes I've toned prints, but RC paper isn't the greatest for that.

I've also found that a simple 2 bladed easel works pretty well, but I keep thinking that I'll make a speed-easel for the postcard size. I keep thinking of doing simple 4x5 contact prints on 4x5 paper or as a VDB or cyanotype..., but I still have a lot of county fair pics I want to share! I still haven't figured out how to easily print out address labels though!

Anyone else have something to share about how they select negatives, print for postcards, etc?

BWKate · Nov 11, 2007

Mark,

I tend to also choose negatives that are easy to print and don't require extensive burning and dodging. I like to keep it simple because I usually print all my postcards in one session. It's all the writing I do on the postcards that take all the time.

Mick Fagan · Nov 11, 2007

Mark, I select a negative that can be at worst requiring either a single dodge or burn, or at best a straight print.

My current selection which I printed a week ago in 58 minutes, is a single straight exposure.

For an easel, I use a piece of chip board. The flat chipboard has two pieces of timber nailed to two sides that are raised 5mm above the chipboard surface. I simply slide the paper into the corner, expose then change it quickly with the next one. This chipboard easel has paper sizes from postcard through to 12 x 16" marked in a ball point pen. I use this almost exclusively with RC paper. The base has four rubber feet attached, this stops it slipping on my enlarger baseboard

If I was making an easel today I would use MDF, as this material appears to have replaced chipboard, which was all the go 25 years ago when I whacked this easel up.

Like Kate, I find the time taken to hand write the addresses is a bit of a time thing. I tried to pull the file into Excel and print out address labels, but somehow it won't work for me. It's not an issue, I just do a few cards each evening until they are all done, mine will go out this week.

Mick.

Buster6X6 · Nov 11, 2007

I would like to address the label making . I use Avery #5160 (30) labels.
Down load Avery printing wizard from there site. Then I go to Microsoft Word
call the wizard and start entering addresses. It takes about an hour for 50 labels.

Cheers Greg

rst · Nov 11, 2007

Mick Fagan said:
Like Kate, I find the time taken to hand write the addresses is a bit of a time thing. I tried to pull the file into Excel and print out address labels, but somehow it won't work for me.

To pull the addresses into Excel I added the line notation to the PMs. You will have to copy that part of the PM into an Ascii text editor like notepad (not Word or other word processors). Then in Excel in the open dialog window choose that text file and Excel will realize that this is a plain text file and ask for separators (in this case use the semicolon as a separator). After that you will have all addresses as lines in an Excel table. How to proceed from there ... I do not know since I am not familiar with Excel.

I entered the address data into my address book on my Mac. From round to round I have to add fewer addresses because we have a good amount of regulars in the postcard exchange. The labels are then created via a serial letter which I combine with the address data in a word processor.

I know a good stamp maker in Australia and I will handwrite my cards as soon as I will do my postcards on FB paper and have my postcard stamp ready.

ciao
-- Ruediger

Mark Fisher · Nov 11, 2007

If you saw my handwriting, you'd understand why I don't handwrite my cards! I think I'll make a speed easel this winter. Thanks for the hint on bringing the file into notepad then into excel. I tried to paste it into word and use the label template with no luck. I'm always surprised how fast I can print the cards and how much time it takes to do all the other stuff......

Mark

Postcard Exchange Round 12 Comments and Results

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