Postcard Exchange Round 14 Results and Feedback ...

[Buster6X6]

Today two more cards came in.
david b"Flea market" with fading perspective and real sharpness in the front. What a lens.Nicely done.
kingjon Latte stones ?What are they used for? Very nice image, I would have propped up the contrast so the leaves and texture on the stones would pop out.Summicron is outstanding.

Thanks Greg

 

[drpsilver]

26 June 2008

Received Mark Fisher's card today. I love the crisp sharp lines that seem to work together. I guess it is the strong geometry of the image that really appeals to me.

Thank you for showing me an example of thiourea (aka thiocarbimide) toning. I have been experimenting with various brown toners, and have lots of yellow/gold/red prints but little brown. Your print comes close to the tone I am looking for. So I will get the chemistry necessary to do some thiourea toning. Mark, I am curious what paper you used for this postcard.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[rst]

Five more cards arrived during the last days.

I got Davids "Flea Market". I like these kind of images. And I like that this is done with my personal contrast settings. Thanks a lot.

Then there was Warrens roof top. That is a good idea. In the first moment I thought hey what is it. Then if you look closer it is clear what it is. Nice.

And Jonathan sent "Latte Stones". I am with Greg, that I little bit more contrast would be good. But I am sure that a lot of people think that I print way too contrasty. So Jonathan, you sent us an image of these stones without telling us anything about them. Now what shall I think of this? :confused:

Then one day there was a big surprise in the mailbox. I do not believe in parapsychology but slowly I start believing in thought reading over large distances, because this is the second time (it happened earlier in one of the print exchanges) that someone sent me an image which I first saw on APUG and thought "hey, I would like to see an original print of this." This time thought reader Lillian sent the beautiful "Snow Drops". I like this image very much. The glow, the bubbles, diagonals, contrast, everything. Thanks.

So what was the fifth card :confused: Ah yes, my own card arrived. Well a bit of carbon toning would have helped. But I found out too late.

Sheila and Heather, thanks for your kind comments on my postcard. I had a hard time deciding which negative to print. But it seems that I was not totally wrong.

Thanks to all, this is again a great round.
-- Ruediger

 

[Mark Fisher]

Darwin....I used regular multigrade RC. You need a pretty strong bleach mix for this paper and it is a little difficult to get it consistant across 50 prints! Funny thing is that I made a fine print (or at least as fine as I can manage!) with Oriental Warmtone fiber and it looked nasty with thiocarbimide. It worked very nicely with selenium, though. It was surprisingly like the thiocarbimide RC prints....a nice, rich brown tone.

Sile: Thanks for the idea for a series. I might give it a shot.

Also, this is the nicest exchange so far....keep it coming!

 

[rst]

Bang, three more today.

Alan sent me a garden gnome. I will put the card under the apple tree in our back yard. At least on sunny days.

What a nice idea to put the title on the front Heather. I like the idea of your card at all and for me it works very well without toning.

And then Greg sent "Tools". It is funny, but with some postcards you take them out of the mailbox and without reading the back you know who sent them. This is one of those examples. I had it in my hands and knew this one is from Greg. I did not turn it around until I went through the rest of my mail but then out of curiosity checked that I was right. Very nice and you also manged again to nail down the contrast exactly to my liking. Thanks.

So keep them coming and thanks to every one.

-- Ruediger

 

[drpsilver]

29 June 2008

I had the same experience as Ruediger when I received "Tools" from Buster6x6. Greg, you have achieved a distinctive style of photographs.

I also received Ruediger's (rst) card. I like the composition integrating what I call "the kid's view of the world", a view that is closer to the ground than 6 feet. Looking at the corner of the stairwell gives a 3D feeling to the photo. Well done.

Thanks for the cards, and a taste of your view of the world.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[2F/2F]

Well, so far it has been nothing but black and white pix taken with Hasselblads and printed on Ilford postcard paper! Strange...

Worked on mine last night. Should have them off soon.

 

[johnnywalker]

I received Sly's "Snow Drops" on Friday. Very nice Lillian, it's a lovely photo. Also Warren's erotic "Roof Top". Took me a while to figure it out as well, but nicely done!

 

[PVia]

Well, so far it has been nothing but black and white pix taken with Hasselblads and printed on Ilford postcard paper! Strange...

Worked on mine last night. Should have them off soon.

I was just going to post the same thing...it looks like a Hasselblad convention!

I went with small format this time with my Leica M2...they go out tomorrow!

 

[Buster6X6]

Thank you guys for your kind words (Ruediger and drpsilver) it is much appreciated.

Cheers Greg

 

[kraker]

Backlog...

Hi,

I'm just back from a 2 week holiday, most of it spent in the beautiful country of Cymru. Found quite some postcards in the stack of mail, I'll comment on them within a few days, but at first glance they were all terrific. Higher standards each round...

Haven't sent my cards yet; actually, I hadn't decided on a negative yet, as I was hoping that some nice new pictures might turn up between the holiday shots of Wales. So, I'll first develop these rolls of film and then decide on what to send. Could take a couple of more weeks, though, so don't hold your breath, please.

 

[rst]

I was just going to post the same thing...it looks like a Hasselblad convention!

Out of 14 cards I received so far only four are done with a Hasselblad, that is obviously more Blads than e.g. Voigtländers but a convention?

Today it happened again, my wife brought in a postcard from the mailbox which I know who sent it without looking at the back. It seems that one learns to know those "old" postcard friends very well. Thanks Mike, you master of the old paper, for "Heading home from the festivities ..." and also for the nice story about it.

ciao
-- Ruediger

 

[crispinuk]

Snap...

This is going to sound like I'm copying Kraker's message, but...
I've just got back from spending most of June in Australia and the job of sorting through the massive pile of junk mail and bills was made more than bearable by the fair size pile of postcards already delivered. I'm going to try and get as much as I can of the mono film from Oz processed by the weekend. Postcards mean holidays to me so if I can find a decent image from this Oz trip I'll use it, otherwise it'll be the back up image I selected before i went away.
Oooh, that reminds me, that Velvia won't mail itself to the lab, and i'd better order in another box of postcard paper...

Crispin

 

[david b]

I've been gone for about a week and look forward to getting the pile of postcards.

 

[Black Dog]

I was just going to post the same thing...it looks like a Hasselblad convention!

I went with small format this time with my Leica M2...they go out tomorrow!

I've been using a Mamiya TLR just to be different [and a Pentax LX/Olympus Trip for the 35mm stuff].

 

[david b]

I was trying to find a 4x5 neg that I really liked but settled on my Hasselblad shot.

 

[Buster6X6]

Today I received four outstanding post cards.
Akki14 A squid in the jar. I do like vignetting, it make it for very interesting presentation.
Mark Fisher Mark you outdid your self with this one. What a nice toning job. This is my kind of contrast, Wow.
Mike Wilde How appropriate, tomorrow is a Canada day celebration.I like the paper and the content.Very nice.
rstBicycles on Montmartre. I do have to return the compliment. This is my kind of contrast.Outstanding photo Ruediger.Well done.

Thanks Greg

 

[Anke Drewitz]

thanks

A big thank you for the postcards that reached me in the last two weeks. Its a big pleasure to look into the mail box every day and find a post card.

Ruediger: interesting place and contrast
David: strange things to sell, it reminds me of markets with religious things in India, similar strange art
Warren: big top, my first post card from Australia
Heather: fits theme and fashion style, but the sqid: örks (I don't know, how this sounds in english)
Mark Fisher: I very like this kind of motive and especially the tone from the thiocarbimide
busters6x6: Tools in really fine contrast
Lillian: really nice, like this kind of things and presentation, but why you needed an enlarger, when a 4x5 should fit as a contact print on a post card?
Mike Wilde:a very special look and greetings from passed times, I love to play with old materials too, love the haptic taste of handmade and old papers

So, my cards will have a very different look, they are printed and will be addressed this week to go out before my holidays. I had a lot to learn with the used printing process, every card was a surprise, but I will wait for your comments before I tell to much

My very favorites so far: Lillian's Snow Drops, Rachelle's Dolmen, Mark's door, Darwin's look into the past and Buster's tools
out of competition: Mike's Heading home from the festivities

BTW: Where can I ask for more time to spend on the next post card exchanges? :rolleyes:

Regards,
Anke

 

[gr82bart]

Thanks so much for the following postcards:

• Heather's awesome squid in a jar postcard
• Funky gnome taken with Type 55 from Alan - I'll miss Type 55
• Sly's amazingly printed snow drops
• Latte Stone from KingJon
• Warren from Australia sent a nice image of the big top
• A square postcard from Mark of a hinge - I love these kinds of images
• David's sent a interesting perspective of t-shirts at a flea market
• A jar in the box by Darwin
• Johnny's pic of a dog named Dakota?
• I like Cara's high contrast image of a statue
• I love Rachelle's IR image taken in Ireland - I'll miss HIE
• Buster6x6 always has interesting perspectives of tools - this postcard of hanging wrenches doesn't disappoint
• I also like Ruediger's bicycles in Paris
• Mike's shot of a couple walking home with their dog is poignant

What a fantastic start to this round. As for me, I had it all planned out with images from Maui; not to be. Hmmm ... so I have to come up with something else. Hang in there.

Regards, Art.

 

[rwyoung]

And away they go! The will be dropped into tomorrow's outbound mail.

Thanks to all the MF shooters that sent me stuff! I've gotten 3 or 4 postcards so far and all are from 6x6 negs!

Mine is also MF but from a 6x7 back on the Graphlex.

 

[Buster6X6]

Today I received two more cards. Thanks to:
Alan Peck and a little gnome on Pola 55.MLL what a nice lens. Well done.
Peter Schrager Very nice contrasty image from Bahamas, my favorite film and developer.Well printed.

Greg

 

[ozphoto]

Finally made it home to find the following cards waiting for me:

Liliian's Snow drops - a favorite with my whole family;
Warren's Big Top;
Darwin's Jug in the Cabinet - one of my favorite's, unfortunately the postal service wasn't so kind to it;
Raechelle's HIE landscape - I miss this film immensely too!;
Heather's Squid in the Jar - agree the stamp is well matched to the postcard subject - I'm a sucker for those old horror movies ;
David Bram's Flea Market;
Mark Fisher's wonderful texture photograph - another of my favorite's for this round.

Into the darkroom this weekend to select a suitable candidate for this round - apologies for the late posting.

- Nanette

 

[ozphoto]

A quick question Mark regarding the toner you used - is this similar to Sepia Toner?
It reminds me of Agfa's lovely Viradon (RIP) and I have a few photos that would respond well.

- Nanette

 

[Mark Fisher]

The toning was straight thiocarbimide toning. The first step is a partial bleach (first highlights disappear) followed by the toner. I mix it from scratch from potassium bromide, potassium ferricyanide, sodium hydroxide, and thiocarbimide. It allows a range of tone from yellows to deep browns depending on how much sodium hydroxide solution you add.....and it doesn't smell. If you want to learn the details, get Tim Runman's toning book. It gives a bunch of variations.

 

[ozphoto]

Thanks Mark. Was just in Chicago the last 2 weeks for business - fantastic weather and a beautiful city! Looking forward to getting back to photograph the wonderful architecture.