Postcard Exchange Round 14 Results and Feedback ...

[mooseontheloose]

Twenty down...28 more to go!

More great cards arrived in the mail this week:

PVia's contrabassist -- I love the movement you've captured and the somewhat eerie mood of an arm 'floating' in mid-air

Wonderful capture of the two baboons by Ritchie Thomson

I also like the nostalgic feeling of Terry Strong's haystacker -- I've never seen anything quite like it, and I'm a country girl myself

Beautful bleeding hearts by Randy -- a nice complement to sly's snow drops

Rob -- I wish we had waterfalls like this around here -- beautiful work

Anke --I really like your card and I think may be my favorite so far. The subject, the process, the paper -- fantastic. I've been hesitating to try alt processes so far but this is really inspiring me to just do it!

And today I just picked up Erik's 'end of the road' -- quite funny with the capture, and the "Postcard: Do not attempt to open" stamp on the back made me laugh at the utter absurdity of it all.

 

[Akki14]

Okay I think I gathered up all my recieved postcards since I last posted.
Blackdog - Interesting image, quite similar to Anke's composition. I got a little confused as to which way was up on it!
Buster6x6 - When my husband saw this picture he said ahha that's where our tools have gone! Needed some of those for turning up my secondhand bike. Beautiful image.
Anke - Ah so this is what a salt print looks like. I was worried when it arrived, it was curled up slightly from its journey but since it was also a rainy day, I just stuck it in my flatbed scanner for a day or two and now it's perfect again. I like the depth of the image, you must have a very nice lens to go on your plate camera.
Peter Schrager - Interesting contrast of falling down building and tropical plant life.
erikg -Aw poor car and poor Hillary
Rob Skeoch - I love wispy waterfalls, I wish I could find some to take pictures of here.
crispinuk - I like all the entangled alive trees. Thank you

 

[Rob Skeoch]

Kate, I'm glad you appreciated the stamp of Karsh.... I had to go to three stores to find enough Karsh stamps to go around.

I don't think I sent one to Simon..... does someone have the address to mail to him?

-rob

 

[kraker]

I don't think I sent one to Simon..... does someone have the address to mail to him?

Rob,

Addresses of Sean, Simon and Mary Jane are in (there was a url link here which no longer exists) of round 13.
I would say the same applies as mentioned there by Art: "as a suggestion only".

While I'm posting here, I might as well post an update:
I received your card, Rob, a beautiful photo of a waterfall. (I also noticed our Canadian participants have stamps that are as much a work of art as the postcards themselves, with a great portrait of Churchill: wow!)
Also received a card from Mick Fagan of his latest construction project(?) . Nice shot, and/but quite different from round #13 .

I've put around 20 of my cards in the mail today, I hope to address and post the remaining 10 this weekend.

 

[KPT]

I was thinking of joining the next round but i cant seem to find the postcard paper. I searched postcard, post, card and post card at suppliers sites and nothing comes up. Does anyone have a direct link to the paper? Also, Do we address then with a simple greeting? Do we include apt, shutter and film used? Sorry for these anoying questions but i realy like this postcard exchange and want to join the next round.

 

[BWKate]

Ilford makes a great postcard paper. It comes in 100 sheet packages in both glossy and pearl. I prefer the pearl surface as it seems to take more abuse from the postal system. Everyone has their preferences. Ilford's paper is called "Ilford MGIV RC Portfolio" Cat 185 6084. You can get it from Ilford or from a place that carries Ilford products.
Usually when it's time for the next round there is a sign up thread that is up for a month. You can sign up for different amounts like 30 cards which is what I usually sign up for. Some people go for the maximum which can end up being 50 postcards depending on how many people sign up. Too rich for my blood.
Some people just have the basic info on their cards, some people like me like to write a personal greeting on each and every card. It's up to you what you want to do. Usually the basic stuff is on it like type of camera, film, lens, and where you took the image.
Hopefully that will answer your questions and don't worry your questions are understandable if you haven't participated in an postcard exchanges. I've been in 8!

 

[KPT]

Ilford makes a great postcard paper. It comes in 100 sheet packages in both glossy and pearl. I prefer the pearl surface as it seems to take more abuse from the postal system. Everyone has their preferences. Ilford's paper is called "Ilford MGIV RC Portfolio" Cat 185 6084. You can get it from Ilford or from a place that carries Ilford products.
Usually when it's time for the next round there is a sign up thread that is up for a month. You can sign up for different amounts like 30 cards which is what I usually sign up for. Some people go for the maximum which can end up being 50 postcards depending on how many people sign up. Too rich for my blood.
Some people just have the basic info on their cards, some people like me like to write a personal greeting on each and every card. It's up to you what you want to do. Usually the basic stuff is on it like type of camera, film, lens, and where you took the image.
Hopefully that will answer your questions and don't worry your questions are understandable if you haven't participated in an postcard exchanges. I've been in 8!

BWKate

Thank you very much for responding with answers to all of my questions!! I will order some paper today and start shooting, hopefully i will get an interesting shot that i can send to everyone. thank you again for your help!!

 

[BWKate]

My pleasure! I am warning you though, once you start participating in the postcard exchanges you will become addicted!

 

[david b]

It is addictive. This was my first round and I really enjoyed it. I made extra post cards to send to galleries.

One bit of advice:
print a negative that needs to dodging or burning.
Make your life really simple.

One more thing.
I am using an Itoya 5x7 archival portfolio to store the postcards. I think it holds 48. Costs about $7.

 

[KPT]

BWKate, David B,

Its to late for me, Im already addicted! Im searching through my fridge to see what film i have and im stomping my feet because of the cloudy and rainy day we are having here in Chicago. I guess i will be in rehab before the next round starts.

 

[rst]

And the sign up for the next round will start on September 1st.

ciao
-- Ruediger

BWKate, David B,

Its to late for me, Im already addicted! Im searching through my fridge to see what film i have and im stomping my feet because of the cloudy and rainy day we are having here in Chicago. I guess i will be in rehab before the next round starts.

 

[Tim Gray]

I printed up 56 cards today (hope thats enough for my list!). I'll drop them in the mail on Monday. I ran out of Ilford pearl postcards about 35 in, so the rest are in glossy. I have to say that I think I finally made up my mind about preferring pearl more. Though the photos I printed on Iilford satin finish paper... mmm.

I'm also going to try *really* hard to comment on the cards I've already gotten.

 

[Jon King]

I finished printing mine today. I ended up printing in two sessions - for the second session I had a helper, my 9 year old son He ran the timer, changing the exposures for the yellow and magenta filters (split grade printing) as well as handling the prints through the stop bath and fixer. We've made a few prints before, but this was the first time he ever seriously helped in the dark room - 30 or so postcards tonight - talk about jumping straight into the deep end! I made a print with just the yellow filter and just the magenta filter to show him what each exposure did for the photo.

OK.. the happy/proud Dad moment over. My cards are done, and half addressed - they should be off on Monday. I fell far behind commenting on cards this round. I really enjoy seeing what other's reactions are to my prints, so I try to return the favor - I'll do better next round!

Jon (The Jon King who hasn't sent his cards out yet this round)

 

[Rob Skeoch]

I think the Canadian Post office printed the Karsh stamps just for this round of the post card exchange. LOL
-Rob

 

[Tim Gray]

Ooo, here's my feedback from round 14 so far.

Rob Skeoch - Great capture of the falls!

Cara Foster - Wonderful introduction to the exchange - what toning/developer did you use here?

PVia - Cool lowlight capture - I hope you were on a tripod for that shutter speed!

David Bram - awesome!

Mick Fagan - great clarity on the "Bathroom" picture.

Rachelle - Incredible! It's great to see HIE put to good use.

Black Dog - I really like the interplay of light and shadow on this one, especially with the tree in the background and the sun on the field.

Ritchie Thomson - great texture on the baboon's fur.

Darwin - I really like the cord hanging to the left of the cabinet.

Johnny Walker - nice shot of the boatbuilder

Adrian - great angle!

Warren Hinder - cool abstract of the tent

Heather Sullivan - I love the squid and the printing!

Lillian - wonderful photo and wonderful print. I really like this one.

Jon King - nice picture of the stones. Great textures.

Mark Fisher - Wow. I think I might frame this. Though my card does have a finger print on the edge

Ruediger - great detail in the bikes!

Mike Wilde - great picture, great story, great paper - it all works really well!

Buster6x6 - makes me want to get a Hasselblad!

Peter S. - interesting shot of the shacks.

Terry Strong - Cool shot of the haystacker and shack. Never seen one before.

rwyoung - I love hobo duckies

Randy Libersky - wonderful shot and print of the flowers - its a treat to see a nice print on old Azo.

Auke Drewitz - Also one of my favorites - I've never seen a salt print before! Nice Bleeding Heart stamp too - goes well with Randy's print.

Eric Mah - I love the fog and the dog!

 

[ozphoto]

Finally printed and labeled my postcards yesterday! 30 more on their way to all of you on my list. The ones I have received so far have been wonderful - hope mine live up to the quality of these.

Looking forward to the next round.

- Nanette

 

[MattKing]

APUG names or actual names?

I've a question for participants in this and other exchanges.

Usually, when I comment on any of the prints I receive I refer to people by their APUG name, in case they prefer that their real name isn't used on the web.

I know that in many cases people on APUG disclose their actual names, either in posts, or by links to websites, but not everyone does so.

Am I being too careful? If I know someone's actual name because I received their name and address as part of the exchange, should I be using it in my comments?

Just wondering.

Matt

P.S. I finished printing today - just need to do all the rest to get them out!

 

[bdial]

My cards went into the post this weekend, if any don't make it, please let me know.

 

[Tim Gray]

Cards went out today!

 

[kraker]

My last set of cards went out today. Together with the batch I sent just before the weekend, they should all arrive within... within... well, anything between a few days and two weeks, depending on the willingness of all postal services inbetween. Let me know if you have or haven't received it. I have printed a few extra, just in case...

 

[crispinuk]

I've a question for participants in this and other exchanges.

Usually, when I comment on any of the prints I receive I refer to people by their APUG name, in case they prefer that their real name isn't used on the web.

I know that in many cases people on APUG disclose their actual names, either in posts, or by links to websites, but not everyone does so.

Am I being too careful? If I know someone's actual name because I received their name and address as part of the exchange, should I be using it in my comments?

Just wondering.

Matt

P.S. I finished printing today - just need to do all the rest to get them out!

I prefer seeing APUG names used as it makes it easier to keep track of who's who. I recognise most of the APUG names from postings they've made, real names aren't always an obvious match.

Cheers
Crispin(uk)

 

[BWKate]

Received crispinuk and Black Dog's postcards today! Awesome cards gentlemen.
The tones in both images were full of wonderful detail and texture. I especially like the title of Black Dog's series, "The Secret Life of Shadows" as it is close to a name I chose for my still life series called, "The Secret Life of Still". My cards are all printed and I begin the long task of writing on all of them. Will post when they are mailed.

 

[rst]

... - for the second session I had a helper, my 9 year old son ...

Funny, my now 10 years old daughter decided that she gets not enough mail and to solve that "problem" she wants to participate in the postcard exchange on her own. So next time I will have two postcard sessions, one for my cards and one as my daughters assistant for her cards. She already knows which image to send, all she has to do is to make the shot.

And I received a few more postcards. First Mick showed me how bathrooms are built in Australia. What a nice idea. Then Mike sent me a clematis. Whew, have you ever tried to lith print this? And then Jacco sent grains and pebbles. I like this kind of stills. So this round keeps being a good one. Great.

ciao
-- Ruediger

 

[johnnywalker]

I received Mick's semi-outdoor privy today as well. Interesting construction project, and a well-balanced photo with good tones. Also received Black Dog's Secret Life of Objects, a very nice study, also tonally excellent. Still trying to figure out what the object is - tongs? on an old mantlepiece?

 

[Tim Gray]

Got BDial's card today. Very nice print of the railing!