Postcard Exchange Round 19 - Comments and Feedback

[BirgerA]

I received Tim K's beautiful print from Angkor Wat today.
Really nice.

Regards
Birger A.

 

[mooseontheloose]

I received Tim K's beautiful print from Angkor Wat today.

As did I -- really like the light and contrast in this print, and the tension between the two trees.

I also received Barry's beautiful misty scene. Didn't realize Ilford's postcard paper could be redeveloped in lith! I like the split tone effect it's created.

 

[gurkenprinz]

Received Allen Friday's "Iowa Scene" too! I really enjoy looking at it - the speed of the merry-go-round and the monumental tower details behind. Still couldn't figure out where in Iowa that might be, though...

Thank you, Allen!

 

[gurkenprinz]

Hi, me again. Received 2 cards yesterday, a very calm and romantic country scene by Mark Thorley and Roger Thoms' detailed port scene. It has a nice structure to it with a few "imaginary triangles". Did you print with low contrast so that the details were still there? Also, I wonder: how did you print on the back - did you mount a sheet of paper to it?

 

[mooseontheloose]

I received Tim K's beautiful print from Angkor Wat today.
As did I -- really like the light and contrast in this print, and the tension between the two trees.

Oops! Confusion on two prints here...my bad. I did receive Tim K's print, as well as polygot's postcard of what I assume is a temple in the Angkor Wat complex (or something similar). Nice contrast in William's print, and a beautiful tone in Tim's with the sepia.

I also received rmann's Shaker Village workroom, a familiar scene to me having worked in museums like this myself. Good job printing, especially keeping detail in the windows, without having them blow out (something that plagues me all the time).

 

[Laurent]

What a week !!! I've been again on a business trip, and had 8 cards waiting for me at home !

JohnnyWalker's great portrait of a logger. The pose is very good, as is the composition !

Mark Thorley's old crop seeder, I really like the feeling of the place.

Amiett's forest landscape. I love forests, and this shot is veru nice, with the low light of the sun in the morning. There's a great sense of perspective in this view, it's really three dimensional.

Polyglot's view of Angkor Vat. The site looks very quiet, and the view is not one I'm used to see from such a well known site.

TimK's view fo Angkor Vat, this time from inside a temple. I love the toning and lighting.

Allen Friday's view of Iowa. I don't know a lot of Iowa, and I didn't know there was an Eiffel tower there also !!. Very nice night shot.

Roger Thoms' view of a generating station. I also love industrial landscapes, and this one is very good.

DonMInbox's color shot of a rose. First color card in this exchange, the delicate tones are impressing, as is the level of detail. Ths shallow DOF really helps the picture.

Thanks to all of you ! I'm really glad I subscribed for the maximum, as the "return" I get with so many nice cards is a great reward ! (And it was a pleasure to print and send my cards !)

Laurent sent a very, very good postcard of a winter scene, the fine detail that appears to be there tells me an enlargement would, or could, be something quite nice. You have the conditions to possibly make a very good enlargement.

Thanks Mick, yes the detail looks great. I'm very impressed at what my old Rolleiflex with it's old Tessar can do, even handheld. The backdraw is that it still challenges me to decide if I should keep on LF or if I should get rid of my View Camera and concentrate on MF... I can't wait to print this one larger, as I think it deserves (but a 5x7 print is alos very nice !)

 

[lorirfrommontana]

Whew! I've received a lot of postcards since I last posted! bwakel's shot is great! I'm so glad you had your camera with you! Alen Friday's Carousel and Tower is fantasic. Beautiful print. Lauren's postcard was beautiful. I love the black frameing and can't get enough of the square format. I am going to have to get my old folder camera finished so I can once again shoot in square format. Roger Thom's Ravenswood Generating Station is very well shot. I really like industrial shots. Polyglot's postcard was absolutely stunning! I loved the light. Donminbox's rose is beautiful. The colors are great and I love the water drops on it. McKenna's old coins are great. Very well taken and printed. Amiett's sun through the trees shot is great. I always love these shots but have not mastered getting them yet! Mark T's old crop seeder has a great sense of past to it. PEX19's Cat was very well shot. I can never get them to hold still long enough for me! Thanks all!

 

[Tjibs]

I've been getting more cards steadily, a real joy!

Drpsilver's Old Woman Road, Napa came in. Great tones and well printed, I'm suprised by how well the road sign came out in the print!

After that I received Laurent's card, the first handwritten card! A nice touch. Makes it really tempting to try some pulling on HP5 as well, the distant hills really come out well. Reminded me of a polaroid for a second with the framing of the card.

Then I received TimVermont's card, which is a nice crop out of life and beautifully toned.

Up next was Allen Friday's another typical Iowa Image, great contrast, the light is just perfect. I'd be curious to see this larger, considering all that there is to be seen.

I then received donminbox card of a rose, with it's really bright and vivid colors. However, I am a little confused by the writing on the back, which states it's made with a Hasselblad 205FCC + 80mm lens, taken at 1/60th, f1.4, at 50mm. Surely there are no 80mm f1.4 lenses, and surely they have even less depth of field then the photograph shows?

 

[Tim Gray]

Here's the latest batch I've gotten:

Rmann - reminds me of visiting historical sites as a kid.
TimV - lobster gear - must be a cold job in Feb.
bwakel - wonderful print and mood. I really like the look.
Roger T - niceprint with so much detail. I always see places like this when I travel but never stop to get a picture.
donminbox - beautiful shot of a flower.
TimK - lovely photo and sepia tone. Looks like a great place to take pictures.
Allen F - cool long exposure. Ditto on the comments about seeing a larger print.
Anon - nice photo of the abandoned factory. Great print, lots of detail to be seen. It's neat to see different papers too.
Mark T - very serene photo of the crop seeder.
amiett - I'm a sucker for these forest photos with lots of very straight trees. well done.

It's going to be a bit more before I get my photos out. I was planning on printing yesterday. As I was moving the enlarger into the bathroom, the power went out for 3.5 hours, so no printing for me. Hopefully in the next couple weekends I'll find some time to do my printing.

 

[BirgerA]

I received Allen Fridays card last Saturday. Nice.

Regards

Birger A.

 

[gurkenprinz]

I received donminbox' colorful rose, too! Nice picture, too bad you didn't print it yourself. You missed out on an important and fun part of doing this exchange...

greetings to all of you, looking forward to new cards in my mailbox!

 

[gurkenprinz]

Today I found McKenna's coins in my mailbox. Thank you, a very interesting photo, got me thinking about the different countries that issued these coins and how I want to visit them.

 

[KWhitmore]

Two more cards...

Allen Friday's Carousel and Tower- gorgeous night scene! beautifully printed and so interesting...very nice!

Roger Thoms Generating Station- excellent use of your birthday gift! I love the industrial subject and the detail is wonderful. The outdated paper doesn't seem to harm this image at all...well done!

 

[Mike Wilde]

Still hoping to get done

back on 3 March- Hopefully I can get the package mailed before the weekend, but...

Well March has been busy month; I have not set foot in the darkroom in two weeks.

I have put up 12 sheets of drywall on the ceiling on my own, tape, mud, sand, mud. Final sand tonight. Have primed all walls twice. Off white is desired end product, just top coat to go. The past ownermust have fell under the spell of Debbie Travis in the early 90's, because I am covering a strong purple in the remains of one room, and a red/pink salmon colour in the other. Sweep, vaccuum, etc to try to keep dust under control, every night.

My wife is rehearsing in a play that opens this weekend, so soon I will have her back involved with the family and perhaps then some darkroom time will come together again.

Of course, now my mom is coming to stay for the weekend to visit to see the play, which is what has accelerated the whole renovation. Shes 80, and is not quite suited to climbing over and dancing around piles of furniture and contents we currently have stacked in the hallways and dining room while the living room and family room are under renovation.

 

[mooseontheloose]

Okay, well I'm off to Japan tomorrow morning (I have a 3 a.m. start, will end up in Tokyo on Thursday at 17:30...I don't even want to start to contemplate the travel time) so these are the last of the postcards that I can comment on for a while. If the cards are already in the mail, I'll get them eventually when my parents forward them to me. If they're not, then it might be best to wait for a pm from me giving you my new address. Anyway...

Fantastic shot by Allen Friday -- I know the scene well but have not shot anything remotely like it. Fantastic contrast and movement on the merry-go-round.

The crop seeder from Mark Thorley -- nice scene of a familiar subject (at least for me!)

Roger Thoms' generating station is wonderfully sharp -- I really like industrial images like this.

dominbox's flower is lovely, like the dew drops on it. It's been a while since I shot colour and this image makes me want to get out there once more (Japanese cherry blossoms, here I come!)

 

[MattKing]

I’ve previously commented on six cards. Since then, another seven have come in:

Allen Friday - an ethereal photo of a carousel - great use of time exposure
donminbox - a replacement for his commercial card. This one is a nice colour print of a rose. The data on the back doesn’t quite make sense, but I appreciate his efforts
Laurent - a great skyscape, well printed
mckenna - great macro image of some interesting coins
mthorley - really captures the sense of light and heat
rtbadman - an excellent industrial image that makes excellent use of a new )) 4x5
Tim Vermont - an interesting fire alarm detail, toned to beautiful colour

Twelve people have sent their cards so far, and 18 are yet to come.

Thanks to everyone for participating.

Matt

 

[MattKing]

All my cards are now in the mail. The ones destined for USA destinations were mailed from Lynden Washington on Saturday (like that $0.28 postcard rate). The cards for Canada went in with their $0.57 postage to the local box. As for the cards destined for "International" destinations, they and their $1.70 stamps (ouch) got dropped off at the post office as well.

Each come complete with my very own spelling of the word "Cliffhanger":rolleyes:.

Note to self - proofread the labels before you put them on the cards!

 

[david James lee]

well, so far i have 8 cards!
Roger Thomas generating station, Tim Vermont's stairs, Allen Friday's carousel and tower, Mark Thorley's crop seeder,William Brodie-tyrrell's vines, Lori Ryan's door handle,darwin's old woman road and Mick fagan's wheat silos.
thank you all. i got some wooden stands and i put them there as they arrive so all the family can enjoy them.

David

 

[Laurent]

I got Mc Kenna's coins this week. Thanks for this very nice image !

 

[TimVermont]

Another terrific week:
Aron's Abandoned Factory printed on a paper I've never seen before
Matt King's Cliffhanger - how did you get the warmtone color?
Amiett's Quiet forest scene
Mark's Old Crop Seeder
McKenna's Coins
Allen's "Iowa" Carousel-hmm, I bet that little stand sells chocolate crepes....
Roger's Ravenswood Generating Station
Thanks everyone!

 

[MattKing]

Hi Tim:

I was experimenting a bit with the toning on my postcards, so no two are exactly alike. I didn't record who got which version.

In general, however, I started out with a short, partial Selenium tone (1:10 dilution of Berg Selenium toner for anywhere between 20 seconds and 60 seconds) followed by a moderate length immersion in Kodak Sepia II bleach (for about 60 seconds) followed up with 2 to 4 minutes in the Sepia II toner.

In some cases, I could hardly tell that I used Sepia toner. In others, the Sepia tone effect seemed almost complete. In most, it was somewhere in between.

It was an interesting opportunity to compare differences between about 40 prints of the same negative.

The test wasn't purely scientific, at least partially due to the fact that my print densities varied a bit over the two nights of printing and two sets of paper.

I got the most pleasing (to me) results using a 30 second Selenium tone (at 1:10) followed by a 60 second bleach and two minute Sepia tone.

 

[Christopher Walrath]

Hope to print and post in the next couple weeks. Sorry for the delay. Have received a couple more cards.

donminbox's Rose. Fantastic detail. I absolutely love it. Thank you.
Black Dog's Deal Pier. Is that a hint of self portrait I see in the lower left corner? Fantastic reflective detail.
polyglot's Angkor Wat Moat. I love it. Another picture of a tree. But that is right up my alley. One of my favorite subjects as well.

Thank you all.
I'll participate myself soon. Sorry, I wasn't my usual eager-beaver self this time around.

 

[MattKing]

I’ve previously commented on 13 cards. Since then, another has come in:

polyglot - “Child & Guard” - a fascinating shot of an ancient temple (I assume) plus two extra bonuses (thanks for the hint polyglot ).

One question though - how did it get here without postage?

13 people have sent their cards so far, and 17 are yet to come.

Thanks to everyone for participating.

 

[Laurent]

I received Black Dog's "Early light" today. Very puzzling, there are lots of shadows there, the detail only reveals itself after some time...

Did I read correctly "Sortosville" ? This is very close to the place I use to spend my holidays in.

 

[Black Dog]

Yes you did-my sister lives literally just round the corner, and there's a large ww2 German bunker on top of the hill overlooking the village which has featured in many of my images.