Postcard Exchange Round 21 - Comments and feedback

[mooseontheloose]

Two cards arrived today!

Anikin's blue and gold jellyfish image arrived with a few track marks but it's still a lovely image regardless (like the nice, floaty, peaceful feeling it evokes).

George's blast from the past in both image and paper with a wintry Nova Scotia scene. I think we can forgive you for using an envelope for this card!

 

[gurkenprinz]

The perfect reflections in the lake, the morning mist wafting above it, the calm and symmetrical composition: a postcard that one should be able to buy in the shops! Thanks Antti (amiett) for your card, I really enjoy looking at it!

br, gurkenprinz

 

[piu58]

I got two additional cards in the last days:
Eugene Anikin's Jellyfish, taken with 1 second!
and
George Richards' Tracks in the snow. This image gets better the longer you lokk at it.
Thank you, Eugene and George!

 

[mike c]

Sent off cards this morning,hope you folks enjoy them.

Mike

 

[mooseontheloose]

Great print from Chris (gurkenprinz) arrived yesterday. The shininess of the car, the way it's separated from the background, the use of panning -- all combine to form a great image. Thanks!

 

[ozphoto]

Anikin's jellyfish arrived yesterday; wow - I love it!! The colours and positions are wonderful.
What a great "lucky shot".

 

[bwakel]

I've recently received:

Anikin - wonderful eye-popping blue and against the contrasting orange of the jellyfish. Great shot.
George Richards - Proper Agfa Ansco paper with a contemperaneous image too!
Amiett - super gnarled and twisted tree. Very sharp and nice tones.

My cards have been let loose into the wild now but I have made a bit of a cock-up. I didn't notice that Reudiger had put me down for 30 when I signed up for 20. I only had time and materials to print 20 cards but Reudiger has selflessly offered to send ten extra cards to those I couldn't cater for. Thanks Reudiger - I'll check the summary list next time!

Barry

 

[gurkenprinz]

I received two cards in the last two days:

George Richards' tracks in the snow on beautiful old agfa postcard paper. Although shot in 1974, it could have been just yesterday.
BoxBrownie's abandoned playground, a photo I like very much: I like the composition, and the documentary approach to this. Also like the paper and think that the selenium toning adds just the right tones.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

I received two cards in the last two days:

George Richards' tracks in the snow on beautiful old agfa postcard paper. Although shot in 1974, it could have been just yesterday.

Sadly not. Those fields are now full of parking lots and apartment buildings. Luckily the trees in the foreground right may still be there as they border on a park.

George

 

[gurkenprinz]

Hi George,

it might be really cool then to see the same photo taken in 2010 for the next postcard exchange ;-)

br, Chris

 

[Valerie]

Arg!!!!!! I printed my postcards weeks ago, then set them aside to address. Now I can't find them..... I sure wish the Great Oz would hurry up and give me a brain.......

Back to the hunt...

 

[anikin]

Tree more cards made it to me.

George's Tracks in the snow. Oh, it really brings out memories: it reminded me of the place I grew up.
It could have been just across a street from a photo I have taken in a little village in the center of
Siberia couple of years ago.

A super-sharp photo of a tree by amiett. I love the texture. You can just sit there and watch the curves in the branches. Beautiful!

A photo of a race car by gurkenprinz. Excellent panning job! This car look like a toy! I love your cropping, the eyes just lock up on the car and bring out the sense of speed.

 

[Mike Wilde]

The comments are in the order that I have filed the image; they sometime pile up for a day or two before they get into my filing binder, and can thus not be sure to be based on the order in which they made it to me.

Anikin – a great image of jellyfish in colour, and printed square to boot. Oh, I like it for such a fluke shot that you describe it as.

amiett – a delightful design on the paper bag/envelop this card was posted in. Nice use of selective focus/ depth of field control on the image of the fungus on the tree truck. Printed square. That I wish I had the nerve to do more often when I shoot 6x6. I am forever tempted to crop to a 2:3 or so aspect ratio to somehow try to ‘improve’ the image.

Birger A – The Orchid. Very nice, and when I looked, I don’t think I was suppose to get a card from you. Thanks for sharing the image. As I mentioned previously, almost senual in a way.

Box Brownie – Abandon Playground. Neat abandon near cliff image. I like that I saw it explained, because otherwise my brain is torn from the sights to the why. As a series it would play out very well. The selenium gives a very nice vintage look that ties in well to the abandon equipment images.

Drpsilver – Prickly pear cactus – another good crisp use of sharp/unsharp artistic use of depth of field.

Dave Martiny - #9 PG Nudes: Not Really Naked. I love the subtle texture that flows from side lit skin. The braided hair and the shadow it casts, and the finger positioning on the shoulder make the image come together very well.

George Nova Scotia – Track in the snow. Nice use of dividing the image into thirds, and putting such different bits in each third. The wandering fence line of posts in the snow is great. Oh, and love the old paper. Good use of the image if the paper is a bit fogged. Perhaps I have started an old paper fetish in another?

Mooseontheloose – Rachelle, the framing of the shot, and the way that you set the tones in the print are superb.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Mike, I don't know if I'd call it a fetish but I do have a bit of paper to try. I don't know how much 60 year old paper I'll find but you never know. Still more to test from that box and I picked up a couple boxes of Kodak paper yesterday, including some Panalure. Sadly the Kodak postcard paper from the first box was totally black but there is still some agfa to test.

And yes your package did inspire me to try that paper.

George

 

[bwakel]

Just received a stunning image of the Walt Disney Concert Hall from mike c - it has beautiful tonality and the exposure and use of a red filter combined with selenium and sepia toning have produced a fabulously dark and intriguing image. I've never managed to get such depth from Ilford postcard paper.

 

[ozphoto]

George's great old paper image has found its way to Bangkok.
I too would enjoy seeing how the same area looks after 36 years.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

George's great old paper image has found its way to Bangkok.
I too would enjoy seeing how the same area looks after 36 years.

Glad to hear the postal people are working hard for us. I am thinking about going back, I'd have to take the short route from the road rather than the route I took that day. That was a long afternoon hike through the park ending up there with very cold toes. Unfortunately my arthritic knees would make the trip though the park impossible these days, in fact even the short walk from the road will be tough but maybe just worth it. I don't have the F2 any more but I do have the same lens and a couple F3's so who knows what I'll find there this winter.

George

 

[MattKing]

I’ve received six more cards since I last commented:

anikin - The Blue - I always appreciate receiving a colour print in an exchange, especially one with colour this spectacular, and a subject this fascinating
BoxBrownie - Abandoned Playground - A great subject, printed well, with an image tone well suited to the shot
Dave Martiny - #9 - PG Nudes - a very nice, three dimensional image
drpsilver - Cactus - sharp, in so many ways
George Nova Scotia - Tracks in the Snow - Nicely done image from 35+ years ago
gurkenprinz - 1939 Auto Union Type D - Grat car, and very well photographed. The print looks almost as if it was contemporary to the car

7 down, 21 to go

Thanks to everyone for participating.

PS My prints are done, toned and labelled. The ones headed to Canadian addresses are in the mail, while the USA and international ones will be mailed from the USA in the next couple of days. They are on Kodak Polycontrast 4x6 paper, thanks to the generosity of an APUGer - dances-w-clouds

 

[Dennis S]

They are on Kodak Polycontrast 4x6 paper, thanks to the generosity of an APUGer - dances-w-clouds

I am certainly glad that someone could use that paper. With that large box you should have many many years of postcard paper.

 

[drpsilver]

16 Nov 2010

I have in front of me a pile of post cards uncovered from my desk last weekend. This means only one thing - time to comment on them (in no particular order).

The card form amiett is a first from Finland! I like the subtleness of this image. No one thing "pops-out", but it has lots for the viewer to see. I especially like the fog moving in from the right.

The card from ozphoto is really nice. I like how the moving bubbles forms a nice arc. The contrast between the background and subject really focuses the viewer. It is unfortunate that the postal service decided to add several marks to this card. Well done!

The card from mike c is mysterious and intriguing. I really like how the building is only partially lit. You have done a wonderful job of capturing this building on film. I like how the figure adds interest to the photo. The split toning softens the highlights effectively. Nicely printed! Which came first sepia or selenium?

Gurkenprinz's photo of the 1958 Maserati is wonderfully sharp. The blurred people actually make the photo much more interesting to look at as well as adding the sense of motion. Well done.

The card from Black Dog is an effective use of "high key" values.

The card from George Nova Scotia reminded me of observing the "tidal bore" (in 2009) at Truro. This little town is much different now. The "paper from the last century" gives the image and old feel. I like how Agfa/Ansco surrounded the postage area with their name.

Thanks to all for the wonderful post cards!

Regards,
Darwin

 

[mike c]

Darwin; Do chickens have lips,Darn you had to ask Darwin.I think a light bleaching 1:2 from stock Kodak sepia two kit ,1min and sepia toner 1:4 30 sec then fix wash,selenium 1:20 75-80 deg.F 2 mins.Can't find notes so not sure.The bleach and sepia toner are about a year old,but still work.The Concert Hall itself is a stainless steel skin on it and when used with the red filter it blends in and out with the sky,this was taken med morning.

Mike

 

[mooseontheloose]

Thanks for the info Mike -- it's a great card (received it yesterday).

 

[mike c]

You are welcome Rachelle.I did make notes and tests but can't find them,you'd think after making 30 of them I would remember.

Mike

 

[MattKing]

All the rest of my cards are now in the mail. All cards going to addresses in Canada were sent via Canada Post. All other cards (USA or international) were mailed from the USA.

 

[Laurent]

I'm quite late on commenting the cards I received in the last days... So in no specifis order other than the current on of the stack...

Mike C's Walt Disney Concert Hall : amazing architecture shot, very abstract and quite strange... I love the composition, and the rich blacks.

A mystery sender ? from Australia. It's a view of a water fall, taken on an APUG get-together... The diagonals make the picture live, and the blur in the water is very nice.

BWakel's Arkegarthdale. Great landscape, I can almost feel the smell of rain coming...

Eugene Anikin's Jellyfish. The first color card in this exchange, and a great one. The lighting and colors are amazing, as is the hand-held exposure at 1 second !

Amiett's Raapananlammi : very peaceful landscape, I would love to be there ! The symetry really makes the picture !

Gurkenprinz's Mille Miglia Roadster. i'm not a big fan of cars, but that particular one looks terrific, at least in this picture. Lovely composition, amazing print with a lot of details.

George Richard's Tracks in the snow. Very nice picture on vintage paper... Makes me feel nostalgic about my birth place (I was 7 when the picture was shot, and my memories in the East of France are very close to that image).

OMU's Angels. Lots of details, and a lovely print of these angels.

Thanks to all of you.

I expect to be printing my cards this week-end, I've been quite busy with the prints of my "Merry go round" project...