Postcard Exchange Round 22 - Comments and Feedback

[meltronic]

I received two more cards recently...

Lillian Sly's "Snowing Again Today!" - Well maybe that's not the title but it works. I've really enjoyed going over this card with a magnifier. You captured lots of beautiful detail in the snow. A very peaceful, quiet image. Thank you Lillian.

anikin's "Tinkle Bell" - More snow! Very welcome for a guy who rarely gets to see it. I love the foreground detail of the rocks on the right side. In fact I think you could make an equally nice vertical format panoramic image from this negative using just the right third. I don't know what KRST is, but the blue tone is a great touch. Thank you Eugene.

 

[hpulley]

I got Lillian's Snowing Again and Black Dog's moment on a winter afternoon last week. Thanks! My collection is growing displayed in the kitchen for all to see and we're enjoying every one.

 

[Laurent]

I received Lilian's "Snowing again today" and Craig Cross's "Away for the winter" today. Two very nice landscapes, both with snow, which is something I really like.

Thanks !

 

[johnnywalker]

I received Jake's (Black Dog's) Winter Afternoon yesterday. Nice shot of a young boy looking for something to pummel with a big stick!

 

[sepiareverb]

This round's mystery card (I can't read the signature) titled "Whelock VT 2010".

That would be mine- being new to the exchange, I provided much less info than some it seems. Apologies for the mystery. The image is an unexplained bit of woodworking leaning up against an abandoned house in Wheelock Vermont. MP / 35/2.0 ASPH on FP4+ in HC-110b. Prints are on Ilford MGIV.

Three cards have found their way here as of Friday (I missed the Post Office today): Moopheus: Street Sweeper, Rudiger: Into the Light and a wintry 4x5 contact print by Lillian. I'm looking forward to having that little snow on the ground again.

I'm loving these little surprises in the P.O. Box!

 

[Laurent]

That would be mine- being new to the exchange, I provided much less info than some it seems. Apologies for the mystery. The image is an unexplained bit of woodworking leaning up against an abandoned house in Wheelock Vermont. MP / 35/2.0 ASPH on FP4+ in HC-110b. Prints are on Ilford MGIV.

Three cards have found their way here as of Friday (I missed the Post Office today): Moopheus: Street Sweeper, Rudiger: Into the Light and a wintry 4x5 contact print by Lillian. I'm looking forward to having that little snow on the ground again.

I'm loving these little surprises in the P.O. Box!

Thanks ! So your card is officially arrived !

 

[ozphoto]

Ruediger's low angle image and Sly's snow scene have found their way to Bangkok. Another two to add to the impromptu coffee shop gallery board.

 

[BirgerA]

Hello again.

Received BoxBrownies trigpoint today, wonderful light across the top surface.
"Away for the Winter" by Craig Cross came in last Saturday.

Thanks

 

[kraker]

Two more cards received:

Sly, snowing again today, lovely winter mood shot. Triggered by an earlier comment I too had a look at this photo through the loupe, there's a lot of detail indeed. Lillian, thanks also for the myriad of stamps. If only we had such a wide choice of stamps over here... (In other words: I'm afraid I won't be able to return the favour...)
anikin, Hood river. Another winter scene. This is something special. The scenery, the shot; both nice, but then there is the toning. Now, that is something extraordinary indeed. I just keep looking at it. I haven't seen such tones before. Thanks.

I (finally) decided on a negative, and managed to print my cards last weekend. I hope to write and address them within the coming week, get some of those boring stamps we have here, and send them out.

 

[Moopheus]

Some more arrivals--HPulley's nicely grainy Night clings, Ignatiu5's Spires, Anikin's Tinkle Bell and sly's snow scene. Snow scenes look really nice when they're not your front yard. BoxBownie's Trig point, and Kevin's frozen flowers.

 

[hpulley]

I just got Kevin's frozen flowers too, thanks!

 

[piu58]

Yesterday I got four cards at once! One card was from round #21, but three belongs to this round: Frozen leaves by Kevin, Hard rubbish by Fleath and Canals street by Moopheus. I enjoyed these cards very much, and my wife enjeoyed them too.

 

[paul_c5x4]

When ever I go out looking for urban decay, I can never seem to get anything that I think is worth a print. The card from moopheus gives me hope - Nice shot, thanks.

 

[Oxleyroad]

Hi all, two more cards have found there way to my place in the last week. Lilian Sly's "Snowing again today" has had my 5 yr old asking why all the white dust is covering everything? I will have to take him to the mountains this winter to experience snow for himself. Love all the stamps on the card as well. Second arrived today and it was from Kevin Kehler's frozen leaves. Look like flowers to me but that aside, I really am drawn into the image because of the tonal range and depth of field.

Thanks.

 

[ozphoto]

Finally able to drop my cards in the post! Hopefully they'll be arriving in mailboxes all over very soon.

 

[BirgerA]

Four more has arrived

Since my last post I've received the following:

Anikin: Tinkle Bell.
Kevin Kehler: Frozen leaves.
Ignatiu5: Spires.
Lillian Sly: Snowing again today. (As it did here today)

Thanks to all.

 

[hpulley]

Got two today!

TINKLE BELL from anikin, love the blue and KRST toning, great find there.

And wonderful tides of "Cobequid Bay" from George Nova Scotia.

Thanks to you both!

 

[Laurent]

This was a good week for postcards !!

I received :

Anikin's Tinkle bell. Very nice viw of a river in the cold, the blue toning adds to the image, as does the slow speed.

ignatius5's Spires. I'd have expected the view to have been taken somewhere in Eastern Europe.

Kevin Kehler's frozen leaves. I love the composition, and the details !

BoxBrownie's Southwick Hill Trig point. Nice image of a mundane subject !! The blurry bokeh makes it look very old (or was it the effect of the expired Tri-X ? )

 

[Laurent]

This is really a good week !

Today I got Black Dog's view gathered in Carteret (is it the Carteret in France, in front of Jersey ?). Very nice image of a kid fishing, the motion blur makes the picture live !.

George Richard's Cobequid Bay, lovely landscape with a great lighting.

Thanks to you both !!

 

[Dave Martiny]

I'm long overdue in responding to the cards I've received, so in no particular order, here goes:

Black Dog -- "A moment observed on a summer afternoon" -- It's nice how the eye can circle through the three major points of interest.

Mike Wilde -- #1: "Post Industrial Abandon" -- Nice, lots of convergent perspective lines. #2: "Leo's fish and chips" -- It's fun to sort through the details -- the picture on the wall, the gumball machine, the clock. #3: "Toronto's Younge at Dundas" -- As an avid cyclist, I'm always amazed by these things, are they all DIY home built, or can you buy them like this somewhere?

Ignacius -- "Spires" -- If you're not careful, you almost miss the moon.

Lillian Sly -- "Snowing again" -- The subdued contrast conveys a sense of bittersweet solitude, almost dreariness.

meltronic -- I like it; the reflections, the deer, the silhouetted tree. It's been a long time since I've seen ragged edge paper like that.

Oxleyroad -- "Footprints, Sand and Pebbles" -- Nice. Sometimes you don't realize what toning can do for a print until you put it next to an untoned one.

Fleath -- I looked at this picture for a long time. I kept coming back to imagining it with someone -- maybe your girlfriend? -- sitting in the chair reading a newspaper.

Moopheus -- I looked at this one for a long time, too. It took me a while until I knew what I was looking at.

Kevin Kehler -- Very nice; the black background gives no context to the subject, keeping the viewer's focus on the shape, texture and composition.

Aikin -- The blue tone adds to the icy feel of the image. I've never seen a photo toned blue quite like this before.

Thanks to all, I'm looking forward to more!

Regards,

Dave

 

[Mike Wilde]

Four more have come in since my last round of comments:

Anakin – Tinkle Bell A beautiful toning effort. Blue suits the scene. Nice pick on shutter speed, to still leave some definition of contours in the water flow. The tilt of the horizon is the only minor niggle I can note.

George Nova Scotia – Cobequid Bay Well, George, if this is what 35mm Tri X in HC-110 can look like, I should be shooting this combination a whole lot more often. Wow. The S shaped path your eye first takes as it navigates its way through the image’s foreground is a real treat. Great eye or wonderful serendipity on that feature. My 11yo son claimed that the flattened grasses in the foreground looked like a ‘couch’. To him I said it would be a seat that would leave you wet if you sat there. The curch on the far shore gives a great sense of scale. Nicely done.

Ignatiu5 – Spires A nice treat. I at first thought this would be an image captured on an eastern European holiday to Russia or Turkey. Good choice of contrast when printing. I think I see a hint of the moon in the corner at the top, This tiny detail gets me away from being concerned about the hint of converging verticals seen in the spire at the lhs.

Kevin Kehler – Frozen Flowers A very tasteful application of the use of an orange filter. I will have to try this more often myself. The almost IR effect this yields, without the graininess of IR is most welcome. If the tiny part of the petal coming into the top left corner had been burned out, I think it would be a stronger image. I am not advocating burning every postcard print, but with a larger print suited to be mounted and hung this I think would help.

 

[anikin]

Mike,

Thank you for nice comments! Yeah, I too don't like the horizon. The camera was on tripod standing in the stream, and I was blindly pointing it from the shore trying to avoid swimming at this time of the year. I guess I'll just add it to my drunk photographer's series - I've got quite a few of those already ;-)

Eugene.

 

[kraker]

Things are speeding up. One card yesterday, four today (one of which is from round 21).

Moopheus, Canal St., a very interesting shot. At first it was hard to grasp the scale, but looking more closely shows the true size of the lettering and the partial sign. Well spotted, I wonder if I would have seen the potential had I walked past it.
Kevin Kehler, Frozen flowers. I had read some comments about it, which had made me curious. And... I'm not disappointed. Quite the contrary, I think it's a very nice shot.
Black Dog, gathered from coincidence. Just the right sharpness where needed, and the blur of movement where... well, also where needed. Sorry if you have answered this before, but what camera was used? I see some darkening towards the corners, which is great for this shot.
George Nova Scotia, Cobequid Bay. Great detail, lovely contrast. Nice serene scenery.

And with this comment posted, I will return to my writing desk and address my (soon to be yours) postcards for this round.

 

[kraker]

Did I mention that my cards went in the mail today? No? Well, my cards went in the mail today. I hope they all make it to their new homes soon.

 

[ignatiu5]

Ruediger’s Into the Light is beautiful. The burned in corners of the foreground compel you to draw (at least your gaze) into the light.

The softer contrast of Sly’s Snowing again today makes me think of how a good snowfall muffles all of the sounds, certainly in the open as here, but even within a downtown urban core like where I used to live. I miss that.

George’s Cobequid Bay shows great afternoon light. I love all of the striations at different angles in the sand.

Nice textures in the frozen leaves from Kevin Kehler. The depth of field choice is great.

Black Dog’s A Moment Observed…: As others have mentioned, the movement captured here really adds to this photo; a faster shutter speed wouldn’t have given nearly the same flavour, in my opinion. Focused little man!

Thanks again to everyone; going to the mailbox should always be this much fun!