Postcard Exchange Round 22 - Comments and Feedback

[drpsilver]

13 Mar 2011

I finally made time to get into the darkroom to print my cards. They went into the mail on Wednesday, so you should be seeing them soon. The one thing I forgot to put on the labels was that they are selenium toned for about 1 minute (1:10 KRST).

This is the first time I have visited APUG in two weeks. When I get a free evening I will comment on the cards I have received.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[Laurent]

I printed most of my cards today... I have 36 drying at the moment, and no more glossy paper... I have to decide whether I print the same image on pearl paper (which is getting back to positive temp at the moment .

I hope I'll have them gone by the end of the week !

 

[Oxleyroad]

Three more cards since my last post. "Spires" from ignatiu5. Like others my immediate thought was Russia. Would never have thought that style of achitecture would be in Florida. Second card a wonderfully blue toned winter scene from anikin. Final card which arrived yesterday from moopheus titled "moving". All very good.

 

[johnnywalker]

Received 3 more cards: Kevin Kehler's frozen leaves -lovely composition - they look very much like flowers, and I'm curious as to how you got the background so black.; George Nova Scotia's Cobequid Bay, great tones and detail; and Anikin's Tinkle Bell, a nice picture of the Hood River toned in blue - works great with the snow, and I'm going to give it a try, since we still have a lot of snow left!

 

[5stringdeath]

Couple more trickled in since last week - George Nova Scotia's Cobequid Bay - DRPSilver's Moonlight -I loved how both of these were of similar subject matter yet both unique. Thanks!

 

[piu58]

Yesterday I received Darwins Moonlight bolinas lagoon. I am fascinated by this shot!

 

[hpulley]

I just got the Moonlight Bolinas Lagoon shot too, thanks! Love the contrast though the post office was not kind to it :-(

 

[Black Dog]

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.

Thanks for the appreciation...I used my trusty Mamiya 330, probably with a 180 mm lens. The light was starting to fade a bit as it was late afternoon in february....looks great printed on 16x12 Fortezo [my last box], tho Galerie is nice!

 

[ozphoto]

I too received Darwin's moonlight & fog image - lovely scene that i don't get to see very often here in BKK.

 

[paul_c5x4]

Three more to tick off:

Kevin Kehler Frozen Leaves - If it wasn't for the description, I would have thought it was flowers. Very nice.
drpsilver Moonlight, Bolinas Lagoon - Stricking play of light on the water. Would love to see a large print from this neg as there is something in the far distance that caught my eye.
George Nova Scotia Cobequid Bay - The second seascape (was there a theme to this round ?). Another one of those prints that gets looked at in detail.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Round 22 well underway.
Mike Wilde was the first off the mark with his trio of great images. I think the abandoned wall is my favorite of the group. Always nice to see the different papers an I for one support the bonus envelope!
Vlad' "opium" made it way across the pond and seems untouched by Customs department.
Uwe's "Elephant House" arrived. The post office had fun with this, black felt markers back and front, a couple chips out of the image but still great shot.
Paul_c5x4's Jaguar. I think he's hungry, I like the sparkle in his eye.
gerkenprinz's "Second Life" I think the shovel is a bit sad looking, left along in an old factory. great framing without the foreground it would just be another sad shovel.
Moopheus's scary dolls, sorry just scary.
JohnnyWalker's BC fishing. I tried fishing once, never quit got the hang of it, just a pleasant day in the country for me.
Meltronic's pasture. Love the deckle edge. I think the deer was posing just for you.
sepiareverb's mystery image, an upsided ramp?
Dave Martiny's plant, yes front yards are great places to find images.
Oxleyroad's extra wide card. A simple image made great with the wide framing and toning. I really need to get some toner.
rst's "Into the Light" I'm not quit ready to head into the light but I'm glad to see the are handrails.
Craig Cross's "Away for the Winter" Hopefully they'll be returning soon. I love snow scenes.
HPulley's "night Clings" A calm river draws you in. Love the grain.
Sly's "Snowing Again" Just a little snow to dress up the winter trees.
5stringdeath's "Summer" I guess I'll have to go out and get some "spring" shots.
Black Dog's " Moment Observed. Yes speak softly and carry a big stick.
ignatiu5's "Spires" The moon is a great detail that wants a place to rest.
Keven Kehler's frozen leaves. Great tones, light and shade.
anikin's "Tinker Bell" The blue toning really adds to the image. Chilly
BoxBrownie's Southwick Hill. I wonder what archeologists will make of this in a few hundread years?

That's all so far looking forward to the next mail.
George

 

[Kevin Kehler]

I have a stack of postcards on my desk at home as it has been really busy at work for a couple of weeks which is why I haven't commented on received cards yet but I plan to soon. I thank everyone for your comments, it is always nice to have feedback (which makes me feel bad for not leaving comments yet). I thought I would make two quick responses prior to that.

I called these things leaves and most responses say they are flowers; officially they are from a vine which produces inedible berries so I think they can be called fruit but I have no idea what they actually are. This picture is almost 200% actual size of the leaves/flowers/fruit, done through a combination of close focusing and enlarging. Frozen flowers sounds funny to my ears but probably more accurate.

Kevin Kehler's frozen leaves -lovely composition - they look very much like flowers, and I'm curious as to how you got the background so black.

The pure black comes from a velvet cloth, stretched taunt to prevent light differences/shadows from forming; I then spot-metered the cloth and added 4 stops to get exposure - Zone I placement allowing the leaves/flowers/fruit to fall on whatever zone they may. I then had to compensate for the filter/bellows extension and reciprocity failure.

 

[hpulley]

After reading about cards I'm NOT getting I will definitely be in for the max next round...

 

[Laurent]

During this week, I received :

Kraker's Sycamore gap. Lovely landscape (I love this very wide angle view !) with great composition, details and tones. Well done !

DrpSilver's Moonlight, Bolinas Lago. Again a great landscape, very "impressionist", which works very well.

Thanks !

 

[kraker]

Kraker's Sycamore gap. Lovely landscape (I love this very wide angle view !) with great composition, details and tones. Well done !

Thanks, Laurent. Obviously, I knew I received my own card already (although I hadn't commented on it yet ), but this is the first confirmation that at least one other card made it to its destination. Glad you like it.

To all recipients: I'd like to apologise beforehand for not getting the borders straight on each and every copy. Usually, I print a wider border. Lesson learned: the smaller the border, the more noticeable the deviation.

 

[BoxBrownie]

Hi All,
Here are the cards I've received so far:

Black Dog - A Moment Observed on a Summer Afternoon
Love this one straight away. Very summery/nostalgic.

Eugine Anikin - Tinkle Bell, Hood River, Oregon
Lovely cold tones. Like the background tree details

Kevin Kehler - Frozen Leaves
I thought they were flowers too - nice light tones on a black background

gurgenprinz - Pub Celebrations
Grat spontaneous pic - the high contrast works well

Ruidige - Into the Light
Really like the geometric/shell-like shapes and lines in the top half of the picture

George Richards - Cobequid Bay
Always like to look at coastal estuary pics as I grew up on the Thames estuary. Nice light

Lillian Sly - Snow Scene
Lovely tones in this print. I'd quite like to frame this one if it wer'n't for the postmarks across the top.

DRPSilver - Moonlight Bolinas Lagoon
Very contrasty but evocative seascape. This one has grown on me, it's actually quite atmospheric

As for the photo I sent, Southwick Hill Trig Point I decided to use a pic from a very expired (1981, 30 years out of date) TriX which I exposed at ei 100. The negs came out very flat and I couldn't get any decent contrast even at grade 5 so decided to go with it and experiment with prolonged selenium toning which helped a lot. It did mean that each print was different though, some purple some brown, red, sepia. Overall the prints came out with a very atmospheric, ghostly look, not what I was originally after at all. Very interesting, I learned a lot. I have some more of this film and next time will expose at ei 50 and develop for longer.
As for trig points see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_station
http://www.trigpointinguk.com/

Thanks for the postcards so far all.
BoxBrownie

 

[Rob Skeoch]

Thank you for the great cards again this round.

Here are some cards that arrived recently.

Kraker's Sycamore Gap
Darwin's Moonlight
Craig Cross Away for the Winter
Ignatiu5 Spires
Greg Coan's Summer
Kevin Kehler's Frozen Leaves
Lillian Sly's Snow Fence
Alex Bishop and his Hard Rubbish
Box Brownie's Southwick Hill
George Richards Cobequid Bay
Egene Anikin's Hood River

-Rob

 

[Rob Skeoch]

I have my cards printed.
Should be mailed in the next day or so.
-rob

 

[Kevin Kehler]

Cards received so far:

• ignatiu5 - I like the negative space - is the left tower really that tilted?
• Dave Martiny - one of my favorites, love the abstract composition
• Williams Candy - I think the left one is winking at me
• wheelock - not quite sure what this is?
• meltronic - the deer makes this photo, without it there is no surprise
• anikin - the blue is a nice touch, I would of liked to see more trees
• Oxleyroad - the contrast between the rocks and sand make this shot, as well as the toning
• c5x4 - this is the favorite of my kids, they like the cat. How is there no car visible in the background?
• George Nova Scotia - lovely tones, unfortunately Canada Post put a big gouge in mine
• gurkenprinz - another favorite, the motion and architecture makes the shot
• 5stringdeath - looks like a fun day, chilling at the fair
• Lillian Sly - very nice contact print, shows why I need a large format camera
• hpulley - echoing others, a lot of grain but appropriate for the photo and treatment
• Craig Cross - looks like my city - some don't like black borders but I think it is great in defining this image
• JohnnyWalker - well seen, difficult to capture the solitary nature of fishing, but I think you have done well
• vyshemirsky - love the depth-of-field, the composition is spot on
• Mike Wilde - I think if your cropped to the guy on the right of picture two, he would make a great individual
• piu58 - I like the architecture, just wish you were a little farther left
• rst - if you didn't mention it was a pinhole, I never would have known - makes me want to try pinhole photography
• boxbrownie - love the glow, is it dodged much to make it stand out like it does?

I am really enjoying the round.

 

[kraker]

Just one card this week (not counting my own).
Received drpsilver's Moonlight seascape this week. A lovely print, thanks.

 

[Rob Skeoch]

They are in the mail.
-rob

 

[piu58]

Cards received so far:

piu58 - I like the architecture, just wish you were a little farther left

I photographed through an open door which was "closed" with a chain. I had no chance to go more left.

 

[drpsilver]

20 Mar 2011

Here are the cards I have received thus far in no particular order.

Kraker - Nice composition of tree, wall, and well.
Ozphoto - Reminds me of the project I did on hands. Nicely done!
BoxBrownie - I like how the light acents only your subject.
Kevin Kehler - This is a beautiful image. One of my favorites this round.
Goerge Nova Scotia - This name sounds familar. My wife and I may have visited here when we were at the Bay of Fundy. I like the illusion of movement in the photo.
Piu58 - Hard to imagine elephants in this building!. Very nice accomodation for the animals.
Mick Fagan - Nicely done!
Vyshemirsky - Great use of shallow depth-of-focus.
Paul_c5x4 - The Jaguar cometh!
Rst - I really like the ground level perspective. It is very refreshing.
Moopheus - Lawn Idol
Dave Martiny - A simple composition with lots to keep the viewer involved. Well done.
Oxeleyroad - Great combination of textures within the print. I like how the footprint give interest to the photo.
JohnnyWalker - Looks like a great father-son vacation!
Meltronic - Nice composition with the reflection. The deer adds interest. The deckle edge is a nice touch.
Sepiareverb - Interesting?
Ccross - I really like your message. So when is he/she returning?
Hpulley - The graininess of the image adds to the evening effect.
5stringdeath - Must have had fun at the amusement park.
Sly - Nice use of foreground/middleground/distance relationships. None of these dominate, but work together.
Anikin - Nice image.
BlackDog - Well done. The motion of the hands and stick focus the viewer on the face of the child.
Ignatiu5 - Hard to believe this is in Florida
Fleath - Some of this "rubbish" looks usable. I love the paper you used. Knowing my luck it is no longer available.
Mike Wilde - Three very different images from Mike.
drpsilver - Bolinas Lagoon

Looking forward to more cards.

Thanks to all for your comments on my card.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[hpulley]

They are in the mail.
-rob

Got it! At first I didn't realize it was a post card since the rest have all been B&W. Gorgeous colors, at first I thought it was an ad for a local hair salon or something.

Which Fuji paper is it on? I can't read through the stickers.

 

[BoxBrownie]

Cards received so far:

Boxbrownie - love the glow, is it dodged much to make it stand out like it does?

It was a 1 stop dodge, which made quite a difference at grade 5 (never printed at grade 5 before... a bit hit and miss but got away with it).