Postcard Exchange Round 41 Comments & Feedback

First, all those who commented: thank you, and in particular, drpsilver, thanks for commenting on the technical issue. Airbubbles, I think that sounds like a good explanation, I'll keep investigating.

After holiday, a few weeks of work and another weekend away, time to comment on cards received since my last post.

Mike c, sycamore trees, dreamy shot, great shapes, great light.
LarsAC, barn door, well, lovely shot, and quite close to my birthground, just 40 km away. Funny to see a photo taken in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.
Black Dog, chance and random things, looking into the Anthropology shop and at the same time looking across the street, reflections in the window. Great. First colour shot in quite some time.
Neil from Harman, Just clouds. Well, yes, that works out very good as a subject. Nice and contrasty.

I've received:

Neil from Harman's coulds. I'm always tempted to do this, "simply point the camera upwards", but am never satisfied. You took the challenge and I really like the results!

Ozphoto's saw blades. Well captured detail; with a sense of perspective.

Thanks !

People,

I'm starting to get concerned: any news of at least one of my cards ?
They were all dropped in the same box the same day, some are going to europe so I'd have expected some should have reached their recipient already...
The place they were dropped in is not the usual mail box, so I'm hoping the Post Office did not play some dirty trick...

Laurent said:

People,

I'm starting to get concerned: any news of at least one of my cards ?
They were all dropped in the same box the same day, some are going to europe so I'd have expected some should have reached their recipient already...
The place they were dropped in is not the usual mail box, so I'm hoping the Post Office did not play some dirty trick...

Click to expand...

Hi Laurent, thanks for your comments-I know I got yours (it's in a pile of stuff somewhere).

Laurent:
I really like your card. The "swirl" of the fence and the gritty texture of everything around it are compelling. Sometimes the square image on the 4"x6" paper looks uncomfortable, but for yours it sits well.
Now you've jumped the queue, and I feel even guiltier about the others whose cards I'm behind on commenting on!

Thanks to both of you fr confirming they arrived!

And thanks Matt for your comment! (sorry for jumping the queue ;-) )

Laurent, I'll have to check once I get home - been busy OS shooting, due back Saturday!

I too have been a bit slow in letting everyone know that I too have received TWO postcards, from Ozphoto and Laurent. Two quite different cards. Sorry for the delay in reporting guys... must do better next time.

I love both of them and they will be put in an album of some kind when I eventually find something suitable. What do others keep / put their received postcards in? I'm looking at maybe some form of see through plastic sheets so that I can see both the front and the back, rather than sticking them in a book, as I do with my prints.

Thanks to both of the senders for sending them and to George for organizing it all.

Terry S

Thanks for the confirmation (did not want to put pressure on people, just felt unsafe about the fate of my cards)

At the moment, my cards are in a big box (it's been my 20th round, so I have quite a lot) but I'd like to find a better way, as there are wonders there and I don't see them often enough.

Received since my last update:

ozphoto, timber mills/saw blades, a great subject, and you captured it well. Nice lightning, composition, depth of field. Very nice!
Laurent, yes, I too received your card, no worries. The look, the atmosphere reminds me of a photo (your photo, I assume, can't look it up right now) from the previous round. I learned two new French wordt, Limi and E A signpost without the letter T, now that is something. I really like your card!
Anikin, itsy bitsy spider. Okay, received this card today, and I hadn't looked at it properly. I only just read the title, and that made me look again... I had completely missed the spider, would you believe that? Great colours throughout, another lovely shot. I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and I wish you all the best under the circumstances.

It's been a great round so far and it's fun to still see cards arriving on the doorstap every now and then. Thank you all!

i have three cards here,Art,s Polaroid of a religious scene in a church, like the color of it and how slightly faded it is Art very nice.Anikins Itsy bitsy spider is real colorful on a flower, I hope you will feel good enough to use your darkroom. Ozphoto sends a table saw on steroids, like the repetitive blades, I get the point!

I received Anikin's "Itsy bitsy spider". Great colors for this card, it really shines! Sorry to hear about you health issues, my thoughts are with you.

tezzasmall said:

I too have been a bit slow in letting everyone know that I too have received TWO postcards, from Ozphoto and Laurent. Two quite different cards. Sorry for the delay in reporting guys... must do better next time.

I love both of them and they will be put in an album of some kind when I eventually find something suitable. What do others keep / put their received postcards in? I'm looking at maybe some form of see through plastic sheets so that I can see both the front and the back, rather than sticking them in a book, as I do with my prints.

Thanks to both of the senders for sending them and to George for organizing it all.

Terry S

Click to expand...

I put my cards in Printfile sleeves - 4x6 covers most cards, but 5x7 is also needed. If I can, I group them thematically within the exchange (landscapes together, people together, colour together, etc.) I keep them in the same type of work binders I use to store my negatives in. I have 3 full binders here in Japan at the moment, more back in Canada. I can usually can put 5-6 rounds per binder, depending on the size of the round, but I have enough cards to fill up another. Maybe something to do this rainy afternoon.

Thanks Rachelle, those were exactly the type of sleeves I was thinking of getting.

I don't do as many cards as most people, as I find just doing six good ones hard at times for various reasons, so mine shouldn't fill up as quick as yours have.

Terry S

gr82bart said:

Hey gang, so sorry I am late. Went to the post office. Apparently Polaroids are too small to send by mail. Need to envelope them and stuff. Hang in there.....

Regards, Art

Click to expand...

Well I just received one of Art's Polaroids sans envelope today! As it was the only bit of mail I received today, it did get caught a little in the letterbox slot, but it was a great surprise to receive a Polaroid with basically just a stamp on!!!

Many thanks Art - you sent me my first ever Polaroid since about the 1970's!!!

Terry S

gr82bart said:

Hey gang, so sorry I am late. Went to the post office. Apparently Polaroids are too small to send by mail. Need to envelope them and stuff. Hang in there.....

Click to expand...

Let me explain....The above mentioned post office was in Bentonville, AR. I took the Polaroids to one in Los Angeles instead and there were no issues with the size. Go figure.

Regards, Art

Laurent, I received your card too!

27 Oct 2017

Two cards arrived recently that I initially thought were from Round 42, but are from Round 41. A color photo from Anikin of a flower with a very busy spider. You must have worked fast in order to get this photo. I am sorry to hear of your diagnosis of ALS. I wish you the best.
The other card is from gr82bart of what looks like Christ and women. A Polaroid print with the blue layer gone - looks like long expired film.
Edit: Unfortunately the post office "left their mark" on both of these photos.

Regards,
Darwin

Also received gr82bart's Polaroid print, long time since I've seen one of those, thank you.

07 Nov 2017

I have finally figured out the confusion between Darin and Darwin. The card sent to me by darinwc for Round 41 I thought it was for Round 42. I was doubly confused because darinwc was not on my Round 42 list. The bottom line was that comments about Darin's card (for Round 41) were posted in the Round 42 tread. The image is well composed, and I have crossed this bridge many times in my travels around California. I agree that a little more contact, and a burn in the foreground tree would help give the image more "impact".

Regards,
Darwin

Yes sorry about the long delay of the prints. I had multiple problems this round. The darkroom was way too warm to print for months. I had problems work my enlarger. And lost the first round of prints. Eventually got things sorted out.
I'll skip round 42 but I think I'll be ready for round 43.

A few trailing comments for cards that I accidentally mixed in with round 42:

Laurent – Cool texture. I like the bottom weighting with the square format, it feels a bit like a special polariod.
Anikin - “Isty bitsy spider” - Very impactful. The angle at which you took the photo is perfect, and the dark green background really gives the flower and spider extra punch. I’m very sorry to hear you are unable to use your darkroom. You are clearly very capable of producing excellent work even without the darkroom, and I hope you keep printing using Costco, etc. Thanks for sharing.
DarinWC – The bridge frames the top of the image very nicely. The shadow behind the shrubs in the left hand midground really gives great separation.

Thanks!

Sorry for not being very organized, but I found two more cards that got misplaced when I was moving.

John_A "Watching Pirates" - Lovely view, I wonder what is going through those kids' imaginations. Very nice to get a card in colour!

Sue Evans (Harman) - Victorian Spa- A wonderfully sharp and detailed image. The reflections in the glass between the columns is surprising since I was expecting it to be open. Lots of interesting things to keep me looking.

Thanks so much to both of you! So sorry for my negligence in responding.

Boy, have I been remiss.
Of all the wonderful cards I received in Round #41, I only previously acknowledged five (mooseontheloose, Tim Walls, aluk, kraker and Laurent). My apologies, and here is my attempt to comment on those that I have had for a long while, without commenting. In cases where no title was indicated, I've made one up .
gr82bart - an intriguing detail from a religious (?) depiction, recorded on Polaroid materials. Polaroid colours were/are always fascinating. This may be the tiniest card I've received in 30 (yes 30!) APUG/now Photrio Postcard Exchanges. I am at least a little bit surprised it arrived;
Sue Evans (Harman) - "Waiting for the Band (?)" - a wonderful photo of a beautiful venue, printed impeccably. And Sue writes the longest and nicest notes on the back - always handwritten too!;
Neil Hibbs (Harman) - "Just Clouds" - another very nice print from Harman people - this one darker, but still beautiful;
Wayne Frederick - "Granite Casemates (?)" - strong and geometrical, the two photos on the card are impressive and solid. They are very nicely printed as well;
Black Dog - "The Rockpoolers" - the hands, the heads and the hat all work wonderfully together in a photograph that is perfectly represented in a square format;
Ozphoto - "Saw Blades" - beautiful use of selective, shallow depth of field in a compelling and geometric photo. Well printed as well. I'd say something about this being the definition of a "sharp" photo, however ....;
iandvaag - "Reflections Beneath" - ah, spring in Saskatoon . Nicely framed and composed and well printed too;
LarsAC - "Barn Door" - an excellent detail of an interesting door and lock - well seen;
Oxleyroad - "Factory Ruins" - well captured desolation;
drpsilver - "Oops, My Coffee Spilled" - a combination of tragedy and comedy! A fun card, and nicely printed. looking at the logo on the cup, would an alternative title have been "A failure of Centripetal Acceleration"?;
mike c - "Sycamore Trees" - Everyone who has received postcards from me will know that I really like photos of trees. This card is a really good tree postcard, printed very nicely;
John_A - "Watching Pirates" - Postcards that look like they were taken on summer holiday are always nice. This card offers excellent colour, fine composition, historical interest and cute kids - I really like it!;
anikin - "Itsy bitsy spider" - A joyful card from Eugene, full of colour and interest. I was previously aware of his diagnosis, and hope he is doing better - I must reach out;
DarinWC - "American River Confluence" - a very nice small print that gives a great sense of the scale of a really big bridge. Appreciate all the extra background information as well.

Thanks all for such nice cards.

To my surprise I received Ricardo‘s card today. Excellent image of a flower maybe from a wet plate or contact print. Excellent softness in the image which matches the subject very well and gives it an artistic touch. Thanks!

Lars