Postcard Exchange Round 44 Comments & Feedback

[tezzasmall]

My efforts were posted yesterday = Friday 29 June 2018.

Terry S / UK

 

[tezzasmall]

Even though it's not listed as being sent, I've just received a card from Gijsbert.

A lovely scenic landscape taken at sunset-ish, I presume.

Many thanks Gijsbert.

Terry S / UK

 

[mooseontheloose]

I've received three cards so far this round (besides my own): a nice moment between "Two Friends" by aluk, a gorgeous row of trees I would love to photograph from awty, and drpsilver's dark and moody tea-toned cyanotype. The last reminds me that I haven't done cyanotypes in years, perhaps for one of these exchanges I'll pull the old contact printer out and see what happens.

 

[bedrof]

Received two cards so far, and now I can reflect on both
"Selfiecheck" by mooseontheloose - somewhat soft but clear image shot from interesting point.
"Two Friends" by aluk - love these bold tones, nice scene.

Well, now I doubt that my cards meet the standard of printing quality. Have to practice lot more.

 

[MattKing]

Well, now I doubt that my cards meet the standard of printing quality. Have to practice lot more.

Don't be too concerned about this - I know that I am looking forward to your card.
One of the best things about these sorts of exchanges is that they give us all a chance to see prints made from others.
And nothing helps me improve my printing more than seeing examples of how others print.
So yes, continue practicing/printing. It is fun and it helps.
But continue as well looking at as many prints as you can.

On a related subject...
I've not been able to set up my bathroom/darkroom for a bit, so I haven't printed mine yet. Sorry about the delay.

 

[Laurent]

I received three cards this week:

"Aging gracefully" from Darwin, lovely cyanotype which suits the subject very well.

"Arches" from Terry, nice perspective (and makes me regret having spent two days in London without a camera!)

Gijsbert's "row of knotwilgen", very classic landscape, but very effective in givin a sens of the place.

Life is very busy at the moment, I'm only catching up on my development from February (but did not shoot a lot since then) so printing my cards will have to wait a bit.

 

[tezzasmall]

...(and makes me regret having spent two days in London without a camera!)

OMG!!! I can't imagine going on a trip = especially to somewhere as photogenic as London = WITHOUT some kind of camera!?! At the very least I would have gone out and bought a one (or three LOL) off disposable camera if nothing else.

But on the other hand, the trip could be considered a 'check out the place' trip with a view of a return trip in the not too distant future.

At least you have some memories in your mind.

Terry S

 

[bedrof]

Don't be too concerned about this - I know that I am looking forward to your card.

Matt, I don't see you in my list.
Will contact George for your address, if you don't mind

 

[MattKing]

Thanks Ilya.
You are on my list.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Thanks Ilya.
You are on my list.

Hmm, that's not suppose to happen. Everyone should be paired. I think I know what happened there was a correction sent to everyone with a couple different names. bedrof was first then I added people for Black Dog to the conversation. corrections are never fun..

 

[MattKing]

Hmm, that's not suppose to happen. Everyone should be paired. I think I know what happened there was a correction sent to everyone with a couple different names. bedrof was first then I added people for Black Dog to the conversation. corrections are never fun..

George:
I didn't get any corrections this round.
Matt
PS I really appreciate your work on this.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

George:
I didn't get any corrections this round.
Matt
PS I really appreciate your work on this.

That's not good.
Here's what happened: bedrof send me a correction, I sent a message out to everyone on his list. Black dog then replied to that with a change of his address. I then added the rest of names on his list to the conversation - believing that they would be notified and it would be in thier Inbox. I guess it dosn't work that way.

Everyone, if you have Black Dog on your list and havn't sent your cards yet please wait, I'll start a new conversation tomorrow with the new info.

Sorry for this I guess the Internet doesn't always work the way I think it should.

 

[MattKing]

George:
Correction - I did receive a correction notice.
For some reason though, while I have no recollection of seeing it, it is marked as read in my "Conversation" feed.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Okay Matt, we can relax a bit. The Internet might not be broken yet. Thanks for checking and don't worry about the memory I have trouble remembering what day it is lately. Time for bed now..

George

 

[Black Dog]

That's not good.
Here's what happened: bedrof send me a correction, I sent a message out to everyone on his list. Black dog then replied to that with a change of his address. I then added the rest of names on his list to the conversation - believing that they would be notified and it would be in thier Inbox. I guess it dosn't work that way.

Everyone, if you have Black Dog on your list and havn't sent your cards yet please wait, I'll start a new conversation tomorrow with the new info.

Sorry for this I guess the Internet doesn't always work the way I think it should.

I've received several now, the latest being Gijsbert's moody winter landscape-the birds in the sky really make this image. Btw, I always carry a Trip or XA2 with me when I go somewhere like London or Edinburgh. I don't usually do much street/urban photography so I enjoy a bit of variety every now and then. Some of the results will no doubt appear in future exchanges.

 

[bedrof]

I received three more cards:
Beautifully printed row of trees and a canal by gijsbert;
Lovely shot by awty - I like this feeling of intense wind;
Interesting and unusual "Aging gracefully" by drpsilver.

 

[kraker]

Cards I received so far, in random order:
tezzasmall, arches under a flyover, a very nice, dark, gloomy, strong composition.
gijsbert, knotwilgen, yes, this is a typical Dutch landscape, funny to see this photo arriving from Canada. Very nice (and recognisable) photo.
drpsilver, aging gracefully, beautiful cyanotype, the subject lends itself to this process. "Tea toned", is that done using the stuff I drink all day long?
aluk, two friends, just a lovely street scene. Great.
bedrof, Irish cottage by the sea, lots of detail, and a beautiful scene. Love the surface of the paper, it's something different than what I'm used to.

As for my cards... well... Short version: it will take a while. Long version, read on. My darkroom is on the top floor of our house, right under the roof. The past month, a heat wave prevented me from doing anything there. Then, last week, I realised there's still a (closed) ventilation shaft in the darkroom. If I open it up, I thought, I can put the mobile airco unit in the room and let the heat out via that shaft. I removed the "plug" closing the shaft, and stood eye-to-eye with 30-odd (slow, dazed) wasps crawling on top of the plug. Quickly but cautiously I put it back in place. They never realised what happened. I don't react very well to wasp stings, so I got very lucky there... A few days ago, a professional came to exterminate the nest, and as soon as he removed the plug, he was stung (just once, but still!); the wasps were not dazed and confused this time. After extermination, the wasps should not be a problem anymore, although I really don't feel like opening the shaft again. However, I'm not locking myself in the darkroom any day soon. First of all, it's still too hot. Second, it's a small room, I want to be sure the poison used for extermination has had time to dissipate. Third... even though I shouldn't fear them anymore, the wasps are still in my mind.

So, it will take a while before I can fulfil my part of the deal. I might come up with an alternative, Polaroids, cyanotypes, something for which I don't need the darkroom.

 

[Black Dog]

Cards I received so far, in random order:
tezzasmall, arches under a flyover, a very nice, dark, gloomy, strong composition.
gijsbert, knotwilgen, yes, this is a typical Dutch landscape, funny to see this photo arriving from Canada. Very nice (and recognisable) photo.
drpsilver, aging gracefully, beautiful cyanotype, the subject lends itself to this process. "Tea toned", is that done using the stuff I drink all day long?
aluk, two friends, just a lovely street scene. Great.
bedrof, Irish cottage by the sea, lots of detail, and a beautiful scene. Love the surface of the paper, it's something different than what I'm used to.

As for my cards... well... Short version: it will take a while. Long version, read on. My darkroom is on the top floor of our house, right under the roof. The past month, a heat wave prevented me from doing anything there. Then, last week, I realised there's still a (closed) ventilation shaft in the darkroom. If I open it up, I thought, I can put the mobile airco unit in the room and let the heat out via that shaft. I removed the "plug" closing the shaft, and stood eye-to-eye with 30-odd (slow, dazed) wasps crawling on top of the plug. Quickly but cautiously I put it back in place. They never realised what happened. I don't react very well to wasp stings, so I got very lucky there... A few days ago, a professional came to exterminate the nest, and as soon as he removed the plug, he was stung (just once, but still!); the wasps were not dazed and confused this time. After extermination, the wasps should not be a problem anymore, although I really don't feel like opening the shaft again. However, I'm not locking myself in the darkroom any day soon. First of all, it's still too hot. Second, it's a small room, I want to be sure the poison used for extermination has had time to dissipate. Third... even though I shouldn't fear them anymore, the wasps are still in my mind.

So, it will take a while before I can fulfil my part of the deal. I might come up with an alternative, Polaroids, cyanotypes, something for which I don't need the darkroom.

Take care and all the best Kraker.

 

[drpsilver]

Cards I received so far, in random order:
tezzasmall, arches under a flyover, a very nice, dark, gloomy, strong composition.
gijsbert, knotwilgen, yes, this is a typical Dutch landscape, funny to see this photo arriving from Canada. Very nice (and recognisable) photo.
drpsilver, aging gracefully, beautiful cyanotype, the subject lends itself to this process. "Tea toned", is that done using the stuff I drink all day long?
aluk, two friends, just a lovely street scene. Great.
bedrof, Irish cottage by the sea, lots of detail, and a beautiful scene. Love the surface of the paper, it's something different than what I'm used to.

So, it will take a while before I can fulfil my part of the deal. I might come up with an alternative, Polaroids, cyanotypes, something for which I don't need the darkroom.

30 July 2018

Kraker:

Take care of yourself, and do not worry about the postcards. I can relate to working in a darkroom that is at 33C. That is when I work night if possible.
To answer your question, yes the cyanotype were toned in some inexpensive Darjeeling tea my wife bought on her trip to India last year. I made it very strong and let it steep until cool enough to use for toning.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[Erik Petersson]

When I returned from a trip I found the following postcards waiting for me.
Two friends by aluk. A really nice street scene.
Selfie check, by mooseontheloose. I really love the dark grey tones, they suit the subject matter very well.
Irish cottage by the sea, by bedrof. I think you have caught the feeling of the scene very well, with the stone wall in the foreground. Interesting paper.
Aging gracefully, by Drpsilver. So nice to receive a cyanotype, the first I own. Thank you!
knotwilgen, by Gijsbert. The sky really stands out here. It is beautifully printed.

Back in Stockholm, I am soon ready to print myself. I have a few rolls of film to develop, perhaps I can use something from them.

 

[Erik Petersson]

Two more cards
East winds on a summers day, by Paul Fitzpatrick - a line of trees on a field. I really like how you have caught the branches going all the way to the right.
Touch, by black dog. The pattern on the tree is very well caugt.

 

[bedrof]

I'm so very glad that people start receiving my cards. I was getting a little nervous, that cards got stuck in a post here.

 

[mike c]

bedrof, not only did your card get stuck in post there, it also got stuck with another postcard from the Azimut Hotel in Moscow. The other card must have gotten wet and it stuck to the emulsion side of your card covering the picture you toke but showing only the address side of your card,which was my address luckily . When I tried to separate them some of the emulsion tore off but not much so I was able to view that beautiful Irish cottage along the coast. The other card which has a San Diego address I will mail to him and explain the stop off the card toke. Your first P.C.E. turned into a real adventure for a post card.

 

[bedrof]

mike c
Oh thanks for letting me know, I will send you another one then. Hope other cards didn't experience such a misfortune.

 

[LarsAC]

I am travelling and on vacation afterwards. My cards will be late this time.

Lars