Postcard Exchange Round 45 Comments & Feedback

[tezzasmall]

"Girl on the road" is in the hands of the post office.

All though a little damaged in the system, Jon's card has just been given to me by the postie!

The postcard is an unusual offering, but I won't say what to let others receiving the card find out as well.

I've been to Iceland once Jon and found it a very interesting place and I would definitely like to return for a proper photo session there.

Terry S

 

[mooseontheloose]

Three cards in the mail today! That doesn't happen very often...feels like an early Christmas...

In no particular order, I like Lars' close-up of a vintage jag - and good work not getting yourself too much in the reflective surfaces (!), something I always find difficult when photographing cars. In a similar (but not) vein, adelorenzo's caribou bones are not something one sees every day. At first glance I thought it was a fish skeleton until I realised that if it was, it would be a pretty big fish!

 

[Black Dog]

All though a little damaged in the system, Jon's card has just been given to me by the postie!

The postcard is an unusual offering, but I won't say what to let others receiving the card find out as well.

I've been to Iceland once Jon and found it a very interesting place and I would definitely like to return for a proper photo session there.

Terry S

I've just received that one as well...very enigmatic and reminds me of Wim Wenders' films.

 

[awty]

Thanks Lars, received your postcard today, very classy, nice and shiny, reminds me my car is due for its annual wash.

 

[Rob Skeoch]

Thank you so much for the cards that I have received so far.
Caribou Bones - Anthony - I love the texture difference between the smooth bone and the gravel. The bones are very interesting, visually.
Old Jag - Lars - great use of depth of field and moving your eye from one interesting part of the photo to the next.
Fuji Apple - Darwin - good for you doing a studio shot. Very nice. the contrast of the rough leaves and smooth apple are very nice.
Uncle Sam Hot Dog Kart - Howard - such a great shot. Really enjoy it. Great shot and nice print.
Overlooked - Matt - This was the first card I received and kicked off the exchange on a great path. Very nicely composed and thanks for starting things off on such a strong foothold.

I've bought my film and loaded my holders, just waiting for the day of shooting
-Rob

 

[awty]

Received Darwins apple having a bad hair day, yum! love Fuji apples. Also Anthony's back bone, not actually Anthony's backbone, someone else's, hopefully of an animal. Must be wary tracking in Canada's trails, they eat what they can.
Great pictures guys, look forwards to many more.

 

[tezzasmall]

I have just received Mike C's card, called 'Summer Grapevine Sunrise', which as you might expect is a (close up) of a struggling vine and its leaves.

Mike says that no grapes were produced on the vine this year, due to '...a very dry and fiery summer...' Here in England (at least) in the UK, we too had very hot periods over the summer, but totally opposite to Mike, I had a bumper crop of grapes on my vines, along with a great crop of sweet peppers and tomatoes!

Many thanks for one more for the collection Mike C.

Terry S

 

[Black Dog]

I've posted all mine now, thanks to everyone for your cards and have a good Christmas! Oh and lang may yer lums reek.

 

[mike c]

Thanks tezzasmall, the first year I planted them they gave a little fruit but after that nothing. Could be the soil or not enough water don't know, but I'm not going to cut them back this year and see what happens.

 

[awty]

Recieved Howards hotdog stand postcard. $250! For a hot dog, what a bargain. Crazy you got a side on view of a Cyclops in the van.
And also Jons girl on the road, what a beautiful dress, obviously she is very proud of it and wants to show all passes by. Wonderful picture Jon and a long way to travel.

 

[tezzasmall]

Thanks tezzasmall, the first year I planted them they gave a little fruit but after that nothing. Could be the soil or not enough water don't know, but I'm not going to cut them back this year and see what happens.

Yes, I too lost a bought potted vine last year, after planting it during the hot summer periods, despite almost constant watering. With my garden knowledge of many years, I should have known better and waited until Autumn to have planted it. I did manage to get a cutting rooted though, that has done well in a pot in the greenhouse this year, so that should get re-potted soon and planted hopefully next Autumn.

From your small post, I am unsure about your knowledge of vines and their care. It would be worth sourcing out a small basic 'how to' book. Basically next years vines and grapes grow on new shoots next year that grow from the growth from this year, so ideally some type of pruning should be done, even if it's minimal to start to shape the vine, depending on how and where you intend it to grow up, over etc. A vine should also really only be left to start fruit production on the fourth year of growth to give the plant chance to put down a good set of roots and build up it's infrastructure. Note a bought vine may be one or two years old when you buy it, but I would only count one of these years in pot against the amount in ground required. A good modern hybrid vine, should take little care to look after and most importantly need little or ideally no spraying of any sort. My latest acquisition is a vine called 'Phoenix'. I planted one a few years ago now where I volunteer and despite not being ideally positioned, it produces big heavy bunches outside for both the people and some over hungry wildlife each year!

Terry S

 

[mike c]

tezzasmall, my knowledge of gardening is very little, my wife and daughter started the garden so have some catching up to do.

 

[bedrof]

Received 4 cards almost at once:
Caribou Bones - adelorenzo - interesting and unusual subject, simple but strong composition.
Uncle Sam Hot Dog Kart - Howard Earl - exceptional clarity and fine details of the print get my attention again and again.
Overlooked - MattKing - the only landscape among the cards received in this round so far. Looks good in this brown tone.
Museum scene - aluk - very nice tones of the print. IMO this card closely reproduces what the real postcards looked like 70+ years ago.

 

[MattKing]

I've been remiss in not commenting on the cards I have been receiving. I'll try to make up for a bit by commenting on the following nine excellent cards received since my last comment.

drpsilver - “Fuji Apple” - a very nice, almost contemplative still life
aluk - “Feet” - no title available, so I guessed at one. The sculpture is interesting, but the angle of view, with the blurred viewer hinted at behind, makes this card very intriguing. Most likely difficult to print, but the result is a good reward
Howard Earl - "Uncle Sam Hotdog Cart" - a fun image, replete with intentional symbolism. The understated printing choices are nice
adelorenzo - "Caribou Bones" - I always appreciate these vignettes from the north, and Anthony has made some great choices in these exchanges. This one is no exception. I like the print too
LarsAC - "Jaguar" - another one with no title indicated, so I guessed at one. These cars look so impressive, and the crop, point of view and selective focus make for an intriguing postcard
Jon Tryggvason - "Girl on the Road" - beautiful and haunting. For some reason, the mask makes me think of "The Shining", while everything else is just lyrical. The print is wonderful too
iandvaag - "Water Under The Bridge" - A very nice colour print, of a scene that makes me think of my few and all too short visits to the province of Saskatchewan
mike c - "Summer Grapevine Sunrise" - it is always nice to see summer in these latter part of the year exchanges, and grapevines say "summer!"
bedrof - "Haj-Nehaj Fortress Ruins" - an impressive and intriguing subject. The choice of view is powerful, and the print is very, very good

With my earlier comment on Black Dog's card, that brings it to ten cards so far that I have received and commented on.

Thanks everyone for participating.

 

[1kgcoffee]

Thanks to everyone for all of the beautiful cards. I'll be giving feedback shortly. My own cards are now drying in the kitchen and will be mailed out tomorrow.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

I hope everyone has enjoyed this round, 2018 and Round 45 are coming to an end. Look for Round 46 to start in the new year.

 

[bedrof]

Received 4 more excellent cards, will comment on them soon.
Thanks to all the participants and to you George! I enjoyed round 45 a lot.
The rest of my cards for this round got into mail service earlier this week.

Happy new year!

 

[Black Dog]

Received 4 more excellent cards, will comment on them soon.
Thanks to all the participants and to you George! I enjoyed round 45 a lot.
The rest of my cards for this round got into mail service earlier this week.

Happy new year!

I've enjoyed it too-looking forward to the next one!

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Sign Up thread for Round 46 is now up, don't delay - sign up today.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Given some of the comments in the Round 46 Sign Up Thread I thought I'd put together a little table. "Sent" means that the person has mentioned in this thread that they have mailed their cards, "R'cvd" means at least one person has mentioned that they received a card from that sender.

We have mostly run on the honor system, in that you don't sign up for a new round if you haven't completed the last round. Keep in mind it is never too late to send out cards, if you get them out before the sign up closes and you are free to sign up again.

I may have missed a comment if so let me know. Let me know if you think something like this is a good idea for the future. Perhaps once a month.

I think we all know that our various postal systems seem to struggle with cards. Automated machines seem to like the taste of silver and sometimes take a bite. I'm not trying to pressure anyone but it is nice to know that cards are on the way and being received.

Note: table has been removed - two hours after I made it, it need to be updated. It was not easy to edit, so it's gone. To be usefull and fair I'd have to update it almost daily which not always possible for me.

 

[mooseontheloose]

George, wouldn't it be best if you kept this for yourself as the moderator, since really only you can control who can join the exchange (or not)? The only real issue is people signing up if they haven't sent yet, and I don't think that happens very often. I've been doing the exchanges a long time and it seems to me that most regulars honour the exchange eventually, as it's not always easy to get into the darkroom during the allotted period, often due to work/health/family issues. Publicly shaming people may not be the best response, especially if those who are delinquent are going through a tough time.

One issue I've noticed that is connected to the complaints is that some people choose small numbers of cards to send (5 or 10) and that just increases the odds that they'll have more missing than if they do the full exchange. If I get 25/30 I consider that a pretty successful exchange (83% received). Getting 1/5 (20% received) would suck, but those can be the odds with smaller numbers.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Thanks for the feedback Rachelle. I may well keep it to myself but we'll see. Right now I haven't found an easy way to edit a table once it's posted. It can quickly become out of date and I don't like that. In fact the above table is now incorrect.
I agree with you about the low numbers and the odds of missing or late cards being higher or certainly more noticeable.
Yes, many things can cause a delay, I am guilty myself, hence not taking part in the last several rounds. I still hold hope that I can get back into things, maybe later this year.

George

 

[awty]

My comment was only about how lousy the letter postal service has become, not about senders. Need to go through and list all that was received, office is a bit of a mess after the holidays and need to sort through a mountain of paper work.
I sent mine for this round "swim" in November, but forgot to mention it.

 

[gijsbert]

I sent mine out (Funky rocks in Zion NP) on December 14, I hope a few made it.
I must admit and maybe apologize for not really commenting here on cards received, but I have received many; I got quite a stack of them on my desk, it is really fun to receive these cards, so thanks!!

 

[MattKing]

Perhaps it might help if we, from time to time, asked people to post in the thread how many different cards they have received.