Postcard Exchange Round 50 Comments and Feedback

Lucid · Jul 8, 2020

@vedostuu - A very nice surprise arrived with my post yesterday. I've never seen a Caffenol print in person before, and the quality of your print has piqued my interested to give it a go myself. Great notes on the back too, very fitting! The close crop on the subject and dark shadows give an air of mystery to both the car and it's occupants. I'm also loving the stamp on the stamp on the back. It made me chuckle! There are a couple residual fixer stains on the border, just thought I'd mention it. Many thanks for taking the time to send a card my way.

radiant · Jul 8, 2020

I'm glad @Lucid that you liked your card. Feedback is maybe even the best part of the exchange Sorry for the fixer residue. I actually noticed that card in some part of the process but never found it again and thought it was not in the ones being posted. Maybe it can be thought as just an unique artifact Hope it doesn't bother you.

As two have already mentioned the stamp, I had to look information of it. It has been designed by Reima Mäkinen for the stamp purpose. The stamps present Japanese influences in Finland, in particular karaoke & sushi. Karaoke is big part of finnish bar life and sushi has become a second national food in last 3-4 years. I know, we live in forest..

Lucid · Jul 8, 2020

vedostuu said:
I'm glad @Lucid that you liked your card. Feedback is maybe even the best part of the exchange Sorry for the fixer residue. I actually noticed that card in some part of the process but never found it again and thought it was not in the ones being posted. Maybe it can be thought as just an unique artifact Hope it doesn't bother you.

As two have already mentioned the stamp, I had to look information of it. It has been designed by Reima Mäkinen for the stamp purpose. The stamps present Japanese influences in Finland, in particular karaoke & sushi. Karaoke is big part of finnish bar life and sushi has become a second national food in last 3-4 years. I know, we live in forest..

Good to know! The stain doesn't bother me one bit, and in a way, it's in keeping with the patina which most cards pickup during the journey to their destination.

I was on the Finnish Post Office page this morning searching for your stamp. It's great that such creative stamps can be used internationally. Unfortunately, it's harder to do with the stamps here in the U.K. Either a relatively mundane fixed price stamp, or heaps of other stamps to bring up the value are my options. I did notice that Posti offer their customers an option for custom stamps, using an image of their choice, but I digress.

A comedian once joked - "Philately will get you nowhere."

BSP · Jul 8, 2020

I feel like making coffee....all day and every day....and @vedostuu 's lovely Cafenol developed postcard makes me want to start experimenting with this type of developing too. I really love the window of opporunity this postcard offers me. Nice one!
Thanks alot, my card to you is underway and I can only hope you like it half as much as I appreciate this one.

Cheers!

Bill

radiant · Jul 8, 2020

Lucid said:
I was on the Finnish Post Office page this morning searching for your stamp. It's great that such creative stamps can be used internationally.

Sorry if we go too much off-topic

Finnish stamps have been quite a long time full of art. There are two kind of card stamps: domestic and international. For curiosity: the international stamp costs 1.85 euros (2,09 USD, 1.66 UK pounds).

BSP said:
Thanks alot, my card to you is underway and I can only hope you like it half as much as I appreciate this one.

So glad you liked it too! I look forward to receiving your card, based on round #48 I think a gem is coming up!

rst · Jul 8, 2020

vedostuu said:
... Finnish stamps have been quite a long time full of art. There are two kind of card stamps: domestic and international. For curiosity: the international stamp costs 1.85 euros (2,09 USD, 1.66 UK pounds).

That is almost twice as much as an international postcard stamp costs in Germany. But our stamps are not as nice. So it is maybe worth the cost.

Today I found your postcard in my mail and like it very much. Also the toning from the caffenol development adds a lot. I like that glow in the very highlights and also the reflections of the tree and the streetlight.

Cheers
Ruediger

radiant · Jul 8, 2020

rst said:
Today I found your postcard in my mail and like it very much. Also the toning from the caffenol development adds a lot. I like that glow in the very highlights and also the reflections of the tree and the streetlight.

Glad you liked it, thanks for the feedback!

Luis-F-S · Jul 8, 2020

Lucid said:
@Luis-F-S The card has a nice feel to it, and I enjoy the slightly soft focus effect of the image. The leaves have a nice transition in tonality. Many thanks for sending!

10 3/4” G-Claron Dagor design! And f/45!

mfohl · Jul 11, 2020

Two nice cards arrived in the mail yesterday. madhatter's nice doorway (closet door?) in an old building. And the interior of the very large Lloyd's building in London from tezzasmall. Thanks Folks!

radiant · Jul 13, 2020

A huge pile of cards arrived today!

Terry S - before reading the text on pack I was thinking that the picture look really 80's

mfohl - feels like your camera dropped on the floor and send it to me without you knowing about it

Arvid - subject is quite ordinary but the light and printing makes it interesting. Excellent print!

Luis - without color the flowers look like cactuses (I needed to google the subject)

Ilya - I was waiting for your card and it is great job as always. The composition has nice left-to-right move and same time vertical lines (harbour and swans) with horizontal top line. And toning is so nice extra with hand written notes. You seem to put lot of effort into your cards and I really appreciate your work..

drpsilver - somehow my eyes just stare at your card but I don't know why. It has nice multidimensional effect because of shallow depth of field!

Big thanks for these suprises!

Oxleyroad · Jul 13, 2020

Four cards in. tezzasmall - Inside the Lloyds building arrived last Friday. Looks like a hive of activity. The family and I really enjoy looking at this card. Thanks Terry.

RSImages · Jul 13, 2020

I'm slow. I need to address my cards and they should be going out in the next couple of days. Sorry for the delay in getting them out the door.

Lucid · Jul 14, 2020

@CircusMalta - I received your card this past weekend. I really like the perspective of this image; it really draws you in. The flower has an almost luminous glow to it, and the window sill has plenty of character. Many thanks for taking the time to print and for sending my way.

I posted my cards out yesterday. I hope they'll reach the UK addresses today, and the international addresses in the next week or so. I've found that I learn a great deal from these printing runs, but right now I'll just be glad to have my bathroom back to normal!

Lucid · Jul 14, 2020

@BSP - A rather spooky surprise made it's way through my letter box today! Your card was doubly humerus and put a smile on my face. Thanks for sending my way!

tezzasmall · Jul 15, 2020

mfohl said:
Two nice cards arrived in the mail yesterday. And the interior of the very large Lloyd's building in London from tezzasmall. Thanks Folks!

Always glad to hear that cards have arrived at their destinations okay.

vedostuu said:
A huge pile of cards arrived today!

Terry S - before reading the text on pack I was thinking that the picture look really 80's

And how spot on were you then?

Oxleyroad said:
Four cards in. tezzasmall - Inside the Lloyds building arrived last Friday. Looks like a hive of activity. The family and I really enjoy looking at this card. Thanks Terry.

Glad to have that response. I too love looking at all the cards that I receive. I think of my card for this round, as a bit like a 'Where's Wally' type of card.

I am also currently thinking of the best way to store carefully, all the lovely prints that I've received so far. Any suggestions people?

And in return for sending out postcards, I have received two today. One from Lucid, which has been put through many more solutions of various things than I usually do, so thanks for that extra effort - oh, and for the un-franked Dennis the Menace stamp!

I love the overall look of the 5" x 4" contact print, which is something I haven't experienced yet, but hope to soon. I also really like the black frame on the card, where there was no negative.

I have also received a very amusing postcard from Bill / BSP. I won't say what, so that others enjoy the surprise as well, but it put a smile on my face, so thanks for that Bill.

Terry S

Lucid · Jul 16, 2020

@tezzasmall - A little gem made it's way through my letter box today. A great capture of some truly inspiring architectural design. It's surprising to say, but this is the first time I've seen an image of the inside of the building. I like how there is just the smallest amount of motion blur to show that time is not standing still, in what I imagine is a very busy environment. It must have been a sight to behold when you took the photo! Also, great to see the latest special issue stamps on the back. That reminds me, I'll have to pick up a set myself!

I'm glad my card made it to you safe a sound. It's is an image that would really benefit from a larger print, as there are a wealth of subtle details just waiting to be discovered. I'm glad you enjoyed the black frame, as it's something I employ on almost all my prints. Contact printing saved having to use a mask and burning the border in. Every second saved helps, especially with big printing runs!

BSP · Jul 16, 2020

Another two landed on my doormat over the past days:

@cramej 's artful and skillful picture of a flaming center. Composition and technicalities are very impressively combined into a pleasant picture.

Ilya's image of 4 swans and a boat from his Irish series is enhanced greatly by the choice of paper and toning. Resulting in a most lovely image that stands the test of time. A real gem.

Thanks to all!

BSP · Jul 17, 2020

Plus one....a superbly produced large format photograph contact printed on a postcard by @Lucid .

Whatever will they think of next?

The smooth sharpness and detail is uncanny in this one. Thanks for putting in the effort to create this.

Bill

rst · Jul 17, 2020

I received another one today. But no surprise, it was just the one I sent to myself. So it took two days to get delivered within Germany, let‘s hope international will not take longer than a week or two.

Cheers
Rüdiger

mfohl · Jul 17, 2020

I just received BSP's nice shot of the rather thin dude on the bike in the Netherlands! Good shot, Bill, thanks!

drpsilver · Jul 17, 2020

17 Jul 2020

To All:

The card from Oxleyroad of street demolition prompts the viewer to ask "Why is this project being done?" Projects like this fascinate me because they uncover some of the stuff that make our civilization work.
The card from cramej is very nice, and sadly an all to common scene these days. I really like the perspective of the photo. It took me a few moments to see the cleff and staff in the pavement. Nicely done.
The card from madhatter of doors to a warehouse(?). Nice control of perspective, and depth-of-focus. I like how you left a little of the out-of-focus foreground. It gives context and draws the viewer into the image.
The card from BSP of a fleshless person on a Vespa is well set-up. I like how you kept more animate people on the image, but outside focus. Was this part of an All Hollow's Eve celebration? Nicely done.

Thank you to all for sharing your work.

Regards,
Darwin

Luis-F-S · Jul 17, 2020

vedostuu said:
A huge pile of cards arrived today!

Luis - without color the flowers look like cactuses (I needed to google the subject)

I believe it was Paul Strand that said that photography and color have nothing in common.

rst · Jul 18, 2020

Hah! yesterday another postcard arrived, but somehow made it into the darker areas of our mailbox and that is probably no surprise for the rather spooky thin dude on the picture. Thanks Bill! Great capture, I like it!

Cheers
Ruediger

mfohl · Jul 19, 2020

lucid's card "Under Destruction" came yesterday. Looks like the sign is one of the items being sold by the junk shop. A very nicely executed 4x5 (or is that 5x4 ) contact print.

BSP · Jul 19, 2020

@rst 's unique take on postcard creation reached me today. 5x4 pinhole huh? Nice one Ruediger, I like it.
A well chosen scene within the theme and the scanning and printing did not detract from the capture medium.
Nice choice of paper too, what is it?

Bill

Postcard Exchange Round 50 Comments and Feedback

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