Postcard Exchange Round 51 Comments and Feedback

[Oxleyroad]

Last 8 are now with the postal service, aso all cards are on their way.

 

[Lucid]

A number of cards have made their way to me in the last few days. Many thanks to all for printing and sending. I'll have to get my butt in gear and dispatch mine!

@mfohl - A very nice contact print! Very detailed and crisp. I enjoy the subtle features found in the weathering paint of the railroad car. It gives the the urge to explore the area if I ever had the chance. I think a 1:1 crop of this image would make it even more impressive.

@FotoGys - Thank you for sharing your capture of a timeless landscape, and for the handwritten message on the back. The undulating hills leads my eyes to pour over the print over and over.

@BSP - This is a fun print, and enjoyable from every orientation! Great details ranging from the brickwork to the holes in the railing. I really enjoy the presence of the clouds in this image.

@gijsbert - A great image of some iconic architecture. I like the moment in time feel given my the still flowing water. Discovering the three pigeons gave me a chuckle, and they pair up well with the three birds flying above.

@Dan McGuire - The gradation of the sky is impressive, and I was surprised to read that a filter was not used. It must have been a great day for capturing images. The weighting of the boarder works well. The dance of high contrast with the wooden blinds and subtle tones of the surrounding roof tiles is great.

Thanks again to all for sending their cards and for sharing their experiences.

 

[JimEA]

Printed and posted...

So far have received @Dan McGuire's lovely steeple print - has a real richness to it

 

[MattKing]

I have received and enjoy two more cards:
BSP - "Who let the dog out?" - this is a fun image that makes me wonder - did the human end up in the water too?
FotoGys - "Dunes south of Egmond" - I like how this card combines the peaceful with the dynamic.
Thanks everyone for participating.

 

[mfohl]

I received oxleyroad's Lighthouse from Sri Lanka. Nice! And it sounds like a nice trip too, with your family. I've never seen palm trees this close to a lighthouse before. Thanks!

 

[Howard Earl]

Round 51
How fast the come. Received three postcards so far:
Oxleyroad's Galle Fort Lighthouse.Beautiful location with nice palm trees.
mfohl Pump, old pump. Nice seeing pics from the Holga. Photo holds up well. Camera on my wish list.
Dan McGuire's Springford Steeple. Excellent architectural representation. A 5X7 image I would love to see whole. Keep up the good work.

 

[Oxleyroad]

Holly Cow. The USPS has lifted its game. My car lease statements from Texas are consistently arriving 42days after their date on the statement. Maybe the leasing co. is up to no good. Do do do do.

 

[BSP]

You have a point.

In hindsight I should have included the following information on the back off my pcx51 cards.

If you received a pcx51 postcard from me, it contained either

• an architectural image
• or a seascape/street image

Both where taken with a Leica M2 + 35mm Zeiss Biogon on the same roll of Foma 200 and developed in Xtol replenished and printed on Ilford's postcard paper using also Ilford's MG developer.

I hope this adds to the enjoyment of receiving my postcard.

On the off-chance you received a completely different postcard from me for this round (I might have run out of prints to send) I hope you didn't get one I sent you already in a previous round. If so, please let me know so I can make it up to you.

Regards,

Bill
BSP

 

[JimEA]

Received a lovely cyanotype from @MattiS - it's the first time I've held a cyanotype in my hand - love the deep blues and the combination of a pinhole shot with the alternative process - There's something really nice about knowing that with the brush strokes it's an individual "one of a kind" print. Thanks!

 

[FotoGys]

So this week I received:
@MattiS: I love this really interesting cyanotype, I now of the process in theory but now received my first one, besides that I love the scene and composition.
@Oxleyroad: The lighthouse which survived all the destruction of a tsunami which reminds me of a lighthouse along the Great Ocean Road I photographed in 2004 during a trip to Australia
@mfohl: Interesting old stuff which reminds off the days that are long gone

I enjoy, thanks so far

Guus (FotoGys)

 

[Dan McGuire]

This week I received two cards in the mail

@BSP Sardijn Tower, Vlissingen NL, an architectural shot with nice lines.
@FotoGys Dunes south of Egmond aan zee, NL, an area of rolling dunes. Which completely upended my mental picture of what the Netherlands looks like.

these two pictures kicked off a where’s Waldo moment in our house between me and my son trying to find these two locations on Apple maps.

Dan

 

[FotoGys]

Forgot to mention that already one week ago I receved in my mailbox the postcard of @Dan McGuire.
I love the compositin and tonal scale of this church steeple a lot. I think that I'am facing a challenge of improving the tonal scale of my own pictures. Love that.

 

[FotoGys]

This week I received two cards in the mail

@FotoGys Dunes south of Egmond aan zee, NL, an area of rolling dunes. Which completely upended my mental picture of what the Netherlands looks like.

these two pictures kicked off a where’s Waldo moment in our house between me and my son trying to find these two locations on Apple maps.

Dan

The dunes are photographed approx. on coordinats N52.61312° E4.63197° looking in east direction. I wonder whether you have found this location.

Kind regards,

Guus

 

[Lucid]

Two more cards have made their way to my letter box. Both very pleasant!

@Oxleyroad - Thank you for your card. It's always a pleasure to read the notes on the back of the postcards, and this is no exception. I like the perspective of of this image, with the footpath leading the eye to the lighthouse. It must have been a great experience taking in all the sights.

@MattiS - Pin hole cameras and alternative processing really do make for an enjoyable final image. The natural borders are a great touch, and the look and feel of the paper are excellent. What an interesting location too. Many thanks for sending a print my way.

Well, after much wrangling, I now have my negative and will be printing this weekend. My apologies for the delay so far. As someone once said, life is what happens when you make plans!

 

[rst]

Mine got printed yesterday ... and they are also signed already. Now the fun part ... writing.

Cheers
Ruediger

 

[rst]

And in the meantime I already got a bunch of very nice postcards. In no particular order ...

• BSP - As in the last round: A card that just makes me smile. Very good choice Bill!
• mfohl sent a nice capture of a restaurant where they grow their vegetables right in front of the door. Good capture and print. Hat off.
• Dan McGuire - This is richness in tone right into your face. Cool crop out of 4x5.
• FotoGys - Ahhhh dunes. This brings back the smell of our short summer vacation at the northern sea. Thanks for that.
• MattiS - Martin, what a nice surprise. I like that image a lot.

So, if all goes smooth I will send out mine during the week. Hope you do not mind something blue.

Cheers
Ruediger

 

[cramej]

Whoa, how time flies! I completely missed the round 51 signup - guess I'll jump back in on 52.

 

[mfohl]

I received two nice cards today, both with the same stamp from the Netherlands. "Sardijn Tower" by BSP. An interesting tall tower, surrounded by circular frame in the city of Vlissingen. And a very calm and soothing beach scene at Egmond aan Zee by FotoGys. Both very nice shots and much appreciated. Thanks Bill and Guus!

 

[Dan McGuire]

Hello all
Received two more images this week
It makes for a pleasant change of pace from the normal bills and junk mail

@Oxleyroad Galle Fort - lighthouse. The heads of the palm trees evokes the image of explosions of fireworks in the air
@JimEA untitled. A detail of a sculptured sphere erupting with faces or people. Would like to know more of the back story

looking forward to what arrives next.

Dan

 

[MattKing]

I too have received Oxleyroad's "Galle Fort - lighthouse".
Some of the best postcards are travel postcards!

 

[bedrof]

First cards of the round here
@MattiS Aquarius Water Museum - pinhole photo implemented in cyanotype technique claims to be a great combo. Nice compositional balance of clouds and trees.
@Dan McGuire - Springfield Steeple - wow, 5x7. The fine detail of the print and lovely tones attract my eyes to it again and again.
@FotoGys - Dutch coast dunes - print with a subtle nostalgic look. Reminds me of my short trip to Baltic dunes some 8 years ago.
@mfohl - Frisco - although marked for round 50, I guess this card belongs here. Great contrast and LF specific tone rendition make all the crisp details almost pop outta frame.

Many thanks for so nice cards.
My first one (regular bw) went into the mail a week ago, and the remaining will be ready soon.
The @Nige card of the previous round made me start thinking of learning a lith technique, so hopefully few cards for the PCX51 will be lith prints.

 

[MattKing]

I too have received from MattiS his excellent "Aquarius Water Museum".
It is so excellent, it replicated.
I received two identical cards, both fully addressed with full postage and postmarked the same day.
And they arrived in the same mail delivery too.
The card is a beautiful cyanotype of a very moody pinhole image.
I shared it yesterday with the others at the bi-weekly Zoom meeting of my Darkroom Group. The Zoom process doesn't do it justice, but all agreed that the card was great.

 

[MattiS]

I received two identical cards, both fully addressed with full postage and postmarked the same day.
And they arrived in the same mail delivery too.

Yes, it seems that your adress made it two times into my Excel template for the postcard stickers. More important, I double-checked that I did not miss another participant on the list.

It was the first batch of cyanotypes i ever made. It was fun to gain some experience in making these postcards.

 

[MattKing]

I just figure I'm doubly fortunate!
Those sheets of address labels can be hypnotic, can't they?
I get my software to sort by country, so it is slightly less likely that that will happen to me.

 

[drpsilver]

08 Nov 2020

I delivered my postcards to the post office yesterday, so they are on their way to your mailboxes. I hope they arrive in a timely manner and relatively unscathed.

Here are my comments on the cards I have received to-date (in no particular order).
A nice 5x7 print of Dutch coastal dunes from FotoGys. The grass in the foreground give context, and depth, to the photo.
An ultra-sharp photo of "Springford Steeple" by Dan McGuire. Well done to correct for convergence, and nicely printed.
I like the composition of the photo from bedrof. A long lonely road with a bus. The region looks like a neat place to photograph.
The card from Oxleyroad of a lighthouse in Sri Lanka. I like how you used the trees to isolate the lighthouse lens house from the rest of the photo. The glossy helps "make the image sing"
The card from BSP is very interesting. I like the perspective (looking up) and the repeating pattern of round Sardijn Tower and round fence.
The card from mfohl of a pumped made with a Holga (with fairly sharp optics). I like the composition for its simplicity.
A gorgeous cyanotype from MattiS, "Aquarius Water Museum". I have the impression that the photo made with a pinhole camera. A water museum sounds like a cool place to visit. (Cyanotype is my alt process of choice.)
Edit: I am impressed by your "first efforts" at cyanotype. Well done MattiS.

I look forward to more cards. I hope you like the image on my card.

Regards,
Darwin