Postcard Exchange Round 52 Comments and Feedback

[mfohl]

I received a very nice card from gijsbert in Montreal. It is the "fire wave" from the Valley of Fire near Los Vegas. Nice lines of the rock formation. Selenium and sepia toned. Not a postcard, actually, but a print in an envelope. But much appreciated. Thanks Gijsbert!

 

[Howard Earl]

Received a number of wonderful card service recently:

@distributed
Nice train station with great tones.
“Professor01983”
Close-up of monopoly piece, and a big print. Thank you for sharing.
Gysbert
Beautiful wave lines in mountains. Nice work with the split toning.
Mike Teresco
Sharp front to back Buttes in California. Great location.
DRPSILVER
COVID Coffe Contemplations: Nice work with the triptych in camera.
I may have to add this to my kitchen wall for my daily coffee ritual.
Iandvaag
And cheers back at you. Such a beautiful original work.
Just needs a frame, (I will supply) to compliment this work of art.
BSP
Enjoying fisherman’s wife statue overlooking water awaiting return. Lot s going on in this photo.

 

[mfohl]

A nice card from iandvaag came in the mail. As a letter, not a card, but what the heck. Less chance of damage to the card that way. Anyway, this was a beautiful 4x5 contact print on hand-coated watercolor paper. The scene is a stream in Rowen's Ravine in Saskatchewan. Very nice, thanks Ian!

 

[mfohl]

I received Howard Earl's 4x5 contact print of the old oil storage tank. And a nice shiny tank it is. Do tell, does it still hold oil, or is just a good looker?

 

[distributed]

I received a beautiful contact print from @iandvaag. You really went to great lengths to make this print and it shows, in a very good way. At first I wasn't sure whether I was dealing with a painting or a photograph Thank you very much.

 

[rst]

I know, I am late this round. But finally, after I had everything in place to blackout my office I was able to contact print my postcards using a tablet as light source. So I am back in B&W printing. Hope you like the card, it went into the mail yesterday.

In the meantime I found some very nice surprises in my mailbox. Thank you very much for all the fun, I will comment on them over the coming weekend. At least, it is seven out of 15, so I do not feel too bad, as I am not the only one being late

Cheers
Ruediger

 

[Howard Earl]

I received Howard Earl's 4x5 contact print of the old oil storage tank. And a nice shiny tank it is. Do tell, does it still hold oil, or is just a good looker?

Fresh paint job last year (2020). Still working.

 

[bedrof]

Last week I finally finished toning and flattening of my second batch of cards for this round. Mailed them few days ago.

 

[George Nova Scotia]

Hmm, looks like time for a new round. Standby to join in tomorrow (or any time in May)....

 

[George Nova Scotia]

The new sign up for Round 53 is up.

https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/postcard-exchange-round-53-sign-up.183815/

 

[rst]

OK, here we go.

For this round I received some very nice postcards. In no specific order these are:

Ian (iandvaag) sent Rowan's Ravine - another great execution of printing on self-coated paper. This feels so great in the hand. And a kind of quiet composition in these weird times.

Howard (Howard Earl) sent Above Ground Oil Storage - an image with lots of details and what I would call a fat print. Rich in tonality, subtle highlight and shadow detail. I like it!

Mark (mfohl) sent Leatherlips - this is a very interesting kind of monument. I like the composition and the delicate tonality. Cool.

Bill (BSP) sent an image from his corona strolls. I like your idea about the statue and bringing it into context with the pandemic. As if such I think the very strong vignette leads to the impression of looking through a pinhole, out of the box that we are locked into in many places these days.

Mike (Michael Teresko) sent Somewhere near Sutter Buttes. This is again kind of hard to tell on first look that it is an inkjet print. It does feel a little bit different, but not that different. I like the bow composition of the path with the straight shadow of a pole in the foreground.

Rachelle (mooseontheloose) sent View over Akre Kale Mountain. What a nice image. I took it out of the mailbox and without looking on the back it was clear that it is from you. I never use IR film and probably never will. But that glowyness is just amazing.

Darwin (drpsilver) sent Covid Coffee Contemplations. I like the idea of in camera triptych. Also you managed that the coffee crema shows some nice 'image in image' too. How cool is that.

Clinton (ProfessorC1983) sent .... the biggest card I ever received. And I like it. Thanks a lot. And it is written with a typewriter. I wanted to type the title of my image with a typewriter, but the ink did not stick too well to the emulsion side of the paper, so I went with a pen. But it is nice to see that at least someone else still uses typewriters.

That is it so far for this round. All great surprises in the mailbox every once in a wile. I enjoyed the round and hope there is some more cards to come.

Cheers
Ruediger

 

[ProfessorC1983]

Unfortunately I received my card intended for @Finn lyle back in the mail today marked Return To Sender... double-checked the address from what I have in DM and it is correct. Finn if you can let me know what I did wrong I'll happily re-post!

 

[drpsilver]

07 May 2021

Better late than never. My comments on the pile of card I have received over the past month, in no particular order.

ProfessorC1983 sent the biggest postcard I have ever received. I like how you used a shallow DOF to add depth to the photo. There is no doubt as to your subject. I am also impressed that you used "old technology" to type your labels. You put a lot of work into these cards. Thank you.

Nice photo of stratified "slip rock" in the Nevada dessert form gijsbert.

I like the message symbolism and message on the card from BSP. The vignetting in all four corners adds to the image.

It is always cool to get a card with a place that you know. Michael Teresko has done just that. Nice view of the buttes with the surrounding orchards.

Cool idea from JimEA - a portion of a 35mm proof sheet featuring a woman making bubbles. By the time the card landed in my mailbox two of the corners of the backing sheet had "delaminated" from the print. Well done.

The card from iandvaag is a first for me - a have non-commercial coated silver emulsion print in my hand. What I really like about this print is the appearance of silver specks because of the paper surface. Wonderfully done, and wish you the best in your further investigation in coating paper.

I am guessing that Howard Earl practiced engineering sometime in his career, as I did. The nicely composed photo of an oil storage tanks (and surrounding machinery) is a visual reminder that our societies are dependent upon science/engineering.

The photo from (and maybe of) rst is really cool. I like the set-up: small table, small meal, wine, and welder's goggles. The photo is printed very well, and the matt/satin paper adds to the statement made by the image. What paper did you use for the is print?

Thank you to all for a wonderful collection of work!

Regards,
Darwin

 

[rst]

The photo from (and maybe of) rst is really cool. I like the set-up: small table, small meal, wine, and welder's goggles. The photo is printed very well, and the matt/satin paper adds to the statement made by the image. What paper did you use for the is print?

Hi Darwin, Great that you like it. Yes, you are right, I was in need of a model and me was the only one around. I did a whole series of images. The paper is Ilford MG V RC in satin finish. I think pearl would have been the better choice, but when I ordered it I thought satin is the nicer name and I anyway wanted to try something new.

Cheers
Rüdiger

 

[mfohl]

I also received rst’s very cool postcard “Total Distancing”! A poor quarantined chap dining alone. I especially like the goggles! Very nicely exposed and printed, too. Thanks Rüdiger!

PS - is that postcard paper, or just ordinary paper? It does have a nice surface.

 

[rst]

PS - is that postcard paper, or just ordinary paper? It does have a nice surface.

No Mark, that is ordinary paper in satin finish which turned out a little bit mattish (if that is a real word). But it kind of fits the subject. It is of course not a paper for the deepest blacks ever.

Thanks for the kind feedback, glad you like it.

Cheers
Rüdiger

 

[hkbenji]

My apologies for being so late this time around.. Setting up a UV light box and making the prints took longer than I expected! They finally went out about a week ago.
Many thanks for all the great postcards! In no particular order, I have received:

@drpsilver - A great triptych. It makes me think of aerial ocean scenes. Very nice.
@tezzasmall - Excellent print of an intriguing sculpture. That paper has a very nice feel and look to it. Adds a little sparkle.
@distributed - A very Swiss photograph I would say - lines and geometry, precision stuff! Great print too.
@Lucid - A butterfly on 4x5! Most impressive. Beautiful tones and I like the vignetting a lot.
@mooseontheloose - Great IR glow. A lovely photograph that makes me look forward to being able to travel again.
@iandvaag - Beautiful 4x5 contact print of a quietly beautiful landscape. The coated paper is fantastic.
@Michael Teresko - Very sharp and detailed landscape. I very much like the composition. Excellent print quality as well.
@JimEA - Great fun contact sheet! Bubbles bubbles. A lot of talk about travel bubbles over here at the moment.
@ProfessorC1983 - Giant (largest one I ever received) postcard that arrived here unscathed. Nice print and a great concept - re-visiting childhood objects. I also like the backing paper and the typewritten notes a lot.
@BSP - A nice symbolic print of a statue of a woman and seascape. Interesting to see a cannon there as well.
@mfohl - A fun and well-executed print of a face-like building front. Great stuff.
@gijsbert - Wow, the toning on this Firewave photograph works extremely well. What a great print!
@Wayne Frederick - Labelled as PCX50, so perhaps from the last round, this photograph looks like it is from a hundred years ago. Very nice muted tones of a park scene with historic conservatories.
@Howard Earl - That tank really glows and shines. Very nice - super detailed and great range of tones.

Thanks again for all the great cards!

 

[rst]

One more update:

Benjamin (hkbenji) sent a wonderful cyanotype of exposed roots in the woods. You managed the contrast very well. I like it.

I did not know that there is still pre-coated paper available - interesting. It is a nice and smooth paper. But a two hour exposure … I thought with one hour exposures for my cyanotypes I am patient …

Cheers
Rüdiger

 

[drpsilver]

12 May 2021

I too received a vey nice cyanotype from hkbenji. The negative used was well suited to cyanotype. I commend you on building your own UV box. I use the "big ball in the sly" to do my exposures. Not as consistent as a UV box, but less work for me. Coating your own paper is fun and frustrating at the same time. It may take some time to find a paper that works for you, and time to develop your coating technique. Enjoy the experience, and use fresh chemistry. When I did my last batch of cyanotype prints the chemistry I used was almost 1 year-old. The paper dried partially unsensitized, and tit not give me deep rich blues.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[Lucid]

Geez, where has the time gone?! Judging by the colour of the Dektol in my vertical tank, I've been distracted by other commitments for far too long!

I have received some truly wonderful images in this latest round. My apologies for not being more timely in my feedback (and dispatch of my own cards)!

@iandvaag - A very nice self coated paper which has a great feel to both the hand and eye. There is a timeless quality of the subject, and the softness of the image from the paper texture gives it a dreamlike quality.

@bedrof - A classic street photo. The end result of from your corrections looks fine to my eye. I'm loving those Russian stamps too.

@Black Dog - As soon as I saw the front of the card I knew it was from you. A fun image which really makes me feel like I'm surrounded by bubbles. As much as I love B&W, an image like this has to be in colour.

@Howard Earl - What a cool shot. The metallic cylinder has a real glow about it. Must be the fresh paint! I enjoy the presentation of the frame within the print. I must be more adventurous with masking.

@gijsbert - WOW. Such a stunning subject with brilliant execution to the final print. This is going to be a reference print for me. I can only hope to make final images as good as this. Digging the dragonfly stamp too.

@BSP - A poignant image and meaning. The vignette makes me feel like I'm viewing the subject through someone's eyes, which is quite enjoyable.

@JimEA - What a fun image. The flow of movement with each frame is great. The hand note on the contact print is a nice touch. The paper has great hand feel to it.

@Michael Teresko - I really like the flow of this image. And what acutance you've been able to achieve. I feel if I wasn't careful I'd cut myself on a blade of grass! A great example of the ability of a skilled photographer and the capability of modern digital tools.

@ProfessorC1983 - Boom! I always get a kick out of seeing things in a larger than life context. I enjoyed the back of this print as much as the front. Great notes and fantastic stamps.


Many thanks to everyone for their cards. It really brightens my day when these arrive through my letter box, and when I pour over them again to write my comments.
Time to get a wiggle on myself. My cards shall begin their journey shortly!

 

[distributed]

This week I received two postcards. The first one reaches me from @Howard Earl and is a pretty contact print. I like how you managed the highlights. The second one is from @hkbenji and is a most beautiful cyanotype. I was not aware that this level of sharpness and, more importantly, tonality is possible with a cyanotype. I suspect that you produced a negative that matches well to your cyanotype's exposure range? Also, the subject matches the process well!

 

[bedrof]

Geez, where has the time gone?! Judging by the colour of the Dektol in my vertical tank, I've been distracted by other commitments for far too long!

I have received some truly wonderful images in this latest round. My apologies for not being more timely in my feedback (and dispatch of my own cards)!

@iandvaag - A very nice self coated paper which has a great feel to both the hand and eye. There is a timeless quality of the subject, and the softness of the image from the paper texture gives it a dreamlike quality.

@bedrof - A classic street photo. The end result of from your corrections looks fine to my eye. I'm loving those Russian stamps too.

@Black Dog - As soon as I saw the front of the card I knew it was from you. A fun image which really makes me feel like I'm surrounded by bubbles. As much as I love B&W, an image like this has to be in colour.

@Howard Earl - What a cool shot. The metallic cylinder has a real glow about it. Must be the fresh paint! I enjoy the presentation of the frame within the print. I must be more adventurous with masking.

@gijsbert - WOW. Such a stunning subject with brilliant execution to the final print. This is going to be a reference print for me. I can only hope to make final images as good as this. Digging the dragonfly stamp too.

@BSP - A poignant image and meaning. The vignette makes me feel like I'm viewing the subject through someone's eyes, which is quite enjoyable.

@JimEA - What a fun image. The flow of movement with each frame is great. The hand note on the contact print is a nice touch. The paper has great hand feel to it.

@Michael Teresko - I really like the flow of this image. And what acutance you've been able to achieve. I feel if I wasn't careful I'd cut myself on a blade of grass! A great example of the ability of a skilled photographer and the capability of modern digital tools.

@ProfessorC1983 - Boom! I always get a kick out of seeing things in a larger than life context. I enjoyed the back of this print as much as the front. Great notes and fantastic stamps.


Many thanks to everyone for their cards. It really brightens my day when these arrive through my letter box, and when I pour over them again to write my comments.
Time to get a wiggle on myself. My cards shall begin their journey shortly!

I'm glad to know you got the card from me. Looks like you're the first one during this round.

 

[hkbenji]

One more update:

Benjamin (hkbenji) sent a wonderful cyanotype of exposed roots in the woods. You managed the contrast very well. I like it.

I did not know that there is still pre-coated paper available - interesting. It is a nice and smooth paper. But a two hour exposure … I thought with one hour exposures for my cyanotypes I am patient …

Cheers
Rüdiger

Thanks Rüdiger.
The coated paper is labelled as coming from the Cyanotype Store. Hot Press paper - quite nice, but seems inconsistent - I had a lot of rejects - but that is more likely to be my technique rather than the paper's fault..

 

[hkbenji]

12 May 2021

I too received a vey nice cyanotype from hkbenji. The negative used was well suited to cyanotype. I commend you on building your own UV box. I use the "big ball in the sly" to do my exposures. Not as consistent as a UV box, but less work for me. Coating your own paper is fun and frustrating at the same time. It may take some time to find a paper that works for you, and time to develop your coating technique. Enjoy the experience, and use fresh chemistry. When I did my last batch of cyanotype prints the chemistry I used was almost 1 year-old. The paper dried partially unsensitized, and tit not give me deep rich blues.

Regards,
Darwin

Thanks for the tips Darwin. I am looking forward to trying my own coating, once I have used up the pre-coated paper. Should be fun!

 

[hkbenji]

This week I received two postcards. The first one reaches me from @Howard Earl and is a pretty contact print. I like how you managed the highlights. The second one is from @hkbenji and is a most beautiful cyanotype. I was not aware that this level of sharpness and, more importantly, tonality is possible with a cyanotype. I suspect that you produced a negative that matches well to your cyanotype's exposure range? Also, the subject matches the process well!

Thanks @distributed. Yeah, I used ChartThrob to get the contrast into the ballpark. Seems to work quite well.