Postcard Exchange Round 55 Comments and Feedback

[drpsilver]

14 Mar 2022

To All:

My cards will go to the post office tomorrow. I will comment on the cards I have received later.

I have been very distressed about what is happening in Ukraine. I admire both the Ukrainian people, and those protesting in Russia. My thoughts are drawn to our fellow Postcard Exchange member bedrof. I hope all is well with him and his family.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[Don_ih]

I received a very nicely done card from @Wayne Frederick called "Storm Surf" of a turbulent ocean shore. It's truly an excellent little print. Thanks!

 

[keisisqrl]

I picked up a couple more cards from the PO Box:

Wayne Frederick, "Storm Surf": I can hear that wave, lovely print

Matt King, "Hangin' On": I like the results of the toning! The inconsistency fits well with the subject matter.

 

[drpsilver]

16 Mar 2022

I have received several nice cards recently. Following are my comments.

The card from mikeg titled "Heath Mynd Hill from Linley Beeches" is well composed. The foreground tree with the "X" is a critical to the image.
"Stella, surreal" from jvo is a very intriguing photograph. It "feels" like a collage with a real person involved. Well done.
"Remote off-road, Northern New Mexico" by jtk reminds me of my visit to "Crankshaft Junction" north of Death Valley NP. This collection of mufflers must have many stories to tell. There is a lot "going-on" in this image.
"Storm Surf" by Wayne Frederick captures the power, and beauty, of the ocean.
"Natures Lace" by Oxleyroad shows that decay can be beautiful. The veins of the leaves are clear and well exposed. I also like the background leaves in various degrees of disintegration. I have tried to make similar photos with only marginal success. You succeeded!
"Rock and Water" by jord186 is one of those photos that can be viewed in any orientation. It looks like an arial photo of a river with some islands.

Thank you to all for some very interesting images.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[mfohl]

I received two more postcards. "Rock and Water" from jord186 is a nice abstraction in natrure. And perhaps a little vegetation on top? Very nice. And "Hangin' On" from Matt King, a strong old tree with no foliage on it (yet). A pond in the background with some reflections. Both nicely printed darkroom prints (not that I object to digital), but I do appreciate the analog. Thanks guys!

 

[ajmiller]

Received a darkroom printed postcard from @Wayne Frederick today. Excellent photograph and very nicely printed too.Thanks.
Mine went in the post this morning 'Par Avion'!

 

[jtk]

Just received 3 prints from 3 countries (US and 2 others, blistered in transit, Ilford Postcard paper).

 

[ajmiller]

Received a darkroom printed postcard from @Oxleyroad today. Good use of the extension tubes to show the veins of a hydrangea. Plenty of texture and nicely printed. Thanks

 

[mfohl]

I received drpsilver's "Bread Castle", a very cool loaf of bread. His comment is "way too much moisture"! Did that cause the holes in the bread or the eruption in the background? I'm not a bread maker, so I don't know. But it does look like yummy bread. Thanks Darwin!

 

[Jim Christie]

Three cards arrived this week. Jord186 sent Rock and Water which I think is a close-in shot but I agree with other’s comments that it looks remarkably like an aerial photo. drpsilver’s Bread Castle arrived mid week, and well, regardless of moisture content it still made me hungry ! London Tower Bridge from tezzasmall is a beautiful composition taken many years ago on infrared film. It’s the first time I’ve seen an actual lith print (outside of reproductions on the web or in books), and I think I’m starting to understand their appeal.

 

[keisisqrl]

A few more came in.

drpsilver, "Bread Castle": I love this composition! Playful uses of household stuff are so much fun.

Jord186, "Rock and Water": Looks aerial to me too! Great texture.

Oxleyroad, "Natures Lace": I think this is a great macro shot!

tezzasmall, "London Tower Bridge": I like this print a lot! I think the look of the lith print serves the infrared exposure really well.

Last of my cards went in the mail this morning. Hope you all enjoy!

 

[drpsilver]

I received drpsilver's "Bread Castle", a very cool loaf of bread. His comment is "way too much moisture"! Did that cause the holes in the bread or the eruption in the background? I'm not a bread maker, so I don't know. But it does look like yummy bread. Thanks Darwin!

20 Mar 2022

Thank you mfohl, Jim Christie, and keisisqrl for your kind comments. I am glad you liked the photo. I have been baking bread for many years (since 1992), but this has been my most spectacular failure. Yes the bread was yummy (an Apple Maple Walnut bread), but very small and dense because of being too moist. If the bread dough contains too much moisture the yeast cannot provide enough CO2 to give a properly risen loaf. Hence, when it bakes the loaf is small and dense. The "eruption" is an artifact of the bread machine I was using. During the kneading process the dough formed a rope that climbed-up the side of the baking pan, and stayed there during proofing (the time one allows bread dough to rise). Therefore, when it was time to bake the rope was baked solid in place.

When I cut into the loaf there were a lot of "nooks and crannies". I took the opportunity to photograph with the 50mm Macro lens, and gain some experience with off-camera fill-flash. It is always fun to look for interesting photos during everyday life.

Regards,
Darwin

 

[Oxleyroad]

Postcard 10 arrived on Saturday. drpsilver - "Bread Castle". Never seen a loaf of bread do that before! The family smiles at this print every time they open the fridge as do I.

Also thanks to everyone who have enjoyed my print "Natures Lace". I am planning more of these closeup / macro pictures.

 

[distributed]

I have received a beautiful photo of some waves crashing onto the shore from @Wayne Frederick . I like your delicate handling of the highlights in the spray.

I have received another photo from @Laurent. The subject matter of the two saplings on the stump (right?) is very well found. My girlfriend likes to make fun of me because I like to photograph stumps. I think I might have discovered a new approach here

 

[jtk]

very sad ...

have received ELEVEN from Exchange #55

have commented on half of those...will resume commenting, hoping for a few more over the weekend ahead...

very sad...one came back to me today, unopened...

I'd crossed my fingers and sent to Ilya Petrov of Moscow, Russia...

it came back unopened with USPC notation: RETURN TO SENDER...REFUSED...UNABLE TO FORWARD...

Was postmarked from Albuquerque 3/1/22, returned today 3/25 with 3/17/22 ...special notation Manual Processing Req (manual processing required).

Must be lonely to be a Russian.

 

[Don_ih]

I received the fabled Bread Castle from @drpsilver. It's truly magestic. And very dense.

I also received @Oxleyroad's Nature's Lace. I feel a kinship, since I take a lot of similar photos (I sent some similar photos in a previous postcard round).

Thanks!

@jtk -- Save the card and resend it in the hopefully-not-too-distant future.

 

[Jord186]

Received some cards, thanks all
'Alien' from @mfohl, great texture especially the vertical join in the wall. The reflection is unreal, it's one of those subjects that exists for just a moment.
'Sculpture Abstract' from @Jim Christie, great shadow texture on the sculpture, the tones are just right in all areas. Nice crop and composition.
'Storm Surf' from @Wayne Frederick, really wonderful highlights in the breaking waves, and deep shadows as well. Nice paper and format size.
'as it should be' from @keisisqrl, love the bold statement composed front and center like that. Crop is really enticing, draws you in for next image.

Also thanks all for the feedback of my own image. Several mentioned about the Aerial view, but indeed it's a close up of rock, water and some lichen. I almost titled it 'Aerial', but felt is would be a little misleading given the 1 meter distance to the subject!

Looking forward to some more images, and the next pcx, Jordan

 

[Don_ih]

I think everyone here has shown that they don't care if the postcard is originally digital, originally film, darkroom printed, or printer printed. So, I think this exchange has been a very successful experiment. There seems to be no reason to revert to the previous restriction (film original) for future exchanges.
Of course, I don't know if there was anyone who refused to join due to the inclusion of digital. If anyone did, though, it didn't seem to impact the final number of people who did join, which seems greater than the immediately previous exchanges. And everyone has been appreciative of all the cards.

 

[Jim Christie]

Two more postcards arrived recently. keisisqrl sent as it should be, a street scene in Seattle and is apparently among the first prints from a new darkroom. I think the decision to include the smaller ”soup“ sign on the left gives it an interesting kind of balance. Nutholme Farm arrived from ajmiller, along with some interesting historical context. It has a quiet, peaceful feel. Despite the long trip it arrived in very good condition.

 

[hkbenji]

So many postcards arrived already, great stuff!
Regarding digital vs film; I don't mind either (and use both) but given a choice, I prefer to receive (and send) film-based postcards. I enjoy to find out about cameras and films I haven't used myself. This exchange also gives me a nice excuse to go out and shoot (even more) film.

Received the following:

@Dan McGuire - "EST 1836" - Great print of a church with tombstones, taken with a 5x7. I appreciate all the technical details. Nice use of front rise. I enjoy the composition and how well the church stands out.
@Oxleyroad - "Natures Lace" - Very interesting macro shot. Postcard arrived slightly damaged. I noticed the same problem on a few of the postcards, usually from the US and usually on glossy RC paper. Seems like the sorting machine (?) is taking off a bit of the coating. In any case - intriguing photograph.
@Don Heisz - "Statues at St. James" 5x7 contact print. Ansco Commercial Ortho - yet another film I hadn't encountered before. Looks like it is seriously old! I think the graininess and contrast work very well indeed.
@mikeg - "Heath Mynd Hill from Linley Beeches" - Nice landscape with detail of a tree. High-quality digital print. Neopan 400, I miss it! It is a very interesting composition. I especially enjoy the texture of the tree bark, which is similar to the field and hill behind.
@bedrof - "Devil's Gate Canyon, Hosta River" - Absolutely beautiful medium format landscape photograph of the Canyon. I hope you are okay. Still unable to send you your cards - even FedEx won't let me. Great photograph.
@mfohl - "Building Structure" - Great play of light and shadow and shapes. Excellent.
@Jim Christie - "Sculpture Abstract" - Abstract indeed. I enjoy the curved, smooth surfaces versus the gravel. Great light too. Nice work. Unfortunately, part of the description got damaged in transit, but I believe this may be the only digital photograph I received.
@Wayne Frederick - "Storm Surf" - Dramatic ocean scene. Wonderful.
@jvo - "Stella, surreal" - How fun, a print with some (very nice) bonus prints inside the picture! Love it!
@tezzasmall - "London Tower Bridge" - Lith print - infrared no less! I like it a lot, thanks for the description of your printing journey. Mine came out very sepia, almost orange. Great!
@drpsilver - "Bread Castle" - Nice close-up of a loaf that hasn't turned out perfectly. The part in the back makes it look to me as if the castle is on fire
@ajmiller - "Nutholme Farm" - Inkjet print from a medium format negative of an old farmhouse. Interesting history on the back, good stuff!
@keisisqrl - "as it should be" - Street art with an interesting back-story. Congrats on setting up your home darkroom, print is looking good!
@MattKing - "Hangin' On" - Excellent tree photograph. The toning works very well for this! Very nice.

Thanks for all the nice work.

My cards have finally gone out last week, sorry for the delay..

 

[mfohl]

I received distributed's Concrete and Steel Geometry yesterday. He uses the word "labyrinthine" in his description, and it is appropriate. I really like the depth in the image, several levels. And made with an old Polish Krokus enlarger: very cool! Thanks Michael!

 

[ajmiller]

Received a print from @hkbenji today. Medium format printed on Hahnemule Photo rag (nice paper btw). Old arched tree over a path to who knows where? Nicely done, thanks Ben!

 

[jvo]

Got back and found a bunch of wonderful cards - many with the remnants of the processing by various postal systems, for me, one of the appealing aspects of the exchange.

... from

jim miller, nutholme farm - doesn't the inventor of the crow's nest have to have one on his own house?
keisisqrl, as it should be - apropos of the times, events and location. excellent technical skills for your first prints.
darwin/drpsilver, bread castle - i like my bread on the moist side, photographically, i miss the darkroom.
matt king, hangin on - that tree looks eager for a warm spring and summer.
kordan hammond, rock and water - wow, i read you comments about your aerial work, still can't believe your not at 10,000 feet - surprising!
oxleyroad, natures lace - fascinating, the olympus and ext. tubes are exceptional - nice seeing and execution.
wayne frederick, storm surf - how to pull at ones heart strings - oriental seagull! you've been holding back. wonderful printing, moment, perspective, layers, and feeling.
mike groves, heath mynd hill - graphic, great positioning for the picture, entry point and framing.
jim christie, sculpture, abstract - nice tones and perspective, you feel like you can wander around in it.
mfohl, vertical railing - contrast, textures, depth, graphic - very interesting and well printed.
dan mcguire, trinity anglican, classic and timeless - the leafless branches make the composition!
ilya/bedrof, devil's gate - detail and depth, the light at the end of the canyon set this image apart - you want to use your kayak.
john kelly, remote off road - what a harvest!!! well captured, impactful. great lighting and background.

i post one of my own postcards to myself to see if it makes it through the mails and have a postmarked one to save with the group. i hadn't noticed it, but mine to is postmarked on the front! The postmark, along with the telltale, machine processed, white friction spot in the center of the picture.

Thank you all for a really great round of postcards and fun.

 

[MToma]

Thanks to each and everyone for the wonderful pictures.8 of them have already arrived in Romania, and are up on the "beautiful prints" wall.

I'm really sorry, but I haven't been able to do my part, as of now - two deaths in the family, various kid-related issues, and a new job have prevented me from going into the darkroom for close to two months. Will do my very best to send them in the following weeks.

 

[unwantedfocus]

I have sent out all my cards today, was running little late....