Postcard Exchange Round 65 Comments and Feedback

mfohl

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I received a very nice card, "Grandmother's House #1", from FilmIsCheap. A cool shot of a kitchen gadget (colander maybe?) hanging from a peg and casting a nice shadow on the wall. Very well exposed and printed. And yes, folks are often amused by I think is photo worthy. Thanks Amanda!
 

Don_ih

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Received "tree yearning" from @drpsilver - a great little photo printed on some pretty excellent "scrap" paper. I have to wonder what a photographic coach is, though. I've never had one (maybe I would've benefited from someone showing me how to do something at some point...).
Thanks!
 

gbroadbridge

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Sorry folks I’ve been a little busy.

Received to date in no particular order …

@jvo - “A afternoon sail New Y.ork Harbor” - Interesting backstory, and the subject is a instantly recognizable.
@Don_ih - “Virginia Creeper” - One wonders what may be hiding behind those leaves.
@AnselMortensen - “Leaves” - Nice shot - An offset print is an interesting variation
@Todd Barlow - “Gear and Chain” - An interesting piece of history enhanced by diffuse light. Appeals to the engineer in me.
@Michael Howard “Watching Me Watching You” - Great colors on that film/paper. Reminds me of childhood parks.
@mfohl - “Faces” - Nicely spotted glass half full shot - Happy/Sad connundrum.
@Ajven - “Tree Shadow” - Interesting geometric shadows work well with the corrugations
@rduraoc - “Galerie Ravenstein” - Great composition, I like the blur illustrating how people are transient.

Thanks everyone.
 

Daniela

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Another recipient of @drpsilver 's beautiful "Tree yearning". Also, so many stamps! I love the eclipse one best Thank you!

Also received @koraks ' lovely panoramic "Trees along the river", taken on 1/08 and delivered on 7/08! Fresh right out of the oven! First time I receive a postcard with a QR code too. Great idea! Thanks!
 

koraks

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Daniela said:
Also received @koraks ' lovely panoramic "Trees along the river", taken on 1/08 and delivered on 7/08! Fresh right out of the oven! First time I receive a postcard with a QR code too. Great idea! Thanks!
Click to expand...

Ah, good to hear that the cards are starting to arrive! As the link in the QR explains, I sent out two versions, so some of you will receive 'Trees along the river', while others will receive a different card. But just as fresh from the oven!
 

Ajven

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Today a postman delivered:
- "Tree Yearning" by @drpsilver - when oriented in landscape mode I can see a head of some wild animal! Good shot!
- "Grandmothers's House #1' by @FilmIsCheap - perfectly exposed and printed! I also appreciated the story behind. I had to decipher the last sentence because a post machine printed there some service information and black bar code. It is a signature of postcards from USA that they have orange barcode and black as well. Postcards from Canada or EU are delivered with orange barcode only. The last sentence was sad, I'm so sorry for your loss.

Thank you both for the nice postcards.

I’ve noticed that in this round of the competition, people often write about stamps. @Daniela mentioned how carefully she chooses stamps for her postcards, and that inspired me. Stamps add another dimension to every postcard, and I also try to pick some interesting ones for mine. The selection at the post office is sometimes quite limited, but I’ve found an online store, and for the next round of PCX I’m equipped with a beautiful collection of stamps featuring Alfons Mucha’s artwork, issued on the occasion of the Expo 2025 exhibition in Osaka.
 

Daniela

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Oh, those must be beautiful!
 

mshchem

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So far,

In no order

"Grandmother's House" from @FilmIsCheap beautiful print, nice darkroom work.

"Tree Yearning " @drpsilver great subject weathered tree, nice FB print

"Moments" from @Daniela Nice photo of two people holding hands, near mirror like panels. Lots going on to draw you in!

"Apples" from @absalom1951 amazing close up of a perfect apple blossom.

"Galerie Ravenstein" @rduraoc in Brussels, terrific composition, Fomapan 400 looks great.

"Virginia Creeper" from Don Heisz, Vintage equipment, Aviphot, Kodak Postcard camera! Great moody print.

"Lakeshore" @Jim Christie excellent pinhole shot, inkjet on Red river bend baryta paper. Really looks great.

"Gear and Chain" @Todd Barlow amazing found objects, huge gear and chain. 41 year old Ilfospeed paper!!!

"Sunset" from @pamphoto. Lovely color print, Cinestill 800T, scanned, Fujicolor print!!!

"Watching me watching you" @Michael Howard. Holy cow, huge octopus sculpture. Great color print
 

mshchem

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More

'Afternoon sail in New York Harbor...late 70's " @jvo Mystic, dreamlike photo, very well done!

"Field" @mfohl. Cold wintery shot, corn stalk stubble. Holga, works perfectly

"Leaves" @AnselMortensen. Hybrid scan to offset printing, producing a beautiful print, great composition and execution!!!

"Tree Shadow" @Ajven Great print on Fomabrom fiber base paper, shadow cast onto steel building, came out great!!!!
 

drpsilver

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08 Aug 2025

"Grandmother's House #1" from FilmIsCheap is a beautiful use of shadows to engage the viewer. They add a sense of size and shape to the subject. Well done.


A little history about my "photographic coach", Garrett Nichols whom I met in 1996. I first met Garrett when enrolling in a B/W darkroom class at the local Adult School (a way to get back into darkroom work). After taking the class several times (I kept failing each attempt) we became good friends. Garrett worked at The Darkroom, a local film processing business, and became my "go-to guy" for photographic, matting, and framing questions. After The Darkroom closed Garrett began printing for Dick Garrod and Chip Hooper (until his untimely death). On Garrett's recommendation I took over teaching the B/W Darkroom class that I failed so many times. That gig lasted 3 years, until digital photography became more dominate, and the Adult School canceled the class. Fortunately, by this time I had built my own darkroom.

The "scrap" paper is edge scrap cut from 48" wide roll stock cut-down to 20"(x2) to create 20x24 prints for Chip Hooper. Instead of trashing the paper, Garrett rolled the edge scrap and stuffed it in black plastic bags. He gave me two such bundles of paper. The only downside is that the paper is severely curled.

Regards,
Darwin
 

rduraoc

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After a few days away, I was happy to find a bunch of nice postcards in my mail box:

- @mshchem 's wonderfully lazy "Sunday Afternoon c 2005";
- @drpsilver 's "Tree yearning", with a interesting collection of stamps to add to the image itself;
- @FilmIsCheap 's "Grandmother's House #1", an image full of history;
- @koraks 's "Trees along the river", an analogue color print made at home from Portra 160 - I never dared printing in color myself (nor developing), so extra points of respect.

Thank you all!
 

rduraoc

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I am also one of those that looks at the stamps, I think they add to the story. Unfortunately, what I can easily get here are stamps with variations of the image of the King of Belgium - which, being a republican, doesn't leave me happy with what I'm sending. I'll follow @Ajven's example and do an extra effort to get nicer stamps next time.
 

Don_ih

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drpsilver said:
A little history about my "photographic coach"
Click to expand...

Thanks for the history! Strange that he cut 8" off the edge to then cut the remaining 40" in half to get 2 20" pieces, when he could have cut the 48" in half to get the 24" dimension. But you benefit from it, nonetheless. Curl can be a pain, especially with older paper (old enough, and the emulsion will crack when you try to flatten it).
 

gbroadbridge

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In the letterbox today a card from @drpsilver - "Tree Yearning". I like the textures in the tree, and it I can see how it works either in landscape or portrait Thanks Darwin.
 

ChrisR

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Came back from a week away to find two Round 65 cards on my doormat: Tree Yearning from DrPSilver, amazing dead tree textures darkroom printed, with 5 really interesting stamps. Also Trees along the river from koracs, taken on a 6x12back, beautifully simple panoramic image (also darkroom printed if I've read it right), just my cup of tea! Thank you both, and all the others. I only signed up for 5, ended up sending 8, and have got... lots, very varied and really interesting. I've learned a lot, thank you all again.
 

Michael Howard

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You're very welcome @koraks . I'm not sure which of the 3 you received, but I'm glad you liked it. It was part of a very gradual step to printing more of my color work in a darkroom (these were not darkroom printed, but RA4 prints of slide scans). Problem is, most of my color work over the years was slide film, and there is no easy solution for that.
 

koraks

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Michael Howard said:
I'm not sure which of the 3 you received
Click to expand...

It's Pioneer Saloon. I really like the print; the colors are pleasantly muted without being flat, given the original being on slide film. Delicate would be my characterization; very nice indeed. I've made many prints in the same way and have always considered it a perfectly effective and satisfactory way of printing slides. I used to have a 50x75cm enlargement of a 35mm Sensia slide in my bedroom of an archway in a French village at dusk - that print almost captured the true nature of the slide. It was on the same paper as your postcard. So the solution you've found is in my book (at least) as good as any!
 

Ajven

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I received yesterday "Trees along the river" by @koraks
A beautiful color print from a 6x12 negative. Although the postcard is an unusual format, it survived the mail transfer and arrived in perfect condition. I really like the bonus - a blog about the whole process. From the idea, the photoshoot to the final prints.
I always try to add some context to the back of the postcards, but space is limited and my hand is quite numb after writing 18 postcards. The QR code idea is great.

Thank you so much for the postcard and your blog post.

----

Finally, some statistics:
10 of my 15 postcards have been confirmed as delivered
I received 12 nice postcards so far
 

koraks

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Thanks for confirming receipt and for your kind words! It's fun to work on a project like this, I'm glad I participated again.

Ajven said:
Finally, some statistics:
10 of my 15 postcards have been confirmed as delivered
I received 12 nice postcards so far
Click to expand...
Good idea; I didn't keep track of receipt confirmations of my cards, but this is the first time I did at least record which cards I received. So far that's 13 out of a maximum of 21. Experience tells me that life sometimes gets in the way. I respect that, and I appreciate every card that does make it through!
 

rduraoc

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My delivery success rate is still only around 50%, as I can only find confirmation of 12 postcards received. I did get 12 already, so that's not a bad deal...
 

koraks

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rduraoc said:
My delivery success rate is still only around 50%, as I can only find confirmation of 12 postcards received.
Click to expand...
Assuming that 100% of the received cards are reported here. I don't think that's necessarily the case. Not everyone reports receipts in this thread, and some do it periodically or in a batch-wise fashion. I may have overlooked one or two as well that I did receive and put up on the board in our stairway (enjoying them every time I go up or down the stairs!), but then failed to report when something else got in the way.
It's so easy to mess up. As I said above, this is the first time I actually keep a list. Turns out that I just noticed I forgot to mark your card on my list. It's on the board and it was among the first ones to arrive. I also reported it here. Just forgot to put it on my list. I bet I've done the opposite as well - marked a card on my list and forgot to post here.
 
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