Postcard Exchange Round 65 Comments and Feedback

[rduraoc]

Sure, I'm fully in line with you and I'm not seeing this as a gains/losses exercise, despite how my previous message might be read (it wasn't my intention). Life gets in the way, the post offices screw up, and we might just forget giving feedback - I understand and I'm OK with all of that. This would still be fun if I would only receive 25% of the postcards I sent out, and actually choosing, printing and sending out the postcards is a reward in itself.

I still need to choose, print and send out my participation in BPX50, though...

 

[Ajven]

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!

I always keep a small table of delivered/received. It is not about gain or loss. I'm more interested in how long it took and whether my postcard arrived at all.
Postal service is sometimes crazy - in Blind Print Exchange #45 I received photos with 13 months delay.... https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/bpx-45-status-and-updates.205874/post-2898942

You said you received 13 of 21 maximum - I don't think you could receive 21 postcards at all because 8 parcicipants subscribed for ALL (you including), but 6 participants subscribed for less than 8. So there are not enough sources to cover all needs. As I understand the description of PCX rules, you can subscribe to "MAX" instead to "ALL" to get a list of recipients that can send you postcard in exchange. If you subscribe to ALL, you simply receive a list of all addresses regardless how many postcards is possible to be received. I do not know how the algorithm works and how makes the distribution lists but this is how I understand it.

 

[koraks]

@Ajven thanks for the thoughts on max vs. all; in all honesty, I've never sat down with a piece of paper to see how it would work. The main reason is...I don't mind either way. It's for me the same as for you - not about gain or loss.

 

[MattKing]

The habit of commenting on postcards received is one that has varied widely over the years. My sense is that a higher percentage of people are doing it now than through many of the 40 rounds I participated in.
It seems to be contagious - the more that people go through the effort, the more that other people are inspired to do so as well.

 

[pamphoto]

I received @koraks "Powerlines at dusk" in the mail today. Lovely sky and a familiar scene (it's flat here in Texas too!) I love the panorama and glossy paper. Thank you.

 

[mshchem]

I weight incoming vs outgoing.

I did receive a lovely wide field color print from @koraks

Amazing unblemished by the USPS! Thanks!

 

[FilmIsCheap]

I've received two more postcards since my last post.

I received "Tree Yearning" from @drpsilver, and I agree it looks like there is a dragon, or maybe a long-beaked baby bird, if you turn it on the side. Appreciate the depth and texture in this bark. Oddly, the stamp wasn't cancelled (I find that is happening a lot with my mail), but you can see the cancellation stamp on the photo itself only if you hold it under light at the perfect angle. The cancellation mark aligns perfectly with a bit of bark, and just disappears into it.

I also found @koraks postcard, "Trees Along the River," in my mailbox a few days ago. Digging the panoramic style print, and also enjoying the repetition of horizontal lines in different textures and colors in the print. The QR code is a nice touch too--cool idea!

Thanks to both of you!

 

[mfohl]

I received two nice "tree" cards. "Tree Yearning" by drpsilver. Some nice old tree elements seemingly reaching for the sky. An excellent example of the "rock and tree" style of photos. And "Trees Along the River" by koraks. A nice arrangement of trees and clouds, presumably hiding a river. What river is it? A great shot from a large format camera. The rollfilm back *significantly* reduces the cost of the color film. These trees have some postal scuff, the yearning trees do not.

Thanks Darwin, thanks Raphael!

 

[koraks]

A nice arrangement of trees and clouds, presumably hiding a river. What river is it?

Thanks; the photo was in fact taken with my back to the river, facing the land. The dyke you're looking at protects the fields and villages behind it from flooding. It's the river Meuse.

Thanks also @FilmIsCheap for confirming receipt, cool!

 

[gbroadbridge]

Received today

"Sunday Afternoon c 2005" from @mshchem: A delightful relaxing image which I can really relate to having grown up in a house full of cats. Is that Ilford Smooth Pearl paper? Thanks Mike.

 

[mshchem]

Received today

"Sunday Afternoon c 2005" from @mshchem: A delightful relaxing image which I can really relate to having grown up in a house full of cats. Is that Ilford Smooth Pearl paper? Thanks Mike.

It's a scan of a 35mm negative that I printed on a Canon inkjet printer. That negative is so flat that I went with the inkjet.

 

[mshchem]

Thanks; the photo was in fact taken with my back to the river, facing the land. The dyke you're looking at protects the fields and villages behind it from flooding. It's the river Meuse.

Thanks also @FilmIsCheap for confirming receipt, cool!

My wife and I were admiring your lovely color print today and I commented to her that I thought that we might be looking at a dyke. My impression of the times I visited NL was how lovely the agriculture, garden crops is. Nice level ground, beautiful!

Most awesome bicycle infrastructure anywhere!

 

[gbroadbridge]

It's a scan of a 35mm negative that I printed on a Canon inkjet printer. That negative is so flat that I went with the inkjet.

Yup, I realised that - I thought perhaps you had printed on the Ilford Smooth Pearl Inkjet Paper - it looks/feels a lot like it. (I use it a lot for Inkjet prints).

 

[mshchem]

Yup, I realised that - I thought perhaps you had printed on the Ilford Smooth Pearl Inkjet Paper - it looks/feels a lot like it. (I use it a lot for Inkjet prints).

I have been using something I get from B&H. I have used the Ilford paper too, great product!

 

[koraks]

Most awesome bicycle infrastructure anywhere!

Oh yeah, we're blessed with that, for sure. Very nice biking also around here where we live; much nicer biking than hiking in fact.

 

[BHuij]

I have been super behind on getting any printing done, but set aside time to (finally) make my postcards this week so I can mail them on Saturday.

In the meantime, I've received some great ones!

@Michael Howard - Storm in Valley of Fire - Really great colors here, where did you get your hands on Sensia? I haven't seen any in over a decade.
@drpsilver - Tree Yearning - I love detail shots like this, full of texture. Wonderful tonality as well.
@Todd Barlow - Gear and Chain - Really crisp detail in this print. I'm amazed at how well ancient graded paper has held up! Seems like VC paper always gets unusably fogged when that old.
@mfohl - Faces - I love the juxtaposition of the grinning gnome against the spray painted frowny face.
@koraks - Beautiful large RA4 print of a sunset with power lines silhouetted as they lead into the far distance. The colors are wonderful. Almost make me want to try RA4... almost
Unknown sender - Sunny Afternoon c 2005 - Not sure who sent this one, anyone want to claim it? Photo of a cat yawning on a bed with a woman. I think it's lovely; I always have a hard time getting good results in bright sunlit conditions.

 

[Michael Howard]

@BHuij I think I still have 2 rolls of...gasp...Sensia 400! About a year ago I dug deep into the back of my film fridge and found a bag of about 10 rolls of Sensia. I have had terrific luck with the Sensia holding it's colors well. I have about 30 rolls of expired but long frozen Velvia to work through now, hopefully it holds up as well.

 

[Michael Howard]

@koraks concerning "Trees Along the River". When I received this and first saw it, it triggered something weird in my Statistician/Engineer brain that I just couldn't let go. So I got out my handy metal engineering ruler and measured. The ground level is slightly tilted down to the right, about 2mm lower on this picture. The tree line above it is slightly tilted to the left, at almost the exact same angle. Together the effect is a perfectly level picture. Since my eyes/brain kept flicking back and forth between the two, it set off "alarms" lol. I think the effect is wonderful, and I wonder, based on you being a similarly analytical person, if you noticed this? Likely, your brain did when you took the picture, it just didn't tell you.

 

[koraks]

I think the effect is wonderful, and I wonder, based on you being a similarly analytical person, if you noticed this?

Thanks for your kind words - and yes, indeed I have noticed this! In fact, it kind of bugs me in the print, so I'm very glad that you seem to take it in a more positive way. There are several contributing factors to this effect, which is mostly unintentional. Most importantly, I of course didn't perfectly level the horizon. Contributing to this was the fact that I had to walk out a good distance into a goose-ridden field to get the right perspective, and at the same time, the light was changing fast. So I stopped at some point, thinking "this will have to do, or otherwise it ain't going to happen at all!" A final factor that plays a role, which at exposure time I didn't sufficiently realize: the trees lean to the left. The dominant wind direction is West, so each of these trees leans slightly to the East.

So all combined, I ended up with a slightly slanted negative. A final contributing factor is that I had decided beforehand that I wanted to print these images edge-to-edge, including the rebate area, so all compositions in that role were made with the black borders in mind. This meant that even if I had put myself to it, I didn't really have the change to fix it under the enlarger. So ended up printing it 'as is'. Some people may never notice - others will spot it immediately, like you did.

Likely, your brain did when you took the picture, it just didn't tell you.

So yes, to an extent, this did indeed happen - and my brain 'helped itself along' a little by not having the more conscious bits reflect when the time was there!

 

[Don_ih]

Received "Hard Rock cafe" from @gbroadbridge - in the same envelope he sent his Blind Print Exchange print in. I imagine it'll be my final postcard received this round. This was a very nice inkjet print on some Gallery paper - I wouldn't have guess it was inkjet looking at it. The Hard Rock Cafe in Tijuana - I wouldn't have guessed one was there (especially 30 years ago).

 

[mshchem]

I received (no duty owed ) a very nice card from @gbroadbridge yesterday. Beautiful color inkjet print on Ilford Galerie pearl paper. "Hard Rock Cafe Tijuana Mexico 1996" original Kodak Gold negative scanned on Epson scanner.

Thanks!

 

[mfohl]

I also received gbroadbridge's "Hard Rock" photo. Nice shot. It's hard to believe it's in Mexico, all I see is English. Including the sign for Cuban cigars, which we Americans can't (legally) obtain. Thanks George.

 

[Don_ih]

I thought I had them all, but I received Trees along the river from @koraks. It arrived in remarkable shape, in spite of being pretty much coiled into a bunch of flyers for grocery stores and driveway paving companies. There's some light scuffing in the clouds.

I like that the trees look like a repeating pattern, almost like they were stamped onto the sky in a photo of a green field. I guess they're all the same kind of tree. Great colours in the print, by the way.

Thanks!

 

[koraks]

Thanks @Don_ih for confirming receipt! I've not kept track, but the fairly late arrival of this card suggests that one or two of the others may also still be in transit. I did diligently send my cards out to everyone on my list, so if anyone hasn't received it yet, it should still be underway.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Catching up on cards received recently:

"Grandmother's House #1, by FilmIsCheap...
A lovely graphic composition, beautifully seen and printed!

"Tree Yearning" , by drpsilver.
A strong abstract detail...when turned to the right, a howling coyote rears its head! A very nice print on excellent, thick paper.

"Trees Along the River" by koraks.
Beautifully seen and printed color panorama...Large format, 6x12, darkroom-printed color...Bravo!

"Hard Rock Café" by gbroadbridge.
A well-done, vintage street scene, captures a moment in time in a far-away place.