Postcard Exchange: Round 9 - Comments and Results

My ten postcards are going in the mail today. I coated ten sheets of paper with cyanotype emulsion but ended up getting only 8 good prints. It seems that due to the midwinter sun my exposures ended up being 12 minutes vice 6 in summer. Coffee toning then takes another hour or so. I still was not happy with the exposure on the good prints, but had only so much time and sun to work with:^) I ended up sending two different images that I had previously printed to make the full ten. I apologize to the two that didn't get the coffee toned cyanotype, and sorry I could make enough prints for everyone.

Salmonoid said:

My ten postcards are going in the mail today. I coated ten sheets of paper with cyanotype emulsion <snip> the coffee toned cyanotype, and sorry I could make enough prints for everyone.

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Wow, there will be 10 very lucky people. Even if I am not one of them, thanks so much for being so dedicated and generous.

Reefards, Art.

Two more cards today:

Simulatordan: I love the geometrical composition. Do you see much difference on the Ilford RC with Cooltone dev versus other neutral/warmtone developers? Just asking because I've found it hard to make much difference.

James (Blackmelas): Wow - the tones! Stunning. It sounds as though you've worked hard to get there, but the end result is tremendous.

I wish I'd been involved in earlier exchanges, with all these great cards coming

Buster6X6 said:

... I never used Spur SLD or Separol NE it looks a good combination.

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Yes, Spur SLD gives me more speed for the HP5. Although I like HP5 in Perceptol (my second combination) more, SLD gives nice and sharp results.

Thanks for your comments and your card
-- Ruediger

MattKing said:

Received a whole bunch of new cards in the last couple of days:

Tom Kershaw: nice almost abstract detail from a Fishing Boat Hull - and the post office decided to get into the act, by adding even more detail . Surprisingly, they work together.

Matt

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What details might those be?

Tom.

Today, I've received 3 more cards:

Mark Fisher (Busy Bee Ride): Funny subject, great sharpness and contrast. Really well developed: I like the deep blacks... How did you get it? which paper developer did you use?

Greg Buster 6x6 (Customers needed): I like this photo very much. A great street shot. It really seems that they need customers. Technically, I like the rich tonal scale.

Matt King (Sentinels): WOW! simple but very powerfull composition... and technically, I like the feeling of this RC paper. It seems FB. It's a pity that Kodak left its production. But perhaps, in the technical side, is the nice brown colour of the copper toner what attracts more my attention. Do you know if copper toner allow a similar result with Ilford Multigrade paper? (I think I'm going to try it!

Thanks to all for participating in this great round !!! (my first one)
Josep

Hello,

I received a batch today.
Customers needed -Grer-Buster 6x6 great shot
Sentinals

Hi everyone,
I have received several more cards , today. All in great shape and all beautiful


I have printed about half of my cards and I plan to finish printing tonight or tomorrow night. I will begin addressing over the weekend and mail on Monday.

I have shared my excitment with friends and I am printing extras to satisfy thier requests

Thanks everyone for so much FUN

Two more cards arrived todayPep Miro What those poles represent?You can almost smell fresh air and feel the breeze. Very nice shot.
BWKate Very nice Rhino in Calgary Zoo. What developer did you use print has a great tonal value, from dark blacks to almost white? Was there two Rhino's or one that has his head turned around?

Wonderful round, few more cards to come.

Cheers Greg

Thanks Greg,

I used Kodak D-76 for the negative and Agfa MG Developer for the Ilford postcard pearl paper. I believe there were two Rhinos in the frame.

Hello All,

I recieved Pep Miro's card today; interesting subject, shades of Easter Island?
Can you let us know something about the poles: what they signify please.

Regards Daniel

Hi, since I received so many cards now, I will give some summarized feedback about the cards I already received:

Ingo - stairs and pillars - I like this image and I already saw it before the postcards exchange started. The print might be a bit cooler in tone. The contrast is just right so that there is detail in the highlights of the pillar as well as in the deepest shadows of the zigzag shadow line on the stairs.

Tom Kershaw - Fishing Boat hull - An abstract one and a good one with very interesting shapes in the paint of the boat. This is also one, which I would have tried a bit more contrasty, but maybe not to its best. I like the rusty bolts.

MarkFisher - Busy Bee ride - A funny one. Great that this has one more level of image, as there is this picture in the picture.

jeffeb - A girl and a mill engine - It is worth to be patient. An interesting print (thanks to the girl) with some detail in it which makes me curious to see a bigger print of it. Also there is a glow in this image which I like. I bit more contrast might be interesting, but then I doubt that the highlights and shadows will still stand, so: Well done. PanF Plus in Rodinal 1:50 - interesting.

Buster6x6 - Customers needed - Is the the decisive moment? I think so. A timeless great photograph. So sometimes you do not have to be patient but fast. This put a smile on my face.

simulatordan - Along Side - Now this is an interesting one. These reflections on the boat or is this a ship? Anyway, these reflections are somehow strange, well seen.

PepMiro - Cassamanya peak - a nice view from the top of Andorra. Interesting perspective and funny poles. Maybe a bit more contrast? Now the more I look at this Ilford postcard paper the more I doubt that it is the same emulsion than MG IV.

MattKing - Sentinels - Wow, this is a nice one which I may have cropped a bit on the right side. It transports a kind of mood ... I like it, the scene, the print and the toning.

Tim Trapp - Rusty Truck - I like the crop and all the tones in the rust. Maybe slightly more exposure to hold some of the highlights, but not the brightest ones. So this is APX100 in Pyro - I have to examine this a bit.

PeteH - Akershus Festning - Wow, just right, I like these very light tones and the kind of glow in the leaves and how you hold shadow and highlight detail. Very nice. I like it. And Delta100 in Rodinal 1:50 ... I should have tried this before I abandoned my Delta100 trip.

BWKate - stairway in the MGM - What a glow. And another zigzag shadow on stairs. I like it.

MickFagan - Mac Mansion - The first time I have an image taken with a Horizon 202 in hands. nice perspective, great detail and contrast as I like it.

blackmeals - Almond Trees - Well James, I like this one even more than the one you sent for round 8. Definitely a photograph you can walk around in it. There is so much to see. Thanks also for the detailed description, that was an interesting read too.

rst - speyer dom, krypta - Hey you have stolen my image.

Thanks to everyone for sending the cards and I am looking forward to more cards.

So, what I learned from these exchanges is, that I tend to print more contrasty than many others. This is just a matter of personal taste, but sometimes it would be really interesting to see others interpretations of my own negative. Was there something like a traveling negative yet? I have to find out.

Regards
-- Ruediger

Buster6X6 said:

Pep Miro What those poles represent?You can almost smell fresh air and feel the breeze. Very nice shot.

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Agreed! I'd like to know more about the poles as well..

- Radny

I'm with you on the contrast, Ruediger, I like a fair bit of it.

rst said:

jeffeb - A girl and a mill engine - It is worth to be patient. An interesting print (thanks to the girl) with some detail in it which makes me curious to see a bigger print of it. Also there is a glow in this image which I like. I bit more contrast might be interesting, but then I doubt that the highlights and shadows will still stand, so: Well done. PanF Plus in Rodinal 1:50 - interesting.

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Hi Rudiger,

there's actually quite a tale to tell about this print. This was may first or second roll of Pan F developed with Rodinal and I processed it following the times recommended by Ilford. Unfortunately, this resulted in an overdeveloped film with most of the highlights completely blown. However, it does have the benefit of providing more contrast for dark reasonably flat lighting of the museum interior. In order to get back a lot of the highlight information I've had to pre-flash all the postcards with my newly acquired paper flasher Without this, the general mood of the shot was even darker as I had to print the entire print just that bit darker. I have tried printing at a higher contrast, but you are right you just lose all shadow detail. My original print was on glossy paper, which definitely has more bite to it than the pearl finish. Unfortunately for this print I only had pearl paper left.

I'd be quite interested in hearing how other people deal with interior shots. It seems to me to be a trade off between an acceptable level of contrast and losing any sort or detail in from any outside/interior light sources.

Unfortunatley this print doesn't really enlarge very well. Although I've used a heavy tripod, it's resting on a raised walkway. As this is next to an active steam engine there's a slight vibration in the walkway, tripod and camera

Hope this doesn't sound definsive

Brian

Hey Brian,

jeffeb said:

... My original print was on glossy paper, which definitely has more bite to it than the pearl finish. Unfortunately for this print I only had pearl paper left.

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Well, I think for postcards which perhaps go through many hands pearl paper ist just better. I like pearl paper whenever I know I will show a stack of images to many people.

jeffeb said:

I'd be quite interested in hearing how other people deal with interior shots. It seems to me to be a trade off between an acceptable level of contrast and losing any sort or detail in from any outside/interior light sources.

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Yes, whenever a window comes into play things turn out to get difficult if you can not flash or have adjusted development (which is difficult with 36 exposures per film). For my card of the krypta detail the light was pretty flat, although I developed for more contrast I had to print on grade 3.9. I also took an image in the cathedral that same day on the same film of a wall with windows. Printing on grade 0.5 shows great detail in the window paintings and a far to dark wall, Printing on grade 4 shows the beautiful paintings on the wall with blown out window detail. I have not yet tried to pre-expose the paper to get the highlights going but should give it a try. Burning the windows will result in much work (definitely not an image for the postcard exchange)

jeffeb said:

Unfortunatley this print doesn't really enlarge very well. Although I've used a heavy tripod, it's resting on a raised walkway. As this is next to an active steam engine there's a slight vibration in the walkway, tripod and camera

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You should have handheld in this situation In this case your body will absorb these vibrations better than the tripod and I know that one is able to handhold a long time if the camera is heavy enough. In that same film from that day I found an image of a sports car and a few people walking around it. It was already getting dark and I had no tripod with me but wanted to have this image with the people roaming around that car. So I tried to handhold 1/8 second. I think that was somehow a lucky day because I ended up with a sharp licence plate and motion blur on the people.

jeffeb said:

Hope this doesn't sound definsive

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Absolutely not, I like those stories, it is just interesting to hear about other peoples approaches.

Thanks for the interesting read
-- Ruediger

As far as dealing with contrasty interiors goes, I'll usually cut development and increase exposure-then soup the film in a 2-bath or staining dev. I might use semi stand development like I did with my shell and window shot which some of you are about to recieve. Another possibility is to use a film with a long tonal scale like XP2 or Classic Pan 400.

Postman has been busy! So far I have received (in no particular order) cards from: Chuck, Kate, Mark S, Mark F, Rudiger, Pete, PepMiro, Mick, Greg, Tom, Matt, Brian J, Tim, Ingo, & Chris. Your work is inspiring and motivating me to get printing & posting myself, which I hope to complete this weekend. I'll let you all know when they are in the mail.

Brian M

simulatordan said:

Hello All,

I recieved Pep Miro's card today; interesting subject, shades of Easter Island?
Can you let us know something about the poles: what they signify please.

Regards Daniel

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These poles are sculptures made in 1993 to commemorate the 25th years of the Social Security System in Andorra. They are made by the Mexican sculptor and architecht Jorge Dubon and the title is "Estructures autogeneradores" (Auto-generator structures). They are placed in a beautiful natural site, in front of Manyat's valley and Cassamanya's peak, in Andorra.

Yesterday, I received another 3 nice cards:

Mick Fagan (MacMansion): A very sharp and contrasty image of a beatiful mansion. Very well developed. It's a pity that it was a so sunny day because the sky would have been better with some clouds.

Daniel (Simulatordan): Nice and original view of a ship. I find that the reflection on the water is the detail that makes the image so original. The pearl finish looks great in this case!

James (blackmelas): I like this photo very much for its simple but very powerful composition. I like the contrast of the nude trees against the sky.
Technically, I find that the fiber based paper used is really great and the moderate selenium toning gives a nice warm tone.

Josep

Just finished my weekly run for groceries and mail. Wonderful cards in my box: Mark S., Greg (Buster 6x6); Matt King; Mick F, Pete H, Josep (my first anything from Andorra), Tom Kershaw, Ruediger and Mark Fisher. I'm very pleased to receive all of them!

Received a card from Mark S. yesterday. It looks like it would be a great place to find some neat compositions---is that skylight from the whole in the ceiling? Thanks for sending it.

Chuck

postcards from the edge

They're starting to come thick and fast now So far I've recieved:
Fishing Boat Hull- Tom Kershaw:a nice abstract reminiscent of Aaron Siskind. Possibly could do with a fraction more contrast but that's a matter of personal taste really.

Abershus Festning- Pete H:has a nice glow to it with its play of shadows and light fanning out across the frame and the cobbled path leading the eye into the image.

Girl and Mill Engine-Jeffeb:good contrast between small girl and much larger machine. When it was built, kids her age would probably have been working in factories with machines like this one.

Rusty Truck-Tim Trapp:wasn't he a character in the Dukes of Hazzard LOL? Anyway another pleasing abstract with its mix of dark and light graphic elements balancing each other within the frame. Possibly a little more detail in the headlight would be nice.

Almond Trees- Blackmelas-{James}:Beautiful glowing light in this image with its subtle warm tones.Looking forward to trying ADOX paper myself!

Sentinels-Mattking:Wow! very subtle and minimal with its soft light quality and light brown tone.

Speyer Dom-Rudiger{RST}: You must have a very steady hand!Has a crisp graphic quality which vaguely reminds me of Ralph Gibson-very well observed.

Rhino, Calgary Zoo- BWKate{Kate Seymour}:love the expression on the rhino's face and the way you're not sure whether there's one rhino or two in the frame.Right now Normandy's about 20c and lit by a faint red light LOL

Mac Mansion-Mick Fagan-pleasingly surreal quality which makes it look like a set from 'The Prisoner'. Do you really think you can escape Number Six?

Alongside- Daniel {Simultordan}:another good graphic shot with its interplay of shapes, ropes and shadows like a cubist painting.The Cooltone developer has worked well too.

Customers Needed-Greg{Buster 6x6}:is this the Kodak board touting for business ROFL? Very wittily observed and good tones from the PCAT.

Andorran Sculptures-PepMiro:enigmatic monoliths and simple composition.

Looking forward to recieving the rest!

Chuck1 said:

--is that skylight from the whole in the ceiling? Thanks for sending it.

Chuck

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Light was coming from two sources - there was backlight coming from a hole in the ceiling which was above and to the left of the image, and there was a door behind me that was letting some light in.

Many great subjects at this site - I definitely plan on returning.

Hello All,

blackmelas: Another great shot from you. I see from the description you have put in a lot of work again. I like this one a lot. By the way, when it arrived the label was half off; possibly due to the curl of the fibre print, but at least it got here.

BWKate: I like photographs with lots of tones and shapes. And this one has it all. Follow the line of the step and get an echo of the railing and its shadow. Well seen indeed.

Regards Daniel

Today I received 5 cards. WoW!
1. "Small church" from kraker The brick work is is very nice giving it a feeling of hard work that went in to building one many years ago.
2."Almond trees" from blackmelas what a wonderful photograph the trees are jumping from the print. Very nice paper and developer combination.
3. "Along side" from simulatordan I think a good combination of film developer and paper, nice tonal values of Ocean Maiden.Great print.
4. A print from #7 exchange I am glad better now then never. A wonderful photograph of "#5". Great combination film developer and paper. Me like.
Thanks Ray Heath.
And last but not least "Mac Mansion" from Mike Fagan The sky is great it makes the house glow (stand out).Very nicely done.

This round has been great.

Cheers Greg