Postcard Exchange Round 49 Comments and Feedback

dodphotography said:

Folks, unfortunately I’m going to have to bow out of this round. I’m going to save the list and when taking part in the next round I’ll print double.

I am a high school photo teacher and I utilize our school darkroom for all of my work. With COVID and the extended closings around the country, we went from a distance model where teachers could access the building, to a complete shut down. I am barred from the space as each building has received a complete cleaning and disinfection.

My deepest apologies , every time I open my mailbox and see a card I feel elated and terrible at all once.

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No problem we can wait. I feel it will be a while before we get to the new normal.
George

Another little gem has reached my letter box. Many thanks to whomever produced the image of Chief Archie Blackowl's gravestone.

I have 5 more cards to print... the rest are printed, addressed, stamped, need a signature and will go out in monday's mail. 3 of the 5 are the bonus cards, and 2 are participant cards - they will go out within the week...

these are interesting times we live in; as usual it presented some wonderful things and some real shifts. i hope it's true - what you survive makes you stronger! be well all.

Oxleyroad said:

How about mailing your negative to me and I'll print them for you and send them back. You'll not have made the prints, but you'll have sent prints out and not be able to feel bad (which you should not in light of the circumstances). Whaddayathink? Just an idea.

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or, pick 2 or 3 people, (more?), have them each print a number of cards. each interpretation will be different, the work of each printer will be cut by a third, and the result will be interesting in a different way!

When I got home from my work on friday, I found a very nice card of bedrof taken in Istanbul. I haven't tried simit already, but I would like to try it now you have told me that it is very tasty.
Thank you and Спасибо

hwv said:

When I got home from my work on friday, I found a very nice card of bedrof taken in Istanbul. I haven't tried simit already, but I would like to try it now you have told me that it is very tasty.
Thank you and Спасибо

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Oh, great, I'm very glad the card reached you!


And last week I received two nice cards
"To Osa's Island" by Lucid - a somewhat dramatic card which reminded me of "The 39 steps" by Hitchcock. This new MG V looks wonderful when toned in selenium.
"Gooseberry Falls, MN" by drpsilver - an interesting view of a waterfall. And an unusual variety of stamps didn't come unnoticed
Thanks!
Stay well

Another card received - "3 cubes, 3 lines, 1 arc" by hwv.
Interesting rendition of a street art objects, thanks!

Six cards received so far. A nice variety of subjects and vision.

I was really impressed with that one as well-some nice Bauhaus/Surrealist type stuff going on there! Also nicely printed with good blacks and whites.

JVO's card yesterday, I like the tilted composition of the two monuments, nice angle and great sky.Nice stamp also.

I also received jvo's "ancient jungle" photo of Washington. Nice! Along those lines, George Bush refers to Washington as "the swamp". And it's nice that you involved the next generation in the making of the cards. Plant the seed! And thanks!

10 Apr 2020

It has been too long since I commented on the cards that I have received, so here they are (in to particular order).
The card from bedrof from a trip to Istanbul. I like to low point-of-view that you used. The addition of the woman "makes" the image.
The photo of a happy your girl from calphotography that embodies the carefree nature of kids.
The card from hwv of "3 cubes, 3 lines, 1 acre" arrived with a bite taken from the corner bu the postal services. I like the repeating patters, and how the contrast fits reenforces the patterns.
The photo from Howard Earl is, as others have said, Classic Americana. It is a very "inviting photo", for conversation and a hair cut. Well done.
The photo of phalaenopsis by iandvaag gives me a very dark and moody feeling. Good control of depth-of-focus for such a close-up photo. The edge lighting gives the photo depth.
The 5x7 print from jvo of a jungle that is now fairly quite now (due to COVID-19). It is cool that your granddaughters helped you print these.

Regards,
Darwin

Some more cards I haven't commented on yet:
Moss by Oxleyroad-It's always interesting to look at the little details under your feet that you might otherwise ignore. Being a photographer really makes you look more closely at the world around you.
Niece Riding Scooter by Calphotography- I've spent a lot of time photographing my niece and nephew, so I know how hard it is to capture moments like this. You operate on instinct a lot of the time and get all kinds of interesting surprises when you look at the negs and contact sheets.
Zeiss Planetarium by MattiS- Another nice bit of Surrealism which shows how the camera can record well but transform better.
Osa's Island by Lucid- Good use of your respite from the weather (everywhere you go, always take the weather with you).Nice blacks in the print as well.
Gooseberry Falls by Darwin- The magic of rocks and water as you say. Spot on printing!

Received another card from Black Dog, A Winter Walk in the Woods. Nice spring family out and about. Not to be taken for granted in these times. Very calming. I like a lot.

Howard Earl

15 cards have arrived in total now. 2 this week and my first colour one last week. Blackdog - "Calton Hill #2", My first colour card this exchange always good to get a colour postcard especially as I used to walk to this vantage point regularly when I lived in Edinburgh in the mid 90s. tezzasmall - pavement fountains. Reminds me of Summer, but without crowds due to the current situation. jvo - "Ancient Jungle". We do live in interesting times.

In my family afternoon evening walks I have been encouraging my daughter and son to carry a point and shoot with them and go nuts photographing things they notice. My son (15) has taken 2 photos in 4 weeks, my daughter (13) has shot 6 rolls of film in the same time frame. She and I enjoy the darkroom process something I'll treasure until I become to boring to be with.

Thanks everyone for all the postcards. Stay safe.

A postcard from the orient landed on my doormat today.

@hkbenji 's clean composition of some very light traffic on an intersection in Tokyo captured in February this year, tells a small part of the story about the coronacrisis we are all in.

Everything is lovely about this postcard: scene, composition, lighting and exposure work together very well in an image that was scanned and printed tastfully to match.

Thanks @hkben !

Howard Earl said:

Received another card from Black Dog, A Winter Walk in the Woods. Nice spring family out and about. Not to be taken for granted in these times. Very calming. I like a lot.

Howard Earl

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Thanks-I've made many images at that location; it's always interesting to revisit a place over an extended period of time. You feel encouraged to discover new possibilities and to try out new things, like Edward Weston at Point Lobos.

Oxleyroad said:

15 cards have arrived in total now. 2 this week and my first colour one last week. Blackdog - "Calton Hill #2", My first colour card this exchange always good to get a colour postcard especially as I used to walk to this vantage point regularly when I lived in Edinburgh in the mid 90s. tezzasmall - pavement fountains. Reminds me of Summer, but without crowds due to the current situation. jvo - "Ancient Jungle". We do live in interesting times.

In my family afternoon evening walks I have been encouraging my daughter and son to carry a point and shoot with them and go nuts photographing things they notice. My son (15) has taken 2 photos in 4 weeks, my daughter (13) has shot 6 rolls of film in the same time frame. She and I enjoy the darkroom process something I'll treasure until I become to boring to be with.

Thanks everyone for all the postcards. Stay safe.

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I'm chuffed that you appreciated my picture of Calton Hill. I've made many pictures there over the last year or so, some of which will be appearing in future exchanges It's such a fantastic viewpoint! Good luck with inspiring your kids and enjoy making images together.

Earlier this week I dropped the remaining unsent cards into the mail box.
Hope you guys are safe and well.

Hi all. Mine will finally be in the post tomorrow! Actually my first time printing BW on inkjet metallic paper. It doesn’t have the same pop as color, but still does give an interesting effect of a change in overall tone based on angle of viewing light. This one is the whitest (on a white to silver scale) and the most glossy metallic paper I have, as I was out-voted on this one. I hope to darkroom print my postcards someday.

I think I have received 15 cards so far. There is a chance a card or two may have been misplaced, but not thrown away, during spring, unemployed, quarantine, house cleaning. As a family, we sat down and reviewed the entire batch of cards, most of which went directly from the mailbox to a dedicated postcard shoebox. So here we go, in no particular order.

@Howard Earl. I’ve walked by Rafaels and you did a great job keeping that vintage look. Wife though it was something from the wild west and was shocked it was a real barber shop in the city.

@calphotography. Niece Riding Scooter. Wife appreciated the crop. We may do something similar of the boys in the future. Made the kids reminisce about the pre covid days

@tezzasmall. There is a similar synchronized fountain/playground for kids on the west side of NYC, just south of the USS Intrepid museum. Couple in the back gives the season away.

@jvo. Jefferson and Washington. Everyone loved how the clouds came out.

@Tmfohl. Church Window. Rei picked up on the cross and realized it was part of a church.

@BSP. Sliced and Diced. Wondering if their destiny is a fireplace or something else.

@hwv. 3 cubes, 3 lines, 1 Ave. The cubes stand out so nicely compare to the ground and background.

@Black Dog. cells of life #2. Such an interesting looking park. The kids and I want to walk on that strip of grass.

@iandvaag. I think you have mastered “How to make orchids look sexy”.

@Luis-F-S. White Fence. Row, “It’s just a fence.” Rei, “No, its a WHITE fence!”

@graciemansion. Midtown 5th Ave. Nicely composed with reflections. Looks like a multi-exposure.

@Oxleyroad. Moss. That looks like a very big chunk of moss. Row had the scale wrong and thought the clovers were trees and the shadows in the moss were dark caves.

@RSImages. Flower. The bee in me got VERY excited!

@MattiS. Zeiss Planetarium. Nicely framed and is that your shadow in the bottom corner?

@Lucid. To Osa’s Island. Kids have never seen a bridge like this, made of bricks. Is that a road sign at the bottom of the stream?

If we have (temporarily) misplaced a card sent to us, I apologize, and hopefully it will pop up in the next few weeks. After the fun this evening, I think the kids and wife will be more diligent with putting round #50 directly into the shoebox. Again, thanks for the cards and for some analog family time!

- Patrick

I received bedrof's beautiful shot of the Sehzade Mosque in Turkey today. Great shot of the mosque, complete with a person on the side. Very nice, thanks Ilya.

Reveived jvo's ancient jungle themed photo of Washington, DC. Nice angle for the two buildings.
Good work.


Howard Earl

Howard Earl said:

Reveived jvo's ancient jungle themed photo of Washington, DC. Nice angle for the two buildings.
Good work.
Howard Earl

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I too have now received this print, and it brings back memories of the one evening that I had in the same area, whilst volunteering on a Summer Camp many moons ago now.

So thanks for the memory JVO and it's great to see you involving younger people in the darkroom to produce your prints. They must have had a great time learning all about printing. I just wish that someone had shown me at an earlier age, as it would have saved me a lot of time learning on my own from magazines and books. Oh well!

Terry S

Lately there are rarely postcards delivered to my mailbox. All the more I was happy I found fatso's beautiful card "Northern Exile". Thank you very much.
Disused technology meets frosty nature. A very nice and fitting panorama format. Was the picture taken with a panorama camera or was it cropped later when printing?

transformed! - from piled high to "I can actually see some clear spots" on my table!!! the last of my cards went out about a week ago, regrettably, some of the later ones were going overseas - please excuse the further delay.

meanwhile i've now had the time to look at the ones i've rec'd from...
bedrof, "vertigo", hitchcock would be admire the height, the photograph and artistry
fatso, "northern exile", great tones and depth, wonderfully printed - hopefully not prophetic
black dog, "after the rain", from the "how'd he do that" school of photography
hwv, "3 cubes..." i like the contrast, well done
iandvaag, "phal... nah, orchids", mysterious, well-lit and printed, a little gem
terry s, "southend seafront", odd, empty, fountain running in colder months with people in heavy coats
luis-f-s, "white fence", when i see a matt paper i always admire the print, "i gotta try matte surface"
mattis, "zeiss plan...", what impact, not sure what makes it, the building, the shadows, the shape, the solitary figure
mfohl, "tree, pinhole", why do i keep looking at this, layers and unexpected - very attractive!
calphotography, "nice riding scotter", kids, always moving - and fine capture!
bsp, "damage", it wonderful when all the elements come together for a wonderful photograph - you even arranged the storm
rsiimages, "flower", the alter image, one well-worn flower!
drpsilver, "gooseberry falls", depth, contrast, layers - printed small makes it intimate
graciemansion, "window reflection", brings to mind the apocalypse now ever present - perfect use for the holga
lucid, "osney town", good copperation from the ducks and people, really do give it life
howard earl, "barbershop", now there's a man whose proud and satisfied, nice emotion - very nice
oxleyroad, "moss", nice thanksgiving pastime - walk and photography.

i also rec'd "willard beach" from howard earl, from pcx48, done with and old camera, film and wooden kodak developing tank - a very interesting result.

thank you all for an enjoyable and rewarding experience in a very unusual time!

p.s. i read witold's comments and the response... there is one other reason i enjoy the postcard exchange... i don't have a scanner, and don't plan to get one. you can do great work with a digital camera and for me a scanner would be the "gateway" drug to the digital world. i simply enjoy making photographs through the analog process. i understand it's shortcomings and challenges and enjoy overcoming them and see how others do it as well. the postcard exchange has been very rewarding.

p.p.s thanks again george.

My latest acquisition was Tugboat on the Hudson from @Rowreidr. I feel like I can hear the horn blasts of the boats.

Others I've received but haven't mentioned include @jvo DC photo. I'm going to miss my trip to DC this year. I'm usually there in early June for meetings, but they've cancelled them for 2020.

@Lucid's bridge To Osa's Island. That one makes me want to explore.

A train locomotive that I've sadly misplaced. I need to use the virus as an excuse to sort papers. But it feed my love of trains.

I've been bad at keeping up on the ones I've received. I enjoy watching for the mail to arrive now.

So if I'm going to try to print at home this next go around, the only thing I think I'm missing is a safe light. I would use one of my dad's but I fear that years of sitting may have caused the filters to deteriorate.

Rowreidr, Tugboat on Hudson, great view trailing behind the tug boat.