..

LOL, oh silly me, to think that I was working on my final project when I could have been printing extra postcards. http://apug.org/forum/html/emoticons/smile.gif

Thanks for the sugestion of Looking Glass, I forgot that they had a darkroom. I will have to go over there and check it out.

..

I still date my wife every week - she still complains about that fixer smell on my hands though as she drags me out of the darkroom. Somehow the developer doesn't work very well after the date; I'll have to note that - going on a date reduces developer performance ....
Frank

Hey Aggie,
Don't forget the 40+ hour work week. That leaves just about 4 hours a week for darkroom work. http://apug.org/forum/html/emoticons/smile.gif
Scott

Old Joke:

What just happened in the darkroom?

Well, my wife was curious and wanted to see what I was doing all this time.
I ... uh ... got playul and poured developer down her shirt.

And then ... and then ...?

She poured fixer down my pants.

Just to let anyone know who doesn't: the USPS postcard rate within the US is 23 cents. To Canada it's 50 cents and to both Norway and England it's 70 cents. I'll be off the the post office on Thursday to mail out my first run of postcards. I think I may be too impatient to make 20 copies of the same postcard and write the same info on everyone. I may make 2 runs of 10 with different photos and shuffle them to be mailed at random.

when selecting a pic for a 20 edition postcard, one that is a straight print (or contact) is a priority! I have failed in nearly all my attempts and have had to practice my burning and dodging skills on most of them! My 1st one was a 4 or 5 step exposure! On the other hand, it is good practice!

..

I got a d****** print and a silver print the other day from Les. Both were very nice thanks to both of you. and I got a very nice one from Scott. I will try and get mine out tomorrow. I have been late all week and had a barium x-ray this week also.


lee\c

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My first batch goes out today. I had to resurrect a negative that prints well straight. I didn't realize that making 20 postcards was so much work, so I went ahead and did another negative. I'll send those out in another week or so. It took me more than 3 hours to print up 50 or so postcards.

Anyway, I'm really getting into this now. I look forward to the mail every day.

Jim

I was concerned about how much time it would take myself and so I did these things and it really goes pretty fast.
1) choose a negative that requires no manipulation.
2) get your exposure time under 4 seconds
3) use large trays
4) expose 25 in sequence - you can do about 8 a minute if you are organized
5) develop 8 at a time in the big trays - RC paper 1 min dev time - you can have them all develped in 6 or 7 minutes.

I did this and it was amazing how little effort it was - The Ilford paper does a real nice job too - I am very happy with how they look.
Frank

I'll be getting another card out very soon too. We are going to have to gfigure out some sort of a system if the list gets much bigger though http://apug.org/forum/html/emoticons/smile.gif

..

I got OliTj's Card - thanks Oli - Looks like a church I imagine my granfather may have attended as a boy growing up in Norway. Interesting tone.
Frank

I agree with Aggie in that the size of the postcard exchange is becoming unwieldy. Additionally it seems that not every one that is on the list is active. Possibly splitting the group would help.

As an alternative, when I visited with Lee some weeks ago he indicated having been involved with a "print exchange". I am not sure how that works exactly, perhaps Lee will weigh in a give us an overview. If he would share his experiences it may prove to give us guidance if this is something that a segment of the group would want to do.

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Aggie @ May 21 2003, 03:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> justyour glowing personality coming out, literally......sorry couldn't resist </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'>
that was the best part of that day. No, wait, I got to eat lunch after about 24 hours for fasting.

lee\c

Here's my opinion regarding the list size. Let it grow to whatever. I think we'll start to get some natural attrition as people decide that it's not for them.

I personally keep track of the cards sent and received and have moved from "send everyone a card" mode to "send people I owe one too, or I'd like to receive a card from" which means my last two cards I printed about 10 of one and 6 of the other (which hasn't actually gone out the door yet) I send one to any newbie's joining the list.

With everyones different level of participation (for whatever reason) I think we need to move past the 'send a card to everyone' to more of an exchange basis. I send you a card, you send me one back (when it suits you). This way everyone can still participate at a level they are comfortable. You might swap 10 cards with one person during a year, but only 2 with another, but all parties are happy that you're getting an equal level of participation. Like anything, there gotta be effort from boths sides or it will turn pear-shaped rather quickly.

I've got to say that I've enjoyed it immensely, and hope it will continue indefintely. There's several people in my office that look forward to my mail! We actually discuss the images in a bit of detail.

As for printing the cards, as I mentioned early, I've managed to pick things that needed manipulations mostly but I'm happy to do that as it's good practice. I expose and process a couple, tweaking the exposure until I'm happy (yes, some people end up with a better one than others.. but I figure you won't be able to compare!) then I expose/process 4 at a time in 8x10 trays.

I've participated in a couple of print exchanges. I actually have a webpage (http://unite.com.au/~u3819a/printswap/printswap.html) which is well out-of-date but still somewhat applicable. I would think we could ask for any interest in joining a print exchange list, where it's up to you to contact the other willing members and instigate an exchange.

cheers, Nige

That sounds like a good approach, Nige. I've sent out three cards so far, and I've been sending to everyone, and I like the idea of having a complete set and seeing what everyone is up to, and for everyone on the list to be able to discuss all the images, if they come up for discussion. I think if the list gets longer the solution is to be more selective in choice of images, and just send fewer cards to more people.

Thanks Frank, and Donald. I got your cards yesterday.

That is an interesting story about the meat cave Donald. It looks like a fun area to go explore.

Frank, nice infrared photo. How do you like working with the Maco IR? I have a box that I haven't tried yet. Any suggestions?

I also just received Frank's Maco IR photo. He also has a wonderful idea about info to put on the postcards: he not only printed labels with the addresses, but also the photo info. I need to see if I still have any printing labels left and I'll do that next time!

ps: wonderful photo, I love the ethereal quality night IR shots provide

I have finaly sent out a new batch of postcards. Sorry for the delay.


<pre>rant*</pre><div style="text-align : left; font-family : Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size : 6pt; font-weight : 100; margin-left : 50px;margin-right : 10px;">I made my postcards according to USPS regulations for maximum postcards sizes. We took the postcards to the post office to make sure we had the correct postage. According to their manual (and web site) we are within the standard size for 37¢ postage and yet we were told that it 'looks' too large and we should expect a good number of them to be returned for insufficient postage.
I am dumb founded by this organization. We follow the rules and yet can expect it to be refused out of employee ignorance and are told as much by the employees. I now know why the credit card companies will offer 0% or extra low financing. Invariably the rate is contingent upon timely payment and timely payment is contingent on the ineptitude of the US Postal Service.</div><pre>/rant</pre>

It will be a month or so before I can send another, but I promise a good one or at least as as good as I can.

*I made my rant small as to be easily ignored.

Wow, that was a small rant! Good thing UPS dropped off my new Toyo 3.6 Loupe today! I was able to test it out! LOL

Greetings all:

Scott - Maco IR film is fine - I like the Konica better but they don't make it in 4x5. The Konica does a nicer effect I think although that shot I sent out was pretty cool. It is not a night shot - it was taken before the sun hit the horizon. I thought it made the landscape look like a movie set - sort of manufactured or created. I also like what it did for the clouds on the left - I waited 30 minutes for them to get into my frame. Like a lot of IR films, it doesn't like hot temps and will not tolerate any light leak at all. It fogs real easy. For old film holders, this means extra care. I developed it in full strength D76H for 14 minutes at 68F. It seems about an ISO 5 with a Wratten 89b. With no filter, I think it is around ISO 100.
Frank