[SI] Postcard is in the mail

JimKramer wrote:

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/postcard

I'm impressed with the quality of responses to my challenge - thanks very
much everyone.

Bret Douglas (Macaw): good sharp shot, well framed, with a background that
suggests natural habitat without distracting from the subject. Perhaps a
touch light, or were you going for that "last years stock" look? I like the
wear on the upper beak. Reminds me of the way the paint wears on a backhoe.

Wilba ("Albany ~ All The Same Crap As Everywhere Else!"): it was fun driving
around town looking for symbols of exploitation by nasty big companies. It
may have been this all-the-same-crap idea that inspired the challenge,
rather than the other way around. I think this one would get noticed on the
postcard rack.

Mark Lauter ("Clearwater Beach Florida"): this is really getting into the
spirit of the challenge. :-) I like what you've done with the layout, the
B&W is great for what you are saying with it, and the text hits just the
right note. Very well done.

Doug MacDonald ("Greetings from Currumbin on the Gold Coast"): a classic
postcard image - a scenic view with someone having a wild time. Too bad you
couldn't get someone in the boat facing the camera. The classic thirds
composition works well in this one.

Al Denelsbeck ("Melville Park Community Centre"): I'm not sure I get what
you're trying to say with this one. At first glance I didn't notice that the
building was derelict, so the message (if that's what it is), that the
community is equally run down, didn't sink in until after a couple of
viewings. If you intended subtle irony, well done! :-)

Alan Browne ("Three Gossips - Arches National Park - Utah, USA"): flawless,
spot-on response to the challenge. This one would sell, I'm sure.

Paul Furman ("Buckeyes on the shores of Clear Lake, CA"): I like the image,
and I prefer this one to the "punchier version", but I'm not sure that it
would sell very well. Maybe it feels a bit close up to me, and if I was a
postcard publisher I'd like to see a shot from further back. (Never heard of
buckeyes before.)

Bowser ("Gingerbread Cottages of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts"): cute subject.
The light is a bit harsh, so I guess if you were really going for a sale
you'd come back later with a tripod. The cutesy text format works for me.

Jim Kramer ("Judith Mountains, Central Montana"): spectacular scene, nicely
put together. I like the way the low sun picks out highlights in the trees
and distant hills. I keep asking myself if I would crop some of the sky, but
I can't see a way to do it better than you have.

Commendations to Alan and Jim for beautiful scenes, but the winner for me is
Mark's brutally ironic depiction of Clearwater Beach. That's the kind of
thing I hoped to see when I proposed the challenge.

I'm also willing to stand up and say that I'm proud of my own effort. It
makes me smile still, and I learnt a lot from doing it, so that's a
successful challenge for me. :-)

Annika1980 wrote:
On Jul 10, 11:07 am, wrote:
On Jul 10, 7:45 am, JimKramer wrote:

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/postcard

I thought everyone met the Mandate perfectly. Some stunning images
that are both humorous and creative. My personal faves Bret's, Alan
Browne and Jim's. I'm partial to birds, but it's the way the pic is
exposed and the bright colors. Lots of detail and very sharp. The
Blue and Gold Macaw wins it.

I never was happy with the way the colors came out with that shot.
Here's one I like a bit better taken with (are you sitting down?) the
Totally Analog Fabulous EOS-1V.

http://www.pbase.com/bret/image/82040466/original

That's more like it! Nice one.

Oh yeah, I liked Wilba's postcard the best.

Thanks mate! :-)

On Jul 10, 7:08 pm, Annika1980 wrote:
On Jul 10, 11:07 am, wrote:

On Jul 10, 7:45 am, JimKramer wrote:

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/postcard

I thought everyone met the Mandate perfectly. Some stunning images
that are both humorous and creative. My personal faves Bret's, Alan
Browne and Jim's. I'm partial to birds, but it's the way the pic is
exposed and the bright colors. Lots of detail and very sharp. The
Blue and Gold Macaw wins it.

I never was happy with the way the colors came out with that shot.
Here's one I like a bit better taken with (are you sitting down?) the
Totally Analog Fabulous EOS-1V.

http://www.pbase.com/bret/image/82040466/original

The Fabulous EOS-1V is hard to beat if you are willing to take the
hours and hours to get a decent scan from it.
Note to Ken, Hickey, and Rocha: I tried that pic in B&W and it looks
like crap.

Oh yeah, I liked Wilba's postcard the best.
Alan's was nice as well, but it looks like a little too much magenta
tint in the sky for my taste.

We are the harshest critics when reviewing our own work. I see
nothing wrong with the colors in your postcard submission. I know
Macaws and the colors are dead on. Having said that, I took a gander
at your second pic and Holy Smokes!! What a beauty! GORGEOUS! Using
my fav. camera, of course you will get drop-dead results but not to
take away from the 20D. I agree with you about black and white for
this shot. No way, it just wouldn't do. Color for sure. Superb work
Bret!
Helen

Wilba wrote:

Alan Browne ("Three Gossips - Arches National Park - Utah, USA"): flawless,
spot-on response to the challenge. This one would sell, I'm sure.

Thanks Wilba, far too kind. My general comments on my shot are in my
reply to Helen.

I'll do my damage, er critique, to the lot later this week... (waiting
for the stragglers).

Cheers,
Alan

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On Jul 10, 12:43 pm, Draco wrote:
On Jul 10, 7:45 am, JimKramer wrote:

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/postcard

Good work by all.

Jim K: Very nice mountain shot. If you could have waited for the sun
to have set and deepened the color of the sky a bit more. I think the
image would have been even better. Or even PS the sky a bit to inrich
it some more.
Again IMHO.

Draco

This was as deep as the color got before going black, It was dark in
another ten minutes. It's fun to drive down a dirt road in the
mountains in the dark, especially with the elk out. :-)

Thanks for the comments.
Jim

On Jul 10, 7:45 pm, "Wilba" wrote:
JimKramer wrote:

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/postcard

I'm impressed with the quality of responses to my challenge - thanks very
much everyone.

Jim Kramer ("Judith Mountains, Central Montana"): spectacular scene, nicely
put together. I like the way the low sun picks out highlights in the trees
and distant hills. I keep asking myself if I would crop some of the sky, but
I can't see a way to do it better than you have.

Crop the sky, I was looking for a wider lens....

Thanks for commenting.
Jim

wrote:
On Jul 10, 7:45 am, JimKramer wrote:

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/postcard


I thought everyone met the Mandate perfectly. Some stunning images
that are both humorous and creative. My personal faves Bret's, Alan
Browne and Jim's. I'm partial to birds, but it's the way the pic is
exposed and the bright colors. Lots of detail and very sharp. The
Blue and Gold Macaw wins it. I found Alan's work stunning. The
colors are magnificent. Crisp detail. I know I'll be reprimanded for
saying it, but I'd love to see this shot in black and white as well.
The lines, tones shapes would be gorgeous! Jim's postcard is
beautiful. I love the colors in the sky, and the dark mountain just
seems to bring that out. To everyone: wonderful work!
Sorry I didn't participate due to illness.

[ Hmm, seems my reply to Helem got lost (or I had finger trouble). You
might see this repply twice ]

Thanks Helen and hope it's not you who is ill, and if it is, please get
well.

1) For the mandate I punched the colors a bit as it often seems that
postcards are over-saturated. The "sober version" is here

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?p...046217&size=lg

and a bit closer to the square format... the SI version was cut to US
Postal Service Postcard Standard proportions (max). While tempted to
add a cheesy caption I desisted. The punch and format were my
concessions to the mandate.

2) B&W? Are ya daft? Bear in mind that this was shot on Velvia 100
which has a narrower exposure range. So the tonals would not translate
to B&W as well as an original B&W negative would record. OTOH, not sure
you would notice on the monitor either.

Cheers,
Alan


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-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
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-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

Alan Browne wrote:

the SI version was cut to US Postal Service Postcard Standard
proportions (max).

Wow, that's dedication to getting the details right. :-)

On Jul 11, 8:54 pm, "Wilba" wrote:
Alan Browne wrote:
the SI version was cut to US Postal Service Postcard Standard
proportions (max).

Wow, that's dedication to getting the details right. :-)

They don't call him Anal Browne for nothin.

On Jul 11, 8:19 pm, Alan Browne
wrote:
wrote:
On Jul 10, 7:45 am, JimKramer wrote:

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/postcard

I thought everyone met the Mandate perfectly. Some stunning images
that are both humorous and creative. My personal faves Bret's, Alan
Browne and Jim's. I'm partial to birds, but it's the way the pic is
exposed and the bright colors. Lots of detail and very sharp. The
Blue and Gold Macaw wins it. I found Alan's work stunning. The
colors are magnificent. Crisp detail. I know I'll be reprimanded for
saying it, but I'd love to see this shot in black and white as well.
The lines, tones shapes would be gorgeous! Jim's postcard is
beautiful. I love the colors in the sky, and the dark mountain just
seems to bring that out. To everyone: wonderful work!
Sorry I didn't participate due to illness.

[ Hmm, seems my reply to Helem got lost (or I had finger trouble). You
might see this repply twice ]

Thanks Helen and hope it's not you who is ill, and if it is, please get
well.

1) For the mandate I punched the colors a bit as it often seems that
postcards are over-saturated. The "sober version" is here

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?p...046217&size=lg

and a bit closer to the square format... the SI version was cut to US
Postal Service Postcard Standard proportions (max). While tempted to
add a cheesy caption I desisted. The punch and format were my
concessions to the mandate.

2) B&W? Are ya daft? Bear in mind that this was shot on Velvia 100
which has a narrower exposure range. So the tonals would not translate
to B&W as well as an original B&W negative would record. OTOH, not sure
you would notice on the monitor either.

Cheers,
Alan

--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource:http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems:http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz:http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.


Thanks Alan, yes it's me who is ill. Time will help me.
It's an awesome shot. What I meant about seeing this shot in black
and white was actually on a neg. and then a print. The beauty of a
Hasselblad is the interchangeable magazines. Along with colour I
would have also shot it in a fine grain black and white film.
Helen