Postcrossing
18 November 2014 -- 322/365
North Providence, Rhode Island
I'm not sure I needed a new hobby - I have plenty already - but it happened. One of my 365 Project friends - Jule @justaspark - brought "Postcrossing" to my attention, and it does look fascinating. The concept is quite simple. You register on the Postcrossing site, and you request up to 5 contacts. You send those contacts a postcard. When they receive them, they record the receipt on the website, and your address is then given to the next person requesting a contact. You may also now request another contact to keep the chain going. According to the real-time stats on the site, there are just over half a million active postcrossers, and the current rate is about 1500 post cards being registered per hour. It's definitely an active hobby. The postcards you see in today's photo are about to be mailed to my first 5 contacts. The countries they represent are quite diverse: Belarus, UK, Finland, Germany, and Russia. This definitely sounds like it will be addictive! I'm looking forward to receiving my first set of cards, although that is likely a couple of months away given how long it takes postcards to travel. (Note that the slogan on the "Rhode Island" card is partially hidden. It reads, "3% bigger at low tide." Funny, but accurate!)
Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, regions, contrast, boost black, boost white, and protect highlights. A levels adjustment was added in PSE.
