Greetings Cards 2023

December 18, 2023

This year's Christmas cards will be electronic, but handwritten! In this way I will combine two of my most enduring passions: calligraphy and photography…

The card is for real, and it is for one of my dearest friend here in the forum and in life. Who knows he will open this page and casually found his greeting card…

Anyway, I thought I'd share the process of preparing the cards with the friends on the forum, in case anyone found it useful as a starting point for their Christmas greetings.

Phase 1 is to write personalized greetings: a small handwritten text is prepared for each recipient. I used my block of 80 g/m2 Fabriano Ingres laid paper, because I really like its texture and "almost" white color.

Once the texts have been prepared, they are cut to the size you prefer to appear on the electronic greetings.

A small "Christmas set" is set up, with the typical objects that abound at home in this period of preparation for the Christmas holidays. It doesn't need to be large: just enough space to place the handwritten note in the center and, for those who appreciate it (I like it), a fountain pen.

In fact, considering that our tickets could end up in the hands of people who are close and know each other, I would recommend preparing two slightly different sets, so that the repetition is not too obvious.

The set is placed near a window, so that it has side light (which accentuates its relief) and the first of the cards is placed there with its pen. It does not need to be exactly the one with which the text was written: Most recipients will know nothing about fountain pens and this allows us to play with shapes and colors of our fountain pens. You take several photo, varying the exposure (this can also be done with your phone's camera), to finally choose the one that seems best to you. From experience, I know that a slightly underexposed photograph looks more "Christmas night"...

You just change the greeting card and photograph the set again.

When deemed necessary, you may change the set and proceed as above.

I just change the greeting card and so on...

The electronic handwritten note has its advantages. It gives us time to prepare it until the last moment. It allows us that our recipients receive it at the right time, exactly when we send it. I like to send them to be received on December 22nd or 23rd, when the Christmas atmosphere is at its peak. Even if it is in electronic format, none of our friends and relatives will doubt that the note was written specifically for him!

P.S. Since I find myself in my hands beautiful cameras and a lot of other gadgets that have cost me an arm and a leg, and that it gives me joy to use them, the first two photographs of this topic were taken with Hasselblad 501CM and Zeiss Planar 80CB + tube 8mm extension, on Hasselblad CFV-C II digital back. Most of the other photographs, however, were taken with a mobile phone. Really the equipment is not an excuse...