So what do I need???

Like so many other hobbies, you can do wet-shaving on the cheap, or go all out and spend a boat-load of dough on fancy smelling creams, all stainless steel razors and English made Silvertip Grade A brushes.

I've gone down both paths..  Since I love old things made new and new things made to look and feel old, this chore turned hobby works perfect for me and I have amassed a collection of razors priced from $12 to $100+ and brushes in the same price range, but life can be much easier...

This morning is a near perfect day..end of summer, still warm but just a faint break in the temperature and zero humidity.  A shave out on my deck was in order.

I hung a small face mirror from the upright on the pagoda... While I have one of these that belonged to my father-in-law and is an antique, I bought this one at a local pharmacy for $3.00..

I prefer to shave after a shower since having a well hydrated beard is one of the key factors to a good shave.  Statistics say that a man's facial hair is 85% softer after exposure to just a minute of warm water.   Ten minutes in the shower is a perfect prep, but since I was also creating some images and the breeze was drying my face quickly, I also did a relaxing warm towel treatment just before lathering...I dunked a wash cloth in a bowl of hot water and held it on my face..what a treat.

This mornings shave was done with a vintage 1954 Gillette SuperSpeed that I bought on-line for $16 shipped.  It was already cleaned but I gave it a dip and soak in alcohol.  Added a Derby blade, $0.40.  The brush is a well sought after Shea Moisture, Pure Badger.  It's entry level all the way, but for some reason it is a joy even when compared to brushes costing tens of times more.  Find this one at Target, $9... and if you do, buy three.

I broke my normal routine of using shave creams and lathered with a soap.  I find the creams lather easier and are slicker, but this soap is awesome.. Van Der Hagen Deluxe is also a drug store item, and costs about $2.  I put it in an old coffee mug (freebie) and heated it in the microwave for about twenty seconds so it took the shape of the mug..  The stainless bowl held rinse water...$1.50 at a local home furnishing clearance center!

I finished with a touch of Oil of Olay moisturizer that I have had for about ten years.. new it may have cost $3 or so..  Add it up and this was indeed a wet-shave on the cheap, but the result is a damn fine shave by any one's standards!   With the razor, soap and brush now in inventory, future shaves will be even more cost effective!!  I'd venture to say the "per shave" cost with this setup is under a dollar!

Today was a two pass shave, interrupted by some image making.  The mirror image is from the Nikon D3, but the other is from a new-to-me Canon G9, with a Nikon SB-600 speedlight off camera controlled by Radio Popper RF remotes..  Expect some more feedback on the G9, but having shot with it for only a day or so, I can tell you I love it.  It fills the gap between full size SLR bodies and pocket point and shoot.  It's technology is a few years old and there is now a G10 and G11 in Canon's G line-up, but it is perfect for what I need it for...super light, full manual control in addition to Av & Tv, built in hot shoe and most important, it captures in RAW format..  more to come on this...

Entry into Wet Shaving.. not just for the guys!

One reason I chose wet-shaving is I am tired of the cost of modern cartridge razors, especially given the inferior results I get from using them.  Close to $20 for a ten pack...razor burn included.

The other reason, as noted already, is the closeness and comfort of a wet-shave has to be experienced to be believed.  Friday I was out shooting at dawn at a race track near Cape May, New Jersey, so skipped the morning shave.  Saturday I had a full day of growth to wack and I was really looking forward to the shave.  I slipped a new Wilkinson blade (cost about 45 cents) into my Merkur Futur razor, lathered with a iKon Silvertip Badger hair brush and a wonderful semi-soft soap from Italy, Cella di Parma and got to it.  Cella has an intoxicating scent of Amaretto..you almost want to sip it.

My shave involved three passes, as most DE shave do...one with the grain of my beard (WTG), one across the grain (XTG) and the last against the grain (ATG).  This is a routine I dare not do with a cartridge razor or I would be covered in blood and in pain for days.

Not only was I blood and irritation free, but my face was as smooth as a baby's butt.. We call it a BBS shave...Baby Butt Smooth.  So smooth that a pass with cotton ball against the grain leave not a wisp of cotton.  But to really get a feel for how good this shave can be you have to check it's smoothness after a few hours.  At 10PM, my face was smoother that it would have been immediately after shaving with a cartridge!!

Not every shave has to be a three pass.  I often do a two pass WTG and XTG which yields a damn fine shave (DFS).  Multipass does take a little longer to do than a one pass cart shave in the shower, but the daily ritual of shaving is no longer a chore.

Saturday's shave..  Merkur Futur adjustable double edge, iKon Silvertip Grade A brush mounted in a custom turned stainless steel handle, Cella di Parma, a drop of natural glycerin for lube, and Kiehl's After Shave Balm.  Image from my iPhone, processed using Lightroom v3.

My last post was, sadly, off the mark in that I failed to make comment that wet-shaving isn't just for the guys!!  Ladies, I encourage you to consider ditching you Venus or Soleil, stop swiping your hubby's Mach III (he'll appreciate that even if he doesn't convert to a DE) and try using a DE..  There is no shortage of DE razors made just for you!  Some sport shorter handles, others smaller heads, and a few with a curved head that better fits all the curves and hollows of your body!

The lost art of shaving

Over the years I have tried to make what is otherwise a laborious, oft painful event into something enjoyable, but the act of shaving my face never seemed to be something I looked forward to.  A sad fact considering the frequency with which I have to shave...

With the resurgence of wet-shaving, I now welcome each days shave and treat it as an event...a ritual of pleasure that I anticipate and savour...

Wet-Shaving has a pretty broad definition, but it's focus is on old style double edge (DE), single edge (SE) and straight razors (str8's) in tandem with creams and soaps made from more natural ingredients and don't come from a can.

I've always had a love for new things that look and feel old and old things made to look new again, so the nostalgic nature of the implements of wet-shaving are a natural attraction for me.

I have made numerous feeble attempts at shaving in this manner with the obligatory shave brush and some glycerin soap and even a few DE razors my father gave me, but I never had technique and the result was lackluster.  I always reverted back to the multi-bladed cartridge razors and canned goo.

A few months ago I was chatting with a good friend who mentioned he was using a DE which led me to a bit of research on-line and a week later, I made the jump.  My Mach III razor has sat unused since then, as my inventory of soaps, creams, brushes and razors has overwhelmed the master bath and my shaves have never been better.  Better. Closer.  More enjoyable, less expensive and at this point completely free of irritation, stubble and blood loss.

Now, this blog isn't about wet-shaving...at least it wasn't... but I have taken to documenting each days shave as a means of tracking which razor, blade, brush and balm seem to work best and as part of this I am photographing the setups...  using either my iPhone or my (new to me) Canon G9.  (I could never fully explain toting my tripod and light stands into the bathroom..)

Safeguarding your work

You've heard it a million times.. maybe more.  Backup your stuff.  Make a copy and keep it off site.  Don't format a memory card unless you have at least two backup copies of your data.  In theory it's really easy to do but in practice, many if not most folks have woefully inadequate backup plans.

As recently as last month I have experienced hard drive failures taking with them valuable data, but truth be told I have never lost a single image that I didn't want to lose.  I've often thought of my backup strategy as excruciating to keep up with..time consuming and resulting in more hard drives than I can manage, but it works.


If someone expresses an interest in the details, I'll share...but the short story is..  I keep at least three copies of every image..

• Field backup to a Hyper Drive (deleted along with the memory cards after all other copies below are done);
• One working copy on a dedicated internal hard drive. (OS and editing apps are on the primary drive);
• One copy on an external back-up drive, usually a Western Digital MyBook of some incarnation;
• One copy in the clouds using BackBlaze.  
• I said "at least three" copies because I've gotten paranoid of late and keep a mirrored copy of the external drive off-site..that makes four copies. 

The problem is that these copies are across multiple drives and it has become increasingly difficult to track.  Add to this challenge that hard drives experience instant mortality..one day they work and the next...not so much.  The WD MyBook 1 Terabyte that croaked last month is a perfect example, and it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Enter Drobo...by Data Robotics.  

The Drobo is an external housing that can hold multiple drives and writes data to them in a RAID configuration. Well, Data Robotics calls it Beyond RAID and truth told, I don't know exactly what that means or how it actually works, but it works well.  I put it in service as the primary back-up device about a month ago and it has replaced an abundance of external drives scattered around my studio.  I still keep one copy of critical data in the clouds and one off-site.

I bought the base model which can hold four drives with a maximum capacity of 4tb each, and you can mix and match sizes and speeds.  There are other Drobo versions that hold many more drives and all can be set up using either USB 2.0, Firewire or Ethernet cables.

It comes with proprietary software that allows all sorts of monitoring of the drives, updating, formatting and such, but my favorite feature is that it can perform scheduled backups of what-ever I choose.  Right now I have it scheduled to go once a week and I perform manual back-ups to it after each shoot, but at some point I am going to let go of the leash and allow it do it's thing.

Technology is moving way too fast for me to grasp all the nuances, so I have a bit of blind faith with this, but the front panel monitor lights indicate that all the drives are healthy (green LED's) and there is plenty of available space (Blue LED's).  MyComputer shows the multiple drives as one big storage device, and I use BeyondCompare to confirm that all the data is there and sync'd across the various backups.. 

I am watching this whole affair with a careful eye and will keep you updated over time.

Interesting side note...As I was sync'ng the data to the Drobo, I inadvertently deleted all images from 2001 through 2003... DOH!!   It happens.  I knew I had all this data in the clouds, but the off-site back-up easily repaired the data vacancy..

A moment of magic with Apple...

I'm still in love with my iPhone.. it's been over a year and I doubt I have come close to tapping into more than 25% of what it can do..and it's near bullet-proof.  Sort of...

I caved in a few months ago and made the decision to jail-break my phone..  Not sure why but it seemed like a good thing to do.  But as the days past, I realized that since all I accomplished was uncovering more untapped resources, when the next OS update Apple rolled out for the 3Gs I would revert back to factory spec.

Never as easy as others tell you it will be....

Yes, it's been a while...

Summer is coming to an end...  I've had a lot of time to reflect. 

From what I have read from other bloggers, there is a metamorphosis that occurs somewhere around month four of blogging...  You look back at where you started and question where you are going...

I've focused on what I thought others would want to read and realized it wasn't what I wanted to share.  At least not in the format in which I wanted to share it....

More follows the break..

Why, oh Why? I just don't get it....

There was nothing wrong with the first version of Nikon's 200-400VR super-tele.. 

I am no marketing guru, but if it ain't broke don't fix it..go after something that needs fixin'.

How about an update to the Cream Machine...the 85 f/1.4?

Update the original 80-400VR and it will sell like hot-cakes..probably enough to equal expected sales on this new 200-400.

Give us a few more constant f/4.0 lenses like the Canon line has.

Please, give me D3s performance in a Dx sensor...  I so love my D3, but I do miss the crop.

Oh well...I can keep dreaming.

Speeding things up with keyboard shortcuts in Lightroom

Gotta love this one!!

I am a two fisted editor...  I use a Wacom Intuos tablet with my right hand and rifle all over the keyboard using shortcut keys with my left hand.  I am considering replacing the keyboard with a Shuttle, but that's another story..

The list keystroke shortcuts in Lightroom is extensive.  It's been published a few times but I edit in the dark and reading a cheat sheet is impossible.  Press Ctrl + / (Command + / on the Mac) to display an overlay of shortcuts over the top of your Lightroom window.

The list is specific to the module you are so check it in the Develop module for shortcuts for that module and in the Library for Library shortcuts and so on.

Lightroom 3 beta 2 - Noise Reduction dialog simply rocks!

First chance I have had for extended play with the most recent beta 2 release of Lightroom 3 was this evening..  And WOW!  The speed is dramatically improved, the image quality is significantly improved and the noise reduction sliders simply rock!!  A gentle touch of Luminance slider followed with my normal sharpening routine, using the Sharpening Masking yields a wonderfully clean shadow area.

I do have to voice my nitpick.. I don't care for the new import dialog.  Maybe time will help, but it isn't to my liking.  And I forget to unplug my iPhone when launching the Import dialog, it takes forever to open.

Signs of Spring

My two most favorite times of each year are the transitions from summer to fall and winter to spring.  I suffer from severe cabin fever so being able to get out wearing flip-flops and shorts is like rebirth.

With the coming of spring, the birds become more active..  Searching for a mate, nest building and establishing territories..this all makes for some fun photo opps!

More here.....