Cloud Storage, my newest solution...

I have officially become 100% reliant on the cloud for all of my important data backup. Within a few years everybody will be working this way, but because of my mobile lifestyle I needed to transition a little quicker.

Let me tell you how this came about …

~ Today's Shave, November 21st, 2010 ~

Cream/Soap: P.160 Tipo Morbido
Brush: Made Rite, Finest Badger
Razor: Gem 1912
Blade: Gem
Balm: Kiehl's

The Single Edge razor is a sweet close shave, but seems to demand some special attention.  Though it is smooth and ultra close, you can get too much of a good thing and shaving with this on two consecutive days is a challenge.  This is the Gem 1912 manufactured in Brooklyn, New York.  It is loaded with a standard single edge blade, such as what you would use to scrape your vehicle registration sticker from the windshield of your car.  Scary sharp.

The Made Rite brush, refitted with a Finest Badger Fan shaped knot, is absolutely superb.  Not a single complaint!

P.160 carries a wonderful almond scent that lasts through out the shave.  It lathers thick and slick and although I was initially challenged with getting a good lather from it, we have come to an agreement..  This soft soap is no longer available, but I have plenty left and also have two more tubs in my inventory.

Sweet shave today!!

Image from the Nikon D3, 70-200 f/2.8 VR,.  Oddly, this superb lens doesn't allow for focusing on subjects closer than about five feet.  When fitted with a 12mm extension tube you can focus on subjects as close as inches away.  Extension tubes are hollow tubes that simply move the lens further away from the camera's sensor.  They don't have optics and most don't have electrical contacts, but the set used here, made by Kenko, do communicate electronically with the camera body and as such, auto focus and all aspects of metering are retained.  Light is provided by one Nikon SB800 speed light camera right, with a Lumiquest soft box and one SB-800 camera left and slightly behind the setup with a Wescott Apollo soft box.  Lights were triggered by Nikon SU-800 controller.  

Working with small speed lights is a joy.  This setup was shot in the brightly lit home studio, but by properly controlling the exposure settings for the ambient light, the background can be rendered black while the two flash units bring the light back to an appealing composition.  This allows for control of two distinct zones of light...Zone one, the area behind the subject ,can be fully balanced from a brightly lit scene to dark shadows without impacting the light in zone two, that which is falling on the subject.

Next time you question whether you can...

....consider the determination and will it takes to achieve greatness in the sport of fencing.. while confined to a wheel chair.

"I can't..." isn't in the vocabulary of these extreme athletes.

This image is from photographer Jacky Naegelen/REUTERS,  who covered the 2010 World Fencing Championships held in Paris France.

A collection of images from this event can be viewed at The Big Picture, by The Boston Globe.

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Edit  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Got to thinking about the notion of...   "I can't.."  This is some seriously destructive self-talk.  In a conversation with a friend and fellow photog, I was amazed at the number of times he described himself and his work as "just okay", or "not all that good", and as extreme as "..I suck at..".

At one point I asked that if our conversations were to continue I would prefer that he change this to.. "I did my best, but..." or, "..the result didn't match my vision.."  or, "I am making progress..".  The fact is, he is pretty good and he has made huge progress but it isn't apparent to him.  I asked..  "When you say your image sucks, what are using as a base for comparison?  Who is so good, in your eyes, that they make your work look, just okay?"  I never got an answer.

Those who have followed my blog from inception will remember one of the first posts..  It's Not How Good You Are, But How Good You Want To Be!  This was a huge philosophical shift for me when I was first exposed to it but once I had a chance to live with the idea, it became something that I rules all that I do.  If the idea resonates with you, read the book of the same title, by author Paul Arden..

I just ordered a copy for my friend....

A helping hand.......

Worth a click.. The Big Picture, from the Boston Globe

We all accept our information intake in different doses and forms..  for me, a picture tells a much more touching story than the printed word.  Something to do with spending much time on the back-side of the camera I suppose..

Click to head of to The Big Picture

The Boston Globe offers a wonderful way to stay connected not only with the immediate and high level story of current world shaping events, but with the feeling and emotion that accompanies every happening..  To describe the destruction and pain filled recovery of the earthquake in Haiti in a factually accurate neatly spaced columns in print doesn't do the job quite like a single picture.

The Big Picture, News Stories in Photographs, delivers smiles, tears, joy and disappointments that one can't garner by reading black and white text.   Pay a visit when you have time.  The story boards are short but robust.

A tale of two restored brushes

I received these two brushes as a gift nearly fifteen years ago.  When I got them, they were already twenty or thirty years old and frankly, they looked like road kill...

I spent a few weeks researching the restoration process and what you see above is the result.  I have long loved new things that look old and old things made to look new again and I am thoroughly enjoying using both brushes and pondering the stories they tell..  Read more about the restoration and see Before, During and After images by clicking here....

Satisfaction comes from the most unexpected sources...

What follows is an excerpt from an email from a friend..  His thoughts, as we decide on a bulk double edge blade purchase...

"Ok .. so a preliminary recap of bulk order so far:

 

Definite:

 

50 Feather Black -- $22.95

50 Red Personna -- $16.50

50 Bluebirds -- $8.99

 

Subtotal:  $48.44

 

To be decided:

 

50 Shark Super Chrome -- $10.97 

 

Total: $59.41

 

200 blades

 

Price per blade:  .29

 

By way of comparison I did the math on the Gillette Fusion: 200 blades at $2.53 per blade (24 ct. for $61; Amazon) is $506.

 

There is something perversely gratifying about using the cheapest products to get a superior shave, plus I like sticking it to Gillette ... it's like giving the whole Shaving-Industrial Complex a huge middle finger."

Neutralizing the Good in a Good Deed....

I read what I thought was an interesting article this morning discussing whether a Good Deed is no longer good if you tell someone about it..  This got me thinking..  I have always thought it to be the case, as the article describes, that if you do a good deed you should keep it to yourself and speaking of it would be not only lessen it's good-deed-ness, but also be viewed as bragging..  

Not so sure this is true anymore.  (I don't feel there is a right and wrong here, so what I am sharing is what works for me...)   

Good deeds need to start with good intentions.  If you do something for someone with the hopes that you will get something out of it, or worse...with the preconceived idea that you can later spout on about how much of a good-deed-doer you are, well...skip it.  That doesn't work. 

But what if the act of sharing your good deed is intended to be a good deed in and of itself?  Surely passing on a personal experience is better than fabricating story, isn't it?  

Or, maybe it's the frame of mind of the recipient of your tale of good-ness that determines it's potency?  

How do you feel about sharing a good deed ?

Dare you to watch it just once...

You have to be a photographer to get it...

Today's Shave...

~ Today's Shave, October 18th, 2010 ~

Prep: Hot shower, Dark Roast coffee, Pheobe Snow via Pandora stream on iPhone
Cream/Soap: Speick Stick
Brush: Shea Moisture, Pure Badger, aka Target Special
Razor: 1966 Gillette Twist, Bob's Razor Works Slim Bull Mastiff Deluxe handle
Blade:Feather
Balm: Kiehl's

Pic to follow.. this is a beauty!

For the past three days I have been shaving with a new to me, Gillette Twist, modified by CoonCat Bob from Bob's Razor Works (BRW) in California. This razor was born in England some time in the fourth quarter 1966 (Date code L4).. The Twist, and it's domestic sister the Gillette Knack, were essentially a Gillette Superspeed head on a cheap plastic handle, but with the Turn To Open collar just under the head instead of on the end of the handle as with the SuperSpeed. It shaves very much like the SuperSpeed, which is to say.. very mild.  So much so that it easily tames a Feather blade which as noted in earlier posts is considered one of the sharpest blades available.  The marriage of the smooth head design and wicked sharp blade seem to meld into a sweet combination and my shaves have been consistently superb.

This razor was modified by BRW around December, 2009 when it was fitted with a slimmer version of the outrageous BRW Bull Mastiff Deluxe handle. This could easily become my favorite razor.. Near BBS with zero discomfort. Perfect balance and hefty weight attributed to the handle. Simple blade installation through the top load silo doors.. And beautiful nickel plating on both the head and handle. 

I continue to enjoy Speick Stick.  Using a stick requires you rub the soap on your moistened face depositing the pre-lather in and around your whiskers.  Unlike many other soaps, Speick leaves a nice slick residue after a pass, a characteristic that is more cream than soap. Face lathering with the Shea Moisture brush is a bit prickly, but it exfoliates well, and the size and shape of the brush are spot on for whipping a froth without depositing it in your nose or ears.  The 'Target Special', so named because that is the only source for this item, is an absolute bargain at $9.95.. if you can find one.