There and Back Again, A Wet-Shaver's Tale

4/18 SOTD

Razor: Otto Busch World Master

Brush: TSC 2nd Anniversary

Soap: @LNHC Somali Rose

Aftershave: @LNHC Somali Rose

Pulled out one of the finest soaps out there to test the edge on the World Master. This is the 2nd razor I've finished on the ancient ocean jasper that DeepSea is letting me try out. I went through my usual synthetic progression up to 8k, then ran it over the jasper with water only while watching an episode of Breakout Kings. Probably got through half the episode before I realized I was still honing the darn thing and figured that would be good enough. The stone has a nice buttery feel to it that I find relaxing, but the edge it can put on a razor is what really matters.

Lathered up this amazing smelling soap with my 2nd Anniversary brush. Man, whoever made these really knew what they were doing...   . Three passes and a fantastic DFS+ later I can call the edge this stone imparted to be very good. The ATG on my upper lip and under the lower lip are the real test and it did a fine job on both. Plenty sharp and smooth enough that there was no fluid loss or irritation. So the stone is a good finisher. I'll test out the claims that the back side can be used as a mid range stone next.

I applied the flocking on my third cigar/straight razor storage box today, and I have high hopes for it. Used a spray enamel instead of the branded adhesive undercoat. I'll post pics eventually. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

NO pm's, we all need to know which one

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

NO pm's, we all need to know which one 

Thanks for the kind words Paul! I actually use a lightbox that my dad threw together out of pvc and some odds and ends lol. It does the trick, but most lightboxes that you either order or make will do the trick from what little knowledge I have of the subject.



If any of my photos turn out well it is probably the combination of my Iphone camera and the Camera+ 2 app I use to edit the pics. I'm not good with proper lighting to eliminate shadows or placement, but the pics I start out with look about like this(or worse):



And after about 5 minutes and 4-5 adjustments they end up like this:



I am definitely no expert, and I'm pretty jealous of the guys that can put together some of the fantastic compositions I've seen in the SOTD threads, but it's still something fun to play around with when I have time.

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

NO pm's, we all need to know which one 

Thanks for the kind words Paul! I actually use a lightbox that my dad threw together out of pvc and some odds and ends lol. It does the trick, but most lightboxes that you either order or make will do the trick from what little knowledge I have of the subject.



If any of my photos turn out well it is probably the combination of my Iphone camera and the Camera+ 2 app I use to edit the pics. I'm not good with proper lighting to eliminate shadows or placement, but the pics I start out with look about like this(or worse):



And after about 5 minutes and 4-5 adjustments they end up like this:



I am definitely no expert, and I'm pretty jealous of the guys that can put together some of the fantastic compositions I've seen in the SOTD threads, but it's still something fun to play around with when I have time.

Wow, nice Eric! You say you're no expert, but I hadn't heard of a light box until now. Lol.

Time to go shopping.

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

NO pm's, we all need to know which one 

Thanks for the kind words Paul! I actually use a lightbox that my dad threw together out of pvc and some odds and ends lol. It does the trick, but most lightboxes that you either order or make will do the trick from what little knowledge I have of the subject.



If any of my photos turn out well it is probably the combination of my Iphone camera and the Camera+ 2 app I use to edit the pics. I'm not good with proper lighting to eliminate shadows or placement, but the pics I start out with look about like this(or worse):



And after about 5 minutes and 4-5 adjustments they end up like this:



I am definitely no expert, and I'm pretty jealous of the guys that can put together some of the fantastic compositions I've seen in the SOTD threads, but it's still something fun to play around with when I have time.

I use the Camera+ app as well. Love it!

Eric, you have some killer kit, you shoot lovely photos of it, and your dad’s handiwork is cool too.

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

NO pm's, we all need to know which one 

I happened on this discussion because I needed a break after two hours of shopping for ... drumroll please ... a lightbox.  So, starting a "lightbox thread" seemed like the right thing to do.  

Of course photo software is also important.  Seeing that Eric and Paul use Camera+2 piques my interest.  However, I already get a lot of mileage out of the stock Apple Photos app, which is pretty simple, and I now own Serendipity too, but I need to learn how to use it.

Eric, you have some killer kit, you shoot lovely photos of it, and your dad’s handiwork is cool too.

Eric, first... great looking gear! Thanks so much for sharing.

Second, your photos are incredible. May I ask what light box you use? I’ve been wanting to get one.

Feel free to PM me if you’d like.

Thanks!
Paul

NO pm's, we all need to know which one 

I happened on this discussion because I needed a break after two hours of shopping for ... drumroll please ... a lightbox.  So, starting a "lightbox thread" seemed like the right thing to do.  

Of course photo software is also important.  Seeing that Eric and Paul use Camera+2 piques my interest.  However, I already get a lot of mileage out of the stock Apple Photos app, which is pretty simple, and I now own Serendipity too, but I need to learn how to use it.

Mike, Camera+ is worth the money ($8). I highly recommend it. I’ve been doing without a lightbox for far too long. Seeing Eric’s photos has re-ignited my interest in them. Amazon has some highly rated ones under $40.

Thanks Paul Stubble Daddy. For $8 I will certainly check out Camera+. As for the lightbox, I have already been shopping Amazon and B&H Photo, and I will likely revisit one or both of them. I'd just like to hear from a few people before buying, which is why I started the thread I mentioned.

Eric, you have some killer kit, you shoot lovely photos of it, and your dad’s handiwork is cool too.

NO pm's, we all need to know which one 

I happened on this discussion because I needed a break after two hours of shopping for ... drumroll please ... a lightbox.  So, starting a "lightbox thread" seemed like the right thing to do.  

Of course photo software is also important.  Seeing that Eric and Paul use Camera+2 piques my interest.  However, I already get a lot of mileage out of the stock Apple Photos app, which is pretty simple, and I now own Serendipity too, but I need to learn how to use it.

Mike, Camera+ is worth the money ($8). I highly recommend it. I’ve been doing without a lightbox for far too long. Seeing Eric’s photos has re-ignited my interest in them. Amazon has some highly rated ones under $40.

Thanks Paul Stubble Daddy. For $8 I will certainly check out Camera+. As for the lightbox, I have already been shopping Amazon and B&H Photo, and I will likely revisit one or both of them. I'd just like to hear from a few people before buying, which is why I started the thread I mentioned.

I used a light box that I bought from Amazon for about $30 for quite a while and it worked just fine. I think most of the differences between them are the strength of the lights that come with them and their size. I’d still be using that one if it hadn’t been damaged in an unfortunate incident about a year and a half ago. It worked out nicely that my dad didn’t use his anymore and was willing to pass it on.

The Camera+ app is really nice. It is pretty user friendly and has plenty of nice options to play around with. I’ve used about 5 others and finally settled on it because it has everything I wanted in one package.