Need Your Vote for Safety Razor of the Month - Merkurs - May 2012

**AABCDS** · 06-07-2012, 03:48 PM

Please vote for your favorite picture out of the six listed below. The person with the most votes will win a $25 gift certificate to the B&B supporting vendor of his choice! However, that's not all. A random voter will be chosen to win a $25 gift certificate!

Here are the six finalists in no particular order. If you are a finalist, feel free to vote for yourself. This way, you'll be entered to win a $25 gift certificate as a voter even if you don't get the most votes.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

**bhorsoft** · 06-07-2012, 06:19 PM

How do we know that's not a Mergress that Rex is chomping on?

**AABCDS** · 06-07-2012, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by bhorsoft

How do we know that's not a Mergress that Rex is chomping on?

Good question. I went back and looked at the other pictures and, luckily for me, it is a Progress.

**dannymayo** · 06-08-2012, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by bhorsoft

How do we know that's not a Mergress that Rex is chomping on?

If you look closely between the teeth you can see the yellowish Progress knob.

Speaking of number 1, number 1 is my favorite.

**bakerbarber** · 06-08-2012, 05:44 PM

#1 is my vote!!

**T-Box215** · 06-08-2012, 08:18 PM

Thanks for the compliment and vote S'eth, I too love B&W. It actually started as three bracketed images then imported into Photmatix Pro where I generated a HDR (High Dynamic Range) image, and desaturated it. Sounds more complicated than it really is.

**echotron** · 06-09-2012, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by T-Box215

Thanks for the compliment and vote S'eth, I too love B&W. It actually started as three bracketed images then imported into Photmatix Pro where I generated a HDR (High Dynamic Range) image, and desaturated it. Sounds more complicated than it really is.

Gee ... and I was going to ask the depth on your lense ... f2.8 or ?? ... but I reckon thats old school!

**T-Box215** · 06-09-2012, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by echotron

Gee ... and I was going to ask the depth on your lense ... f2.8 or ?? ... but I reckon thats old school!

echotron - It was actually taken with a Nikon D90 and a 35mm f1.8 thus the depth of field is very narrow. So definitely not old school. It's a modern digital, I did however use manual focus because when combining 3 images like that you want the only variable in the images to be the shutter speed. Essentially you take and underexposed, overexposed, and properly exposed images, merge them with a program like Photomatix, and tweak to get just the right amount of highlights and low-lights to make it pop. Pretty cool technique, but definitely not usable for all pics.

**KipNoxzema** · 06-18-2012, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by T-Box215

echotron - It was actually taken with a Nikon D90 and a 35mm f1.8 thus the depth of field is very narrow. So definitely not old school. It's a modern digital, I did however use manual focus because when combining 3 images like that you want the only variable in the images to be the shutter speed. Essentially you take and underexposed, overexposed, and properly exposed images, merge them with a program like Photomatix, and tweak to get just the right amount of highlights and low-lights to make it pop. Pretty cool technique, but definitely not usable for all pics.

I was going to try that technique for some vintage watches I sell, but I failed with Paint Shop Pro 8. After seeing your technique, I might try it again.

**S'eth** · 06-08-2012, 07:27 PM

#2 for me. I've always been a sucker for B&W's. It's just very simple and classy. Truly a beautiful picture!

**Dennis324** · 06-09-2012, 06:26 PM

All are nice, but imo, the b&w photo (#2) is a wonderful pic! A real piece of artwork I think and thats the one I voted for. But I'm curious about the razor on photo #6. Is that vintage and is it made of bakelite? Its a beautiful razor. :)

(This was my 1st post here btw). :)

**AABCDS** · 06-09-2012, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by Dennis324

All are nice, but imo, the b&w photo (#2) is a wonderful pic! A real piece of artwork I think and thats the one I voted for. But I'm curious about the razor on photo #6. Is that vintage and is it made of bakelite? Its a beautiful razor. :)

(This was my 1st post here btw). :)

Welcome to B&B. As for your question, the razor is a Merkur bakelite. It is not a vintage razor as it's still in production.

**Dennis324** · 06-09-2012, 07:11 PM

Wow! Beautiful razor. I'm going to have to look into that one. :)

**Anonymousoul** · 06-09-2012, 10:12 PM

The B&W #2 is my fav. Something classy and sophisticated about a DE in B&W

**DaveL** · 06-10-2012, 09:51 AM

All beautiful pics, my vote went with #2.

**TonyJoe** · 06-10-2012, 05:24 PM

Some here have said they were suckers for black and white photography. That is understandable; I too like to take and look at b&w photos. They seem to distill their subjects into purer more essential forms, and number 2 is a great example of this. But I'm really a sucker for whimsical gratuitous Photoshop-ing. John Henry gets my vote.

**Redstar** · 06-11-2012, 06:33 AM

Great pictures everyone! I had to vote for #2 because it's a picture I could really see hanging in my den. I love the focus depth and the many different ways I can interprete the class and nostalgia of wet shaving. I can see wet shaving as a manly art in the steel of the razors, the delicateness and class of it in the linen, the tradition of it in the brush and lather and I get the feeling of a quite, relaxed morning from the light and shadows. Thanks for sharing!