TCB: happy jeans contest

[Bobbo]

Fantastic update Jared and beautiful tattoos. This is so great, everyone has their own niche of photo dumps with a kick ass pair of TCB's as common ground. 

[Frost]

Best thread on SuFu.

[Ciabatta]

Jared has my favorite pair hands down. That back tattoo is so sick too. All that black... so gnarly. You're a champ.

[Jared_Lee]

great post Jared, did you have that bauld Russian themed tat done on yourself??? great piece!

Yes, J did the back piece starting in 2006, I think. We completed the centerpiece years after I moved to New York in 2011, I believe. We did the webbing over two days this past November.

[Jared_Lee]

Jared has my favorite pair hands down. That back tattoo is so sick too. All that black... so gnarly. You're a champ.

Thank you, that means a lot to me both about the tattoo and the jeans. The tattoo especially because of the physical toll it takes. I rarely show it to anyone and don't spend a lot of time shirtless. You gents are some of the few outside my close friends and tattooers I share it with.

[Bobbo]

Just a quick iPhone update so the sharpness isn't really there. But whatever. We're having an unusually warm winter so I've been able to wear these a lot more than I though. A happy surprise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Perfect roping in my eyes!

And I really like the different hues of blue and gray. Not as faded as other pairs we have seen in this contest but nonetheless beautiful!

[volvo240thebest]

good jobbo!

my pair is in the safe hands of my tailor for repairs atm, I'll pick them up tonight, wash them over the next couple days and post a new update, they haven't seen water for more than what I usually do, look forward to see if there will be any evo after it.

[Bobbo]

Thanks guys! Yeah, they're not as faded, probably because I'm 4 months behind with effective wear, haha. I'm a cheating bastard.

[guthriegking]

Damn Jared! Great work you've gotten done recently, the webs on your back are awesome. Also was that an FA deck hanging on the wall next to your TCBs?

[garden gnomes in space]

Great update Jared

[volvo240thebest]

the thread need a couple more macros

belt loops aging beautifully

hidden rivets here

hole repaired, not as nice as a mended repair by mr handy denim but will do for now, can't justify to send the jeans away by post in the middle of a contest haha!

Edited December 23, 2015 by volvo240thebest

[Jared_Lee]

Damn Jared! Great work you've gotten done recently, the webs on your back are awesome. Also was that an FA deck hanging on the wall next to your TCBs?

Good eye. It is indeed. I love that photo so much.

[garden gnomes in space]

Took some macro shots the other day.  

Decided to get artsy fartsy on the second one

 

Gear specs for those who give a shit:

 

Canon 6D

Tamron 90mm 2.8 VC

LumoPro LP180 flash

Kirk Enterprises macro flash bracket

Lightroom CC

 

One thing I have been experimenting with lately is image stacking.  You can do it in photoshop, but there are better ($$) programs out there for it like Zerene.  Basically take multiple images at different focal points and stack them so everything is in focus.  When shooting macro, especially at 1:1 magnification, even at f11 the depth of field is as you can see, not much.  

Edited December 25, 2015 by garden gnomes in space

[volvo240thebest]

very nice gnome and great bit of info. I am still a newbie for photos, never learnt how to properly use a flash. I shoot my macros with reverse mounted old lenses. I have a vintage Pentax 28 mm f2.8 which works great for macros.

your roping looks great, did you tumble dry the jeans many times?

[garden gnomes in space]

only time i tumble dried was when the pocket bags were still damp from hanging to dry over night.

 

RE: reverse lenses for macro.  Thats a relatively cheap and easy way to get macro shots but in my experience, it never quite reaches the quality a true macro lens gets.  Flash is essential for most macro work, and it is tricky to get it to look like you didnt use a flash.  Its essential to get the flash off the lens axis, aka off the hot shoe and to diffuse the light to soften it up.

This is not my macro lens, but it shows off camera flash and a diffuser I use.  its a fun world of photography to experiment with!

 

[volvo240thebest]

don't have a macro lens as per now yet, and the only flash I have is the stock one provided in camera with the Sony Alpha 6000. I'll probably get an old Pentax macro lens in the future, but before that I need to grab myself a decent wide angle lens, thinking about the Samyang 14 mm 2.8.

you're absolutely miles away from me mate, still lots of fun stuff to learn!

[garden gnomes in space]

Samyang makes good lenses.  Your a6000 has focus peaking right?  If so, you are golden.  I have the samyang 14mm and aside from huge distortions that need to be corrected, its really sharp

[volvo240thebest]

yeah the a6000 has focus peaking and it works really well. lots of

people reccomend that lens and it looks to be good value for the money too. it will be the first time I buy a non vintage lens!

[garden gnomes in space]

i love the vintage lenses for what they are, but modern lenses are much better! (for the most part)

[volvo240thebest]

haha modern lenses are surely more functional and efficient, but good vintage lenses like the Pentax range I own have a certain softness and natural colour rendering that I like very much.

[aho]

Merry Christmas all!

[Paul T]

yeah! Have a great day folks!

 

[volvo240thebest]

TCB festive ver (haha)

[volvo240thebest]

here's some post wash photos. jeans improved a lot I must say, I have been using them and not washing for quite some time, at least for my dad standards...

I still haven't lost the hope of winning this contest, PaulT and others beware! I'm ready for the final rush :-]

yesterday night after a massive Xmas family lunch we had our usual friends party, this year gin and tonic night

Hendricks and an amazing German gin, windspiel, much appreciated Xmas present from Foxy! thanks Kaj!

tonic water choice. on the left the new lurisia, made with chinotto from Savona where I am from. it got some excellent reviews and I must say that it's probably the best on its own but doesn't work well for g&t, fever tree it's much better!

Edited December 26, 2015 by volvo240thebest

[bradl]

Need to track down some nice tonic, every place I go to just sells the standard pop tonic and it's not very good, with that going to have to do some research on some decent gins I can find locally.

[volvo240thebest]

look for Fever Tree, that's the standard good tonic out there. another good one is Fentimans but that's not as easy to find.

hopefully Foxy will chime in, he has a huge wealth of knowledge as far as gin and tonic is concerned!

my favourite classic Gins are Hendricks and Caorunn, both quite easy to find everywhere.

Hendricks g&t is nice with a couple slices of cucumber as garnish, Caorunn works great with a slice of green apple.

[chicote]

I've seen Fentimann's in Vancouver before Brad! Not sure where though... probably in gastown.

And glad you're holding out hope Volvo—yours are one of the best pairs in the contest imo!

[garden gnomes in space]

i agree Volvo, your pair is looking strong.  Nice vintage fade with a few sharp contrast crease fades thrown in for good measure.  

[garden gnomes in space]

i am washing mine about once per week thanks to cold season and my daughters newfound enjoyment of wiping her nose on my pants when Im not looking.