Another first shave...

Hi gentlemen!

It has been a couple of weeks since I found this great forum and decided to try straight razor shaving myself... After reading some advices from experienced members to newbies I got a nice shave ready Wade & Butcher 5/8" (on eBay from altima55), a best badger brush from Edwin Jagger, Proraso shaving cream and Proraso AS Balm and today I finally got my first shave.

I decided to do only one pass WTG but because it went surprisingly good, I decided to do the second one ATG which went pretty good as well. I only got 3 or 4 little cuts, nothing really bad so my bathroom wasn't all bloody as I expected..

Until now I was using a Mach 3 razor and I always had a problem with ingrowing hair, so I am waiting till tomorrow to see whether my skin likes straights better...

I have to say I really got a nice close shave, definitely better than the Mach 3 and I enjoyed it a lot. Great feeling!
I only have one question to ask. I noticed that most of the time I was using only about one half of the blade. Is that how you guys do it, or do you use the whole blade?

I'll try to add a picture of my "gear" and the result of my shave - my satisfied face...

Thanks a lot to everyone who contributes to this forum for all the useful information I found here. I am sure that without SRP and you guys my first shave would not be such a nice experience...