12th Shoot - The Strength of Woman

Due to weather warnings being issued, today's shoot was postponed until next week as they were driving up from Wellington. Well, we are still waiting for the storm!

But the day wasn't wasted. We sent a message to one of the people on our reserves list, and she was out here like a flash.

Lisa has been working on her body shape over the last while, so getting naked was quite a big step (as with a lot of our models). But once the shoot was over she was very pleased she had simply just done it. Maybe knowing only the night before that she was going to pose helped.

Lisa's tattoos all have meanings, most are to do with family and womanhood. The tattoo on her right shoulder is a replica of her Nana's first tattoo (I wonder if my granddaughters would do the same?). The Ta Moko on her back is part of her family tree, and the pinup girl and chest piece represent the strength of women. The thigh is in memory of her other Nana who has passed away.

Model: Lisa Rowland

Tattoo Artists:

Steve - Powerhouse Tattoos, Palmerston North (chest, back)

Noel - Inked Tattoo Studio, Palmerston North (back)

Sasha - Wanganui (Ta Moko)

Rosie Barklay, Palmerston North (leg, arm)

11th Shoot - Sculpting the human body

We have loved every sitting we have done, but this one was a real treat. Both ladies were a dream to photograph. So much so that we have had a hard time choosing which images to use for the shoot. I am actually still deciding, so I have decided to put a lot more images on this blog than what we have been posting in the past.

Both ladies are in the sport of body sculpting. Lyndsey has been doing this for a while now, Shayna is just starting out.

In my own photography I love to capture symmetry where I can, and both our models were happy to let me shoot images other than ones for the project. We were so spoilt on this shoot when the sun actually came out and we snuck outside for a few shots.

As for their tattoos, Shayna's is in the theme of Harry Potter with the Phoenix and snitch, Lyndsey's is the shape of a Celtic triple knot with flowers and wording that have meaning to her.

Model: Lyndsey Ross

Tattoo Artist: Coen Mitchell - Tattoo Gold, Wellington

Model: Shayna Maskill

Tattoo Artist: Dean Archer - Soul Grafitti, Wanganui

and now for the alpaca photo bombs!

Brief Interlude

Some thoughts

We have had 10 portrait sittings so far for the NZ Tattoo - Nothing but Skin & Ink project. So, how has it gone?

So far every person that has entered in to the studio has been a little nervous. Some have verbalised this, others have just cruised as if there were no nerves at all. We have not had many that have posed in nothing but skin in the past, in fact I think it has been a first for every model. But they have all been keen, not so much to get naked, but to show off their ink.

We have had predominantly women pose for the project, actually about 80% of the sittings booked are female. But we have had one couple come into the studio, and there are more booked. Soon we will even have some males pose for us by themselves. Unfortunately we have had one person not show for their sitting. This was disappointing as we have had to say no to a lot of people wanting to join in on the project (it did give me time to get into the garden though). Rick is sending out reminders to everyone before their sitting date, although one of our sittings is so keen that she sent Rick a reminder first. Love it!

Nearly every tattoo has had a story. Be it in the tattoo itself, or where they had it done, each tattoo is a memory. The tattoos themselves are of a huge range, from fairy tales to children's drawings. The two main themes are fantasy and family. There are some sad tales of bad tattoos, and all of these have been done by a 'friend of a friend' or something similar. When it comes to tattoos you really get what you pay for. I would never think of asking a plastic surgeon for a discount or their 'best price', and yet tattoos last just as long (a lifetime I hope).

The biggest challenge we have had is posing our models for their tattoos first, and their body shape second. This has been a great exercise in thinking outside the box and has taken me way out of my comfort zone. No matter how much experience you have, there is always new things to learn, and this has been a wonderful learning curve for me.

The most common comment we have had after a shoot is 'it was a lot of fun, and I am so glad I did it'. That makes us very happy.

Rick and I are working well as a team, with me as the main camera controlling the flashes, and Rick capturing the side images and the more relaxed, natural expressions. For sitting #11 we even managed to get outside, so stay tuned for these images. The alpaca photo-bombs were just hilarious!

10 down, 50 to go...

10th Shoot - Motorbikes & Memories

Jo turned up with her leather jacket and black helmet. Perfect props for our photoshoot.

All of her tattoos have been done by the same tattooist, and you can see this in the continuity of the style. Jo's back is all about family in the form of a family tree.

'Death leaves a heart ache no one can heal, Love leaves a memory no one can steal'

Model: Jo McBeth

Tattoo Artist: 

Noel - Ink Tattoo Studio

9th Shoot - Starry NZ

The stars on Della's side are in the shape of New Zealand and represent family, so I really wanted to show these off. As I think I may have mentioned previously, posing our models firstly for their ink, then secondly for their body shape is such a great challenge. With the stars, every time I posed Della I made a crease in the middle of NZ, so we couldn't see the right pattern. But she was wonderfully patient with us and we got the shot.

Model: Della MacPherson

Tattoo Artists:

Libby - Electric Ink, Levin (arm)

Steve - Powerhouse, Palmerston North (back, lower leg, thigh)

Richard - Powerhouse, Palmerston North (stars, skull)

8th Shoot - No longer bound

Sometime you have someone walk in to the studio and, even if they have never had a portrait sitting, they are a natural in front of the camera. Yesterday we had Sharmaine walk quietly into the studio and just blow us away. We have had trouble choosing which images to use for this project, but the top one is by far my favourite. The saying is what is tattooed on her upper arm.

Model: Sharmaine 

Tattoo Artists:

Steel Lotus Tattoo (chest)

Jolene - Sinatra's Custom Tattoos, Wellington (thigh)

Russ - Burnt Toast Tattoo, Timaru (arm, back)

Sitting 8a - 

With most of the shoots our model has brought a friend along for support. In this case we asked Clare if she would like to pose for the project as well.

Model: Clare 

Tattoo Artist: Gil - Tattoo Machine, Wellington

7th Shoot - Baby and me

So when Haley said her arm piece was all about her 8 month baby girl, I said why not have her in the shoot too... and she did. This was one of the easiest sittings we have had, and I think that was because I already had the first pose set in my mind (although the typical things happened when doing naked baby photos, and it wasn't cold in the studio!).

One thing I am enjoying with these sittings is hearing all the stories about the tattoos. I think I will write a separate little blog after sitting #10 just to share my thoughts ;)

Models: Haley Mair and daughter   

Tattoo Artist: Libby Bruhn - Electric Ink, Levin

Tattoo Artist: Various

6th Shoot - Keys, colours and sayings

Amy's portrait sitting was filled with laughter. Although the sitting was planned for just her tattoos, her man came along for support and was coerced to pose for us as well.

We couldn't get both the side tattoo and sternum piece in the same photo, but they are all related, it took 2 images to tell the story. The saying on her ribs says :the time of departure has arrived and we go our separate ways. I to die and you to live, which of these are better, no one knows'.

Model: Amy Lissington

Tattoo Artists: 

Pete - Pete's Tats, Melbourne (chest, ankle)

Tony - Peaches Ink, Wanganui (forearm)

Other Model: Barry

Tattoo Artist: Steve - Powerhouse, Palmerston North

5th Shoot - Dragons and Gunslingers

We are asking people to bring along props for their portrait sitting, something that personifies them. Some choose to not bring anything, but for Donna's shoot we were spoilt for choice. From belly dancing to cowboy hats, and even a gun holster and accessories. In the end we chose the images with the hat as these are the pictures that showed off her wonderful tattoos the most.

Model: Donna Blackley

Tattoo Artists:

Sarge - Butterfly Dragons (flames by Nick - Flaming Art)

Noel - Ink Tattoo Studio (lower back)(flower centre piece by Steve, Powerhouse Tattoos)

Steve - Powerhouse Tattoos (dragon with Tigger)

4th Shoot - children

As a lot of you would know, we are keen followers of Roller Derby and sponsor our local league - Swamp City Roller Rats. This is our first sitting with one of the league members, and was a lot of fun. As Helen has had sittings in our studio previously, there were no visible nerves. Although she has never shown quite so much skin in the photos before :)

Her inner arm tattoo is a drawing that was done by her son. Such a good idea!

Model: Helen Burke      

Tattoo Artist: Steve, Powerhouse Tattoos, Palmerston North

3rd Shoot - Memories

This shoot was a very colourful one. Our model was, as usual, fabulous. A tad nervous to begin with, but took a 2 1/2 hour drive to see us for her sitting. How's that for keen! It only took a few minutes and she was posing as if she had posed many times before.

Her main tattoo is in memory of her grandad, and is a beautiful story. Every one of her tattoos has a story, but I loved the one on her inner arm  as it is so appropriate for this project - 'I am not afraid, I was born to do this'.

Model: Cara Ferguson

Tattoo Artists: 

Pepa Heller - Bohemian Tattoo (main tattoo)

Tim, Tattoo Studio - Wellington (middle back)

Annabel - Wizards of Ink, Melbourne (pony)

Casey Peterson - Specific Ink, Napier (inner arm)

Fred Bayne - Left Hand Path, Christchurch (monkey)

2nd Shoot - first couple

We had 2 tattoo sittings today, but will blog them separately. Or first shoot was a local couple with tattoos. Their tattoos have spanned a number of years, and range from fantasy themes to representing their marriage and children. All of their ink is above the waist, so we didn't see the need to have them totally naked, and their jeans seemed to fit the poses nicely. With two cameras in the studio we are also capturing some lovely candid shots.

Models: Leigh and Adrian Doyle

Tattoo Artists: Dave Stevens, Electric Ink (Leigh), 

Noel, Ink (Adrian), Dennis Eynon, Attick Tats (Adrian)

First Shoot

Well, we have our first tattoo shoot done and dusted. Our model for the day, Maegan, was amazing. It is always a bit awkward doing a portrait sitting in nothing but your skin, but she was great, and very patient as we took our time to get the image 'just right'. Maegan was a little nervous for the first 5 minutes, but totally relaxed by the time we had finished.

The one thing I found so different from the other portrait sittings we do is that we are concentrating on one part of the body more than anything else. Maegan has a NZ fern on her left side. So instead of just putting her in front of the camera and taking a portrait to suit her, we had to work around the tattoo. What a great challenge. And as you can see, we managed to show off her one tattoo quite nicely...

Model: Maegan Legg                    Tattoo Artist: Rob Hapeta, Tattoo Fusion, Levin

In the beginning...

So a few weeks back Rick had a great idea. Why not make a long term project of shooting tattooed Kiwi's. The best way to highlight their ink would be to have no other distractions, so nothing but skin and ink.

I thought it was a great idea but was not too sure how many people we would bet putting their hand up for a totally nude shoot.

I was in for a surprise!

We created an advert to post on FaceBook and some posters for tattoo studios. Both Rick and I agreed that we would be advertising this as a naked shoot, so there were no surprises for anyone. We even put a naked image on the advertising so there was no misunderstanding.

Then we posted the advert on FaceBook....

Over the next 2 1/2 hours solid we were answering queries. The next morning I opened my emails and there were more queries. Then the phone started ringing. After a few days of taking names and details we had to say 'no more (for now)'.

We now have a very long list of names - people that are proud of their tattoos and are happy to pose naked. I am amazed at the diversity of the people on our list. On the advertising we said 'We want tattooed allsorts' and that's what we have got!

Most of the people on our list are booked in for a shoot. We have some who are flying in to Palmerston North specifically for this, others who will be calling in on their next road trip. I think Christchurch may be the furthest away at the moment.

The bookings extend out to the end of August.

We never put the posters in the tattoo studios, there was no need.

Our first portrait sitting is tomorrow. We will post the photographic journey on here with the stories of the tattoos if the model wants to share.

Once we have our images the next step will be an exhibition, and we will be looking for some venues....