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