More Tattoos (NSFW)

Last week I had the opportunity to take photos of another friends' tattoo - a really exquisite cherry blossom. From a technical point of view, I still have some work to do on lighting - although there is only so much you can do with a couple of flashguns. The black backdrop works well with pale skin, while the washed out backdrop gives a good high-key effect. I was particularly pleased with a couple of the photos - the lighting was just about right and the poses were excellent (considering this was her first time doing anything like this, the poses were elegant and natural-looking). Contains some mild nudity....
Read More

Tattoos, part 1

Next up in the backlog we have some tattoos - a friend of ours is getting quite a substantial one done and wanted some shots of it in development as well as when it's done. I know they're not to everyone's taste, but when they're creative and done well (as they are here) they can be really interesting. Unusually, this is being done in the pointillism style, by an artist in Bath. Part 2 will obviously come when it's completed - actually, it has been finished but needs to settle down a bit before we do the photos....
Read More

Getting creative

A bit of experimentation following a chat with a friend - try and photograph water drops. Pretty easy to do - poke a small hole in the lid of a plastic bottle and an even smaller one in the bottom of it - that provides the drips. Gaffer tape it to a tripod that's sat over a bowl of water. A single flash off to the side works pretty well, and then a bit of colour from some card/paper under and behind the bowl. It worked pretty well, but looked a little bland. The stroke of genius was adding orange squash into the water! Another way to do it is apparently to drip milk into ordinary water. Setting it all up is pretty easy - the hard bits are first of all focusing correctly and then getting the timing right. But, once you work out the timing, you can get really good results......
Read More