Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Getting Inked (Again!)

Last week Kevin and I went back to Fort Wayne, Indiana to visit our family and friends who still live in the area. While we were there, we took advantage of our time in town to visit Donny Manco, owner of New Republic Tattoo, for some new ink.

Donny is the most amazing tattoo artist EVER, and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.  He is great to work with, and his ability to take an abstract idea and turn it into a concrete design it incredible.  Every time we work with him, I'm stunned at how he seems to be able to get into our heads and see what we have in mind and create it for us.

Donny is such a sweetheart, and so laid back, that every time we are in his shop he lets me take photos of him while he works on Kevin.  I posted some photos he let me take of Kevin's last tattoo a while back.  And I'm just now getting around to posting some photos of our most recent visit to see him.

No matter how long I write or how much I say, I could never say enough about how wonderful Donny is and how awesome he is to work with.  So, instead I'll just let the photos tell the story.

Here is Kevin in the tattoo shop, waiting to get started...


Donny, putting Kevin's design in place and making sure it is exactly where he wants it...


Kevin's other tattoos didn't seem to bother him too much, but rib tats are notorious for being painful and I think Kevin would wholeheartedly agree! Here he is as Donny gets started with the outline...


Off and running with the outline...


I really like the heads and eyes of the koi fish in Kevin's tattoo design! I wanted to make sure I got a good photo of Donny working on the details of it, so I bet I took about 50 photos while he was working in this area...


The master hard at work...


It's a toss up for my favorite photo between this one, and the close up two photos down...


Another photo of Donny. He is one dedicated and hard working guy, no doubt about it!


I'm in love with the detail in this photo!...


And another photo of Donny, working...


And the finished design! I debated if I should post this one in color or black and white. I love the colors of the the design, but new tattoos are a little gross looking and the black and white image hid the redness better. Obviously, I ultimately decide to show off the color...


This time I was smart enough to remember to ask Donny to pose for a photo with us once we were all finished, so here is an Instagram photo of the three of us!...


It was great having the opportunity to photograph Kevin getting his tattoo! I doubt there is much of a market for tattoo photographers, but it is one event that I think I would really get a kick out of photographing on a regular basis. So, once again, I'm sending out a HUGE thank you to Donny Manco for his kindness and patience with my camera going off in his face for hours on end while he worked on Kevin's tattoo.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

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