Tattoos on Lamar: The Editorial Portraits

Over the past few months, I’ve had the dubious pleasure of photographing a couple of tattoo shops here in Dallas, including Tattoos on Lamar and Davis Street Tattoo.

Here is some of my work with the guys from Tattoos on Lamar.

Having worked now with a couple of tattoo shops, I’ve come to realize each shop has a completely different personality, which I believe you can easily see in each of the portraits I’ve created.

Hop on over to my “Editorial Portraits” portfolio to see for yourself.

The Editorial Portraits

Before I get into each of the portraits I created and show you the Before and After shots, here are the full size finished portraits I created.

Trying Different Things

Because this was a test shoot, it gave me the opportunity to play around with some coloring things I’d been wanting to try.

That’s the nice thing about doing test shoots.

Anyway, if you’re at all familiar with my work, you know I love to tweak the colors, giving my portraits a bit of the Photillustrator look.

Most of the time I stick with the basic colors of Orange and Blue, and Yellow and Purple, but today I tried something a little different.

Blue/Green and Reddish, and YES… That’s my technical term for them.

I knew I wanted to try these colors the first time I stepped into Tattoos on Lamar and saw their dark red walls, and tungsten lighting.

I thought it would be perfect for this.

Most photographers in this situation would simply throw a couple of filters on their strobes and call it a day, and of course that’s a great option, but do you think the Photillustrator would do that?

Of course Not, I wanted to see what I could create in Photoshop.

So, I shot like I normally do, flat and unappealing, and set out to create some fun Photillustrator portraits of some very cool tattoo artists.

Before and After

I hate portraits straight out of the camera!!!

I know, I know…

The blood pressures of photography purists all over the country is rising, but there’s something about an unedited digital photograph I’m just not a big fan of.

I think once you see what came out of my camera vs. my finished edit, you’ll understand.

Of all the portraits I did of the guys from Tattoos on Lamar, this one of Josh Hall, the owner, is my favorite.

And it actually made my portfolio cut.

This portrait of Josh tattooing was a first for me, and I look forward to experimenting more with these types of action shots in the Photillustrator style.

Mike is a techi kind of guy, so this portrait fits him very well.

Eli is new to the shop, so he works on his craft any chance he gets.

Just like I did with this series of portraits.

Of all the portraits I did, this is my least favorite, for a variety of reasons, one being that stupid big white window in the shot.

A Success or Failure?

While not all the portraits I created with Tattoos on Lamar met my Photillustrator standard for making it into my portfolio, I do see it as a successful learning experience.

Not only did I get to work with some really cool dudes, but I had the chance to try some things I’d been wanting to do for a while.

As for the portrait with the big window, I’ll likely go back and do it again without the window, because I can’t stand delivering a portrait I’m not proud of.

That said, I LOVE doing Editorial Portraits, and look forward to seeing you soon with a whole new set of amazing portraits.