How to Photography Tattoos: Model Tattoo Photography

Posted on 28 December 2011 by Sean Farmer

In my last post I covered the most common type of tattoo photography, Macro Tattoo Photography, which is used to display individual tattoos. While Macro is typically the best for displaying new or interesting tattoos, Model Tattoo Photography is the most memorable type of tattoo photography. Model Tattoo photography is the concept of focusing on not a single tattoo or a model, but rather the painting that a model’s tattoos create on there skin. A common example of this type of photography is that of modern pin-up models.

Model Tattoo Photography is not complicated, but many photographers fail to approach it the right way. As I previously stated, this type of photography focuses on the composition formed by multiple tattoos on a model, rather than the model or an individual tattoo, which is the way many photographers tend to approach this type of photography. Setting up and shooting Model Tattoo Photography can be easy if you keep a few things in mind.

1) Find your pictorial focus. This is different than your focal or any other point. Your pictorial focus is the part of the image you want to emphasize the most. When talking about model tattoo photography, this is usually the central tattoo. For example if your shooting a models back, you should find a good central tattoo to maintain as your primary focus. If your model only has a single back tattoo, use the most interesting part of the tattoo as your focus. The pictorial focus is key for keeping the composition of your photography.

Image by Suicide Girls

2) Pose around the tattoos. While in most posed photography you want to pose the model in a complimentary position to their own body, in model tattoo photography you want to position your model’s body to accentuate their tattoos. This is accomplished by using your pictorial focus and facing that so that it faces the camera in a non distorted manner, and framing the rest around it. For example if your shooting a model’s back you can have the model either lean their shoulders and body forward to stretch out the skin on their back to show off a series or a primary horizontal tattoo, or have them raise their hands into the air to accent a more vertical tattoo.

Image by Tattoo Lover.

3) Properly light your model and tattoos. Lighting a model tattoo photograph is different than lighting a model or even a macro tattoo photo. When you light a model tattoo photograph you need to keep your primary focus on the tattoos rather than the model. This can be done with a simple three point set up, utilizing only a key, soft, and back light. By using the key light to highlight the tattoos and the soft light to reduce the harshness on the shadows of the tattoos and to add a slight light on your model, you can create a stronger emphasis on the tattoos without eliminating the model.

Image by Suicide Girls

4) Moderate to high contrast with moderate sharpness. Unlike macro tattoo photography, you do not want to jack up the contrast and sharpness when shooting model tattoo photography. This is because you need to keep in mind rather than a small section of skin, you are now dealing with an entire person. You will want to adjust the sharpness and contrast to higher settings to really accentuate the different tattoos, but you need to keep from making your model look unrealistic or unattractive.

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How to Photography Tattoos: Macro Tattoo Photography

Posted on 26 December 2011 by Sean Farmer

Tattoos have moved from a taboo rebellious statement of yesteryear into a mainstream phenomenon in modern society. With this transition from taboo to mainstream there has been a massive change in the way tattoos are perceived, one such change has come in the way tattoos are shown. Everybody wants to show off a new tattoo, and many shops like to keep records of previous tattoos to show off past work to potential clients. One of the best ways to do this is through tattoo photography.

Tattoo photography is separated into two broad categories: Macro Tattoo Photography and Model Tattoo Photography.

Because the way each of these types of tattoo photography is done I will cover it in two separate sections dealing with each different type, Macro and Model. In this section, we’ll cover Macro Tattoo Photography.
Macro tattoo photography is a photography type dealing strictly with an individual tattoo’s artwork rather than the over all composition that multiple tattoos create on a model. This is the most common type of tattoo photography, because it shows off a person’s individual piece, making it perfect to show off new tattoo work for both a tattoo shop and the tattooed. Shooting macro tattoo photography is fairly easy but requires a few steps to execute perfectly.

1) Face the tattoo towards the camera the way it’s meant to be shown. This is the most important step in setting up a macro tattoo shot. Many people will want to strike a pose that looks “cool” when shooting the tattoo, but since this type of tattoo photography focuses on one work in particular, if it’s viewed any other way than the way it’s meant to be than you risk distorting the image, making it unrecognizable. This is especially true of upper arm and leg tattoos.

Image by Michael Tatoo

2) Isolate the tattoo as best as possible. You want to try to remove any unnecessary distractions from the images. For example if you are trying to shoot a calf or ankle tattoo, you want to make sure that you zoom in enough to remove any dead space around the leg, but you want to leave enough space so that the tattoo’s location can still be identified. Also you want to make sure that you don’t accidentally catch the other leg in the shot, unless it has had some work done as well.

Image by St3ve

3) Light the tattoo properly. This cannot be emphasized enough throughout photography, but when your dealing with tattoos it’s an even more important concept. Human skin is naturally oily, and when shooting macro tattoo photography you are emphasizing a section of skin, meaning that if you fail to set up a proper lighting system the tattoo might appear either overly reflective or way to dull. A good light set up for a tattoo is a simply three point light system, with a key, soft, and back light.

4) Tattoos look better with higher contrast and sharpness. This is for the most part a completely factual statement. When you increase the contrast of a tattoo you help bring out the colors of the tattoo and make them define themselves as real colors, rather than tinted skin. Increasing the sharpness will make the line art of the tattoos stand out more and create a surreal look to the tattoo, while keeping the artistic appearance.

Image by Tattoo Lover.

One main thing to keep in mind when doing macro tattoo photography is that how you shoot a new, freshly inked tattoo is fairly different than how you will shoot an older tattoo. A new tattoo will maintain a wet, sometimes bloody look, while and old tattoo will blend in with the skin more. Depending on which you shoot, you may need to adjust the lighting and the amount of contrast and sharpness of the image. Also you should always make sure you clean a new tattoo well before shooting it.

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