My friend Niku Arbabi went in to see our friend Stacey Martin yesterday at Dovetail Tattoo. Niku was getting some work done on a tattoo-in-progress. I stayed for about an hour-and-a-half, just so I could be there to take pictures. I love documenting experiences.

I couldn’t photograph my own tattoo sessions, since I was just too tense. There were little droplets of blood, so pretty on my thigh, but I think the camera was just out of reach and I didn’t want to wiggle.

 If I could do this again, I might bring another lens, the 135mm, which would allow for more of the close-up shots. Maybe I would find a way to position myself differently, but it’s tricky, not wanting to disrupt the very subject matter I’m trying to capture.

Thanks to Niku and Stacey for letting me give it a shot. Stacey’s work is lovely. She’s truly an artist who will work on your concept, turning it into something better than what you expected. Niku’s pretty brilliant, too. She’s the person who got me my first exhibit and that really kicked this whole photography thing into gear.