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Two Years Old | Chester County Child Photographer

November 7, 2011

I love when my clients turn into lifelong clients and friends. Such is the case with this awesome family – I photographed X Boy as a tiny newborn baby and many more times over his short life, too! We did this session on the occasion of X Boy’s second birthday. It was cold, okay, it was freezing. X Boy was a trooper, although he did not want to look at me until I produced an apple for him!

Lovin’ his apple!

And, seriously? I could not love this photo more. What mother would not want a photo of themselves with their baby like this?!

How cute is he?!

K Family, you guys are the best clients a photographer could hope for! I hope you love these photos as much as I love working for you!

Tags: best child photographer in Philadelphia, best family photographer in Philadelphia, main line family photographer, main line family photography, philadelphia family photographer, philadelphia family photography, philadelphia tattoo, tattoo photographer, tattooed parent photographer, tattooed parents
Posted in child, children, family, kids, tattoo photographer, tattooed parents | 8 Comments »

Shawn Dubin | Featured Philadelphia Tattoo Artist

May 4, 2011

On an overcast Monday, I had the pleasure of having a coffee, a croissant and a nice conversation with May’s featured tattoo artist, Shawn Dubin, of Moo Tattoo on South Street. Shawn was “introduced” to me (I put it in quotes because it was via internet. I thought of all kinds of corny words like “inter-met” that betrayed my geekiness but figured quotation marks would do) by a wonderful artist and mutual friend of ours, aaronwexler.com. Shawn and Aaron grew up together, doing artwork and having fun with a group of friends in the Overbrook Park area of the city. Aaron would say later that Shawn was the most naturally skilled, artistically. Shawn attended the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts in Philadelphia. He was accepted to a bunch of art schools, including SVA, which was his first choice. Alas, his parents vetoed that and Shawn headed to University of the Arts. Bored with the Fundamentals work of the first year, as he had been doing the same coursework for the previous two years in high school, Shawn ended his studies at UArts after a few months. He worked at Tower Records on South Street, and a friend began to teach him to tattoo. When the friend needed to replace a tattoo artist at his shop who’d been fired, Shawn was his first call and the rest, as they say, is history.

Shawn started out doing letters and Chinese characters. As he already understood the fundamentals of art, it did not take long before he was working on what he enjoys most today: illustrative tattoos. Shawn says that he doesn’t prefer working in either color or black and gray better, but that he does prefer to do the illustrative work. He enjoys doing the line work, figuring out where shading and lines can go to make the eye sees what it needs to see without muddying up the tattoo with too many teeny lines or superfluous stuff. When you look at his tattoos, you can pick them out as his. They have a whimsical quality, even though they might be dark (in subject matter, not tone). There’s something very unique about the designs, the linework and the subjects. I love the skeleton mom and dad dancing on their suburban street in front of the nuclear explosion, but not more than the heart hive and the pink haired girl. I’ve spent more than a few hours admiring his tattoos.

For the tattoos that Shawn wears himself, when I asked him if there was any overriding theme to them, he said that they all corresponded to important events in his life. He has a tattoo that he got when he finished a book he was illustrating, for example, and a tattoo for his mother that he got when she passed away.

Shawn isn’t just a tattoo artist, though. He was on a site called artconspiracy.com, before the days of DeviantArt.com and from there, hooked up with a few authors, for whom he’s illustrated books. All he had to hear was the author’s idea – “It’s a devil girl and a skeleton boy, and they’re both in high school” and he knew that was a project he would do. He’s also written and illustrated books of his own. Shawn’s an avid comic guy, too. When I confessed my recent foray into the world of teenager books, instead of laughing at me, he admitted to reading comic books. He’s currently got one in the works, too. He’s done the illustrations, and the writing has been a collaboration. I’d keep my eye out for it if I were you – this guy is really a masterful artist, and I’m sure that the comic will not disappoint. Check out some of his other comic style work at notgreencheese.com

Shawn has a soft voice and a kind way about him. I bet that the minute you sit down to meet him and talk about the artwork you want, he puts you immediately at ease. He has a quick laugh, a wry smile and a witty sense of humor but not at anyone else’s expense. He is easy to talk to, and you get the sense that you are in the presence of someone who is happy in his own skin.

If you are looking for a unique, illustrative tattoo, Shawn Dubin of Moo Tattoo is your guy. Moo is at 513 South Street in Philadelphia and their phone number is (215) 521-1490. Some examples of Shawn’s work are shown below. Don’t forget to check out his website too at www.shawndubin.com.

Tags: chester county, delaware, editorial photography, main line, philadelphia, portrait photographer, tattoo artist, tattoo photographer, wilmington
Posted in artist project, blog project, tattoo artist interview, tattoo artists, tattoo photographer, tattoos | 20 Comments »

Lots of Laughs | Philadelphia Tattooed Maternity Photography

April 21, 2011

How could you not love these two? In addition to being incredibly cool and sweet (a rare combination, don’t you think?!), they are also hilarious. Daddy to be had us all cracking up at his silly antics – In fact, when I asked Mama to be to think of a time that she laughed so hard she couldn’t breathe from him, she couldn’t narrow one down, because it happens all the time. I can’t say I was surprised.

They are sweet and wonderful and I know that they will make the most amazing parents. I can’t wait to meet their little one soon. Since I don’t know whether I’m charged with confidential knowledge or not, I’ll just say that you are going to LOVE their baby to be’s name. I know I do.

And, as is almost always the case, I was in love with every photo from this session. Here are just a few of my favorites. They’re a gorgeous couple, right?

Tags: chester county, delaware county, main line, maternity photography, philadelphia
Posted in maternity, maternity photographer, pregnancy photographer, tattoo photographer, tattooed parents, tattoos, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Benji Harris – Featured Tattoo Artist | Philadelphia Tattoo Photographer

October 7, 2010

Benji Harris is an open book. That’s what he told me, anyway. And, I believe him. Because he was a really kind, genuine guy, and he has these intense and very honest looking eyes. I found Ben’s work when I was searching for Philly tattoos on google. I loved the two I found that were his (see below), so I sent him a friend request on Facebook. What’s funny is, I don’t think he even knew that he’d been featured in the piece where I found him. But I bet that wouldn’t surprise the people who know him best. I get the distinct impression that Ben is a nice, funny guy who hasn’t been at this for a huge amount of time and because of that is seemingly unaware of how much talent he has. This guy is one to watch.

I headed out to meet him at Sink The Ink Tattoo in Willow Grove on a sort of chilly Sunday morning. He was getting ready for his first tattoo of the day, and sat down with me to answer some questions. Most of Sink The Ink, including Ben, was probably exhausted on that particular Sunday. That Friday evening, starting at 5pm, they did a fundraiser to raise money for the Fox Chase Cancer Center, wherein they did approximately 40 tattoos that night. All of the proceeds were donated to the Fox Chase Cancer Center, and they raised $3k.

Jamie: So, I love those Philly tattoos you did. Are you a Philly guy?
Ben: Kind of, I’m from New Jersey. But we really consider Philly ours.

Jamie: How long have you been tattooing?
Ben: I started my apprenticeship at Sink The Ink in 2008. I had been a video game animator, that’s what I went to school for.
Jamie (thinking about how her brothers might have wept to hear this was an actual possible career as children): Oooooh, was that cool?
Ben: Uh, no. It sucked very much.
Jamie: No! Why?
Ben: I didn’t realize that it took like, 200 people to draw a video game. I thought that it’d be awesome, I’d be drawing monsters and stuff. In reality, I made the shadows under things for an entire year. The following year, I made grass and bushes. It was soul sucking. So, I came here and everyone here really taught me. It’s a great place to work.

Jamie: So, what would you say your style is like?
Ben: I would say that my work has a traditional foundation. I like outlines and black shading. But traditional coloring is flatter than I work, I like to do more sculpting with color. And, my style is really still evolving.Jamie: What inspires you?

Ben: I am really inspired by nature – it’s way more inventive than humans because it’s had so long to think stuff up. I’m also inspired by chaos, too, like the way the water in a cup of water spills.

Jamie: What kind of tattoos do you enjoy doing most?
Ben: I like to do animal and nature stuff. I also love to do stuff that’s funny. Anything where I am chuckling to myself while I am working, like the Delaware River catfish that I did and the memorial tattoo a friend of mine got for his friend’s right testicle.
Jamie: Care to elaborate on that one?
Ben: A friend of a friend lost a testicle to cancer, the right one. So his buddy got a “RIP Righty” tattoo for it. I have on my arm an octopus holding a fork. I like that kind of funny stuff.

Jamie: What’s the strangest request you’ve gotten?
Ben: Well, I had this appointment that someone threw at me {meaning it was theirs and they passed it off to him}, so I should have known. This woman came in with a battle ax, and below it was a yin yang that had a rainbow in one half. She had had it done in a drug dealer’s house, but then the drug dealer got up and had to deliver his drugs partway through the tattoo, the lines were wavy, and it was not a very lovely piece of artwork. She wanted it covered up. Okay, I can do that. Only, she wanted it covered up with the same tattoo, just done correctly.

Jamie: Is there anything you won’t do?
Ben: Swastikas. I don’t love tribal, but I’ll do it.

Jamie: What’s the first piece you had done on you?
Ben: It was graffiti style, orange, and swirly. It’s covered up now, but the forktopus.

Jamie: What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
Ben: Hang out with my people and my girl. Play video games.
Jamie: Oh, good. I’m glad to see that bad animating experience hasn’t hurt your enjoyment of video games.
Ben: Yeah, I’m not scarred at all.

Tags: philadelphia, tattoo artist
Posted in blog project, tattoo artist interview, tattoo artists, tattoo photographer, tattoos | 18 Comments »

Perfect | Delaware Maternity and Tattoo Photographer

August 15, 2010

You would not believe how perfect this mama to be’s skin was. I could not believe that she made it through this much of her pregnancy with not a single stretch mark, but she did. Her belly is perfect. She attributes it to faithful lotion application, but I think it’s gotta be good genes. Either way, that perfect belly was attached to the lovely Jess, who is also attached to the equally lovely Kevin. (Although I couldn’t remember his name was Kevin at first. Embarrassing. I stink at names.) Even after I showed up at her mom’s house and the session was subsequently moved there, Jess and Kevin were sweet and funny, and you could see how much fun they have together. This little baby on the way is one lucky girl to have such loving parents! Thanks, guys, for being so gracious about me calling Kevin “you” that time and for, uh, not coming to your house. I can’t wait to meet your little one and hope she is on the way soon!
I had to use some restraint and not post all of the pictures from their session – I had so many favorites!