All the sets from the 2009 Jacksonville Tattoo Convention are up for you to see in the photo gallery under the Tattoo Conventions category.  I've had the pleasure of photographing this show since its first year and once again it was great to shoot. 

The convention was also great time to catch up with some old friends and make some new ones. A big highlight for me was meeting Chuck Helmke and Charlotte Gutenberg, probably the most wonderful people I've met this year.  As amazing as their tattoos are, learning about their business, ISSUS (Individual Security Solutions, US) was fascinating.     

Congrats to all the contest winners (a big 'hell yeah' to Bill Dawson) and it's lways great to spend time with Todd Lake and all the other artists.  I even had the unexpected good fortune to get under the gun of Mark Longnecker for some special artwork that is out of this world.  As a final note, I want to push the buzz on the documentary film Covered: A Social History of Women and Tattoos by Beverly Yuen, Ph.D. I had a great conversation with Beverly and I'm very excited about the film's release (www.snakegirl.net ).