As I mentioned in my last post, I went to two music festivals in back to back weekends in the exact same place. Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life were put on by the same company at the Highland Festival Grounds in Lexington, Kentucky. They had two very different lineups but we will get to LTL on Monday, for now we are going to talk about Bourbon & Beyond.

I was working for Sailor Jerry photographing their tattoo activations so I didn’t see much of the music, but there were a few artists I was excited to see. I got to see Blondie and Duran Duran which was really cool. I am not exactly a Killers or Bruno Mars fan but they both put on great shows, and Spoon and the Black Keys are always enjoyable. Unfortunately I missed seeing Buddy Guy and Wayne Newton but they would have been awesome to see. I didn’t photograph any of the music because I was working for SJ and didn’t apply for a press pass, but I did for LTL so I should have some decent band shots for you next week. 

The bands were so eclectic and the crowd was as well. I don’t think I have ever been to a festival with such a differing variety of artists and headliners where you had Brandi Carlile playing after Train with a bluegrass band in between. The festival was themed around drinking more than anything, which is pretty obvious with Bourbon in the name, but there were a ton of booths from different alcohol brands, like my crew over at Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. There was also an element of food and there were a lot of celebrity chefs there including my friend Chris Santos. The SJ booth was on the opposite side of the festival from the food demonstrations so I didn’t catch mutch of that, but there were a ton of Top Chef alums there who I wish I got to photograph cause it’s literally my favorite TV show of all time. 

So I don’t have a huge gallery for you as far as music festivals go, because I was focused on my SJ stuff, but it’s still 100 photos for you to click through. I think there’s some fun stuff in there just because of the wide variety of people who attended. As I mentioned I will be back Monday with the Louder Than Life photos, and I feel like you guys are going to enjoy those. 

Now click here to see all my crowd shots from 2023 Bourbon & Beyond in Lexington, KY.

Part two of my Sturgis trip is going to be a bit shorter of an update. If you didn’t check out Part One, do that first. Part One consisted of the first two days I was working ofr Sailor Jerry at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, while Part Two is just day three. That being said, the last day was my favorite and has some of my best photos from the trip so this should be a good one, even if there are less photos and less of me rambling. Speaking of less rambling, let’s get into it. 

Day two started with a surprise. I was told I was gonna have to work pretty much non stop from 1pm until 9pm so I decided to sleep in. Luckily I didn’t sleep too late because I woke up to a text offering me a helicopter ride. South Dakota seems to be the helicopter tourism capital of the world because everywhere I went I saw helicopter flights being advertised, I just didn’t expect to go up in one. It’s at this point I should mention that at sometime in my 30s I developed a crippling fear of heights. I can’t stand on a railing a few flights up without my palms getting sweaty. But the interesting thing about that is that I am not at all afraid of flying, and I thought maybe the same thing would be true about helicopters. Luckily I was right. It was legitimately an amazing experience and I think I got some cool shots of the Buffalo Chip campgrounds. I would love to do it again with a longer lens, less for the photos and more for just the fun of being in a helicopter. It was just really great even if we were only in the air for about twenty minutes.

After the helicopter ride we went over to an event at Camp Zero at Buffalo Chip. Not sure what the official party was but there was a bunch of mini bikes and drag races and everyone was young and wearing Hawaiian shirts and seemed like they could be from Brooklyn or Austin and less of the hard right senior bikers that seemed to be everywhere. I actually ran into a woman I had photographed in LA many years ago. This was way more my speed. The International Bikini Team girls were back in their Sailor Jerry finest and we took some fun photos as well. It was a blast.

Next on the agenda was the Sailor Jerry tattoo happy hour. The tattoo artist Shaun Kama was hosting a pop up tattoo shop on the Buffalo Chip campgrounds and Sailor Jerry of course had to sponsor it. They also did two events where you could come by and get free Sailor Jerry tattoo flash. I was only in town for one of them, but five people ended up with Sailor Jerry tattoos during the happy hour. I have done so many of these tattoo events with Sailor Jerry and I love doing them because it’s a lot of hanging out with tattoo artists and bullshitting while taking the occasional photo. It’s very low stress and a good time for everyone. 

The happy hour ran late so I actually missed most of the VIP event that Sailor Jerry hosted backstage. I did end up there just in time for the Sailor crew to go up on stage and toss out SJ merch. That was a nightly thing and not the most exciting of photos, but always fun to try and shoot t-shirt cannons. After that Styx and REO Speedwagon played which admittedly aren’t really for me, but the crowd ate it up and I enjoyed the hits. Part of me wanted to stay out late that last night, but I was exhausted after a few days of sleeping in an uncomfortable RV with motorcycles driving by every few minutes so I crashed early and got my only good night sleep of the whole event which made my 13 hour travel day way more chill than I was expecting. 

So that’s it! That’s a wrap on Sturgis. Thanks again to Sailor Jerry having me out. Was really glad to cross that one off my bucket list. I’m also down to just three continental US states that I haven’t traveled to. I got a road trip planned to hit Idaho and Montana and then I will just have North Dakota left. Lastly I should mention, that there a handful of very moderately NSFW photos over here, just because I am still using Flickr to host my galleries and I don’t want to get in trouble with them for posting a bikini model in a thong or whatever nonsense is against their TOS because we live in a country governed by puritans and cowards. Okay, go look at photos now. I gotta get back to enjoying my vacation.

Click here to see all the photos from day three of my Sturgis Buffalo Chip adventure! 

Sailor Jerry is one of my oldest clients and for the first time in the 9 years that I have worked with them they released a drink. The other night as part of a Fleet Week celebration at Lucky Strike they debuted their first flavored rum, Savage Apple. I didn’t actually work the party, but I had to finish a couple of rolls of film so I could get them developed so I figured why not hang out, get a free tattoo and take a few photos in the process. 

Speaking of free tattoos, Three Kings was on hand doing Sailor Jerry tattoos for party goers. I got a little snake from Alex who I have known since way back when Three Kings had their first anniversary party and I shot it for Inked Magazine. It was cool to finally get tattooed from him even if it was late night in a dark bowling alley with tons of free rum on hand.

There was also free SJ rum raisin ice cream from Van Leeuwen ice cream which honestly tasted more like a Cinnabon than it did normal rum raisin ice cream but it was fucking good even if it fucked up my diet. There was free food too which I managed not to eat so I have no real opinion on that, but it was a good party.

Oh right, and there was bowling so this seems like a good opportunity to discuss my hatred for bowling. Given infinite attempts I could not possibly hit a home run off an MLB pitcher, I could not dunk a basketball, I could defend a pro hockey player or run over a NFL linebacker. Yet, I have, on many occasions bowled a strike. Bowling is about consistency and nothing is as boring as being consistent. Even golf requires a varied skill set and some sort of athleticism. Still, after a few Savage Apple drinks it appears people had a lot of fun bowling and who am I to judge?

Okay, that’s it. Go look at these film photos I shot. It’s a mix of the very end of a roll of Fuji Superia 1600 that was shot on a Nikon SLR and most of a roll of Kodak 400 shot on my point & shoot GR1 so it’s a pretty small gallery, but at least it’s something different to look at. I gotta change it up once in a while.

Click here to see all the 35mm photos from the Sailor Jerry Savage Apple Fleet Week party at Lucky Strike. 

Yesterday would have been the 108th birthday of Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins, the legendary tattoo artist who also happens to have a 92 proof spiced rum named after him. To celebrate the occasion Sailor Jerry (the rum) teamed up with Braven Brewing Company to create a new pineapple IPA called Sailors Beware that would pair perfectly with the rum. They also threw a party at the Brewery in Bushwick that I happened to be taking photos at.

The main attraction of the party (aside from the beer of course) was free Sailor Jerry flash tattoos from Bushwick’s own Allied Tattoo. Allied owner Andy Perez and Noel C were doing tiny tattoos all night. There were a limited number of free tattoos but if you wanted one you had to play a game of plinko to decide your tattoo fate. I actually have two of the tattoos that were options already on me, but I think if I had to pick I would have gotten the pineapple. It proved a popular choice. 

The party was a lot of fun and I got to hang out with my new roommate who was one of the last people to get a tattoo. She got a shark which is always a good choice for a tattoo. There was a cake for Sailor Jerry’s birthday and the french fries at Braven are pretty fucking magical so there’s that. 

Oh, I should also mention that this is the first event I have shot with my new Nikon Z6. I don’t know if it’s going to be my main body going forward but that thing sees in the dark and is way lighter than my normal body. My flash was weird on it and I haven’t quite figured out all the settings yet but so far so good. Now I gotta try and shoot some video on it.

Okay, that’s enough of that, but please come back tomorrow. I am announcing a new Kickstarter here in less than 24 hours!

Now click here to see all the photos from Sailor Jerry’s 108th birthday at Braven Brewery. 

It’s time to get to the tattoo part of the 2018 Elm St. Music & Tattoo Fest in Dallas, TX. I covered all the music stuff yesterday, but I took way more photos of the tattooing since that was an all day thing and the bands were only at night. There were at ton of amazing tattoo artists who tattooed pretty much non stop all day for three days, and I say pretty much because I tried to get tattooed on Sunday and everyone I asked had this pause before they answered and I decided maybe it wasn’t the best idea to get tattooed by someone who has done nothing but tattoo and party for three days straight. 

The tattooing all took place at the club Trees. When I shot the Fest in 2013 they had the bands playing there, but this year they had two levels of tattooing. Of all the people tattooing the only one I’ve ever been tattooed by was Keith Underwood, but my buddy Phil LaRocca works at Elm St. and popped in a bunch throughout the weekend. I’ve also been tattooed by Oliver Peck a handful of times, but he was too busy throwing the festival to do any actual tattooing.

Speaking of Oliver, there were a bunch of Ink Master winners at the fest: Steve Tefft, Anthony Michaels, Ryan Ashley Malarkey and DJ Tambe tattooed downstairs with Dave Kruseman upstairs. Not really sure why Kruseman was upstairs but he’s probably the Ink Master I would most want a tattoo from. I actually love the show, mostly because I love listening to Oliver yell at people, but most of the people who go on Ink Master seem to be these art school tattooers that might look great on Instagram but maybe don’t have the training to make a tattoo last for decades. That being said, anyone who wins the thing is a pretty damn good tattooer, I just personally like tattoos that look like tattoos. And while I liked Anthony Michaels on the show, he was never someone who’s tattoos spoke to me, but he did one of my favorite tattoos of the convention. 

One of the big moments of the tattoo convention was the unveiling of the Sailor Jerry & Harley Davidson collaboration. They have six bikes designed by six different artists that you can win (enter here!) that were shown off for the first time on Saturday. They were driven into the parking lot of trees by Oliver, Lucero’s Ben Nichols, Luke Wessmen who designed one of the bikes, Sailor Jerry brand ambassador Anthony Bohlinger, motorcycle journalist Raine Devries and “fastest woman in the world” Leslie Porterfield. The bikes are pretty amazing and I took a million photos of them so you can click through the gallery and check out all the bikes.

Lastly, I uploaded a special gallery of the Sunday night dice game that was played at Heart in Hand art gallery. I was the only person allowed to watch that wasn’t in the actual game. I shot a similar game of cee-lo back in 2013 that raised money for True South, but let’s just say this game had a slightly less noble cause. In cee-lo the second highest roll is three sixes and one of the players rolled sixes pretty early on. No one was able to match him and it looked like he was going to win. Oliver was the second to last player to roll and made a big production out of his roll. Everyone was laughing about the whole thing until he rolled 4-5-6 the highest roll in the game. Everyone lost their minds and one roll later Oliver won the game. 

Okay, I think that’s about it, go check out the below gallery of over 200 photos, plus the bonus dice game gallery and I will be back soon with some new photos!

Click here to see all the tattoo photos from the 2018 Elm Street Music & Tattoo Fest in Dallas, TX.

Daredevil Tattoo celebrated it’s 20th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of legal tattooing in NYC over the weekend. The events started on Friday with two events at Daredevil and then two full days of tattooing with some of the best tattoo artists in the world doing classic flash tattoos and updated versions of the historic flash. It was a really cool event and I got two galleries for you from it!

On Friday things started out with a few hours of $50 Sailor Jerry tattoos with a small break before the opening night party. I didn’t make it out in time for the $50 tattoo part but I did make it down in time for the party. Sailor Jerry was involved all day with brand ambassadors Gravy Thomas & The Paul Monahan both showing up for the madness and bringing plenty of Sailor Jerry rum to the party.

The cool thing about having a party at Daredevil is that it’s not just a tattoo shop but it’s also a tattoo museum. The place is filled with tattoo history and is located just blocks from the birth of modern tattooing. The first electric tattoo machine was patented in NYC and changed tattooing forever. If you wanna learn more about it I guess you could google it, but you should probably just go down to Daredevil and check it out.

Aside from partying with all the legendary tattoo artists the coolest part of the party had to have been the surprise appearance from Golden Lions NYC. I was not expecting three Chinese New Year dragons to roll up into the shop but they did and it was pretty incredible.  After the lions I left to go watch the end of a playoff hockey game that went into overtime but I was up bright and early the next morning for the second part of the tattoo celebration.

After working for Sailor Jerry the night before I got hired by the website Tattoodo to cover the tattoo convention part of the weekend (located a few blocks away from Daredevil at Ludlow Studios). Tattoodo is a massive online tattoo community with almost 2 million followers on Instagram. They sponsored the weekend and it was great working with them. Plus I got to get tattooed while I worked!

I decided to go with some of the historic flash and got a snake wrapped around a dagger tattooed by Nick Colella. Nick and I have been instagram friends for ages and I actually got tattooed at his shop Great Wave in Chicago before they were even open to the public. Nick had never tattooed me though so I figured it was time. Thanks Nick!

After getting tattooed I spent the rest of the day photographing other people getting tattoos by tattoo artists that have waiting lists of months if not years. One of my favorite tattoo artists Grez was tattooing all weekend and it took me 9 months to get an appointment for him to do my arm and and another 6 months to get my chest done. The tattoos were well worth the wait but you gotta love a convention where you only need to wait a few hours.

I didn’t make it back Sunday but I got plenty of shots for you to look at. If you care at all about tattooing or tattoo history you should check out these galleries. I have not one, but two of them! But before I get to that just wanted to congratulate Michelle Myles & Brad Fink on 20 years of Daredevil!

Click here to see all the photos from the opening night party at Daredevil Tattoo!

Click here to see all the photos from the tattoo convention at Ludlow Studios!

Last night I shot a benefit for Best Friends Animal Society at 8 of Swords Tattoo. They had an art auction to raise money for the animal welfare organization. Best Friends runs a no kill sanctuary in Utah as well as helps find people to foster and adopt rescued animals. If nothing else their website is worth checking out for all the adorable photos & videos.

I was promised puppies and tiny cats if I came to the event but sadly I got there late and the puppy was already gone and the kittens were being taken away right as I got there. It was a nightmare. I only took one photo of a one eyed cat kitty which was cute but I am allergic to cats so I didn’t even get to touch it. Tragedy all around.

What was not tragic was that we raised a ton of money of Best Friends and when I say we I am including myself because my photo of Maven (one of the kittens I rescued) ended up selling for $80 which is twice as much as I sell it for on my internets. Pretty much everything in the auction sold and the few things that didn’t were eventually sold via guilt trip to the assembled crowd.

All and all it was a solid night and I met some cool people and got to hang out with some old friends. I should also mention their was free Sailor Jerry rum because they are my favorite client and I want them to hire me for a party at SXSW next week. Just saying…

Now click here to see all the pictures from the Best Friends benefit at 8 of Swords!

Last night Schott NYC and Sailor Jerry launched their second collaboration. The first one was a pea coat to celebrate the 240th anniversary of the US Navy. This time they did a version of the classic Perfecto motorcycle jacket. This is the jacket that James Dean wore, that the Ramones wore, that pretty much every cool person since the 1950’s wore. The Perfecto is legendary. I actually own a vintage knock off that I love but the leather is all dried out and despite a gallon of leather oil I can’t get it soft again.

Fortunately for me I photographed last night’s party and got my hands on one of the greatest jackets in human history. Plus the Sailor Jerry version of the jacket has some pretty good touches like a red satin interior featuring a Sailor Jerry tattoo flash skull and another skull on the shoulder. Oh and did I mention the jacket feels like it’s made out of a tiny baby cow that lived his entire life in a bathtub of moisturizer? It’s unreasonably awesome and at this point I am just trying to make you jealous.

At the release party last night a tattoo artist named Jon Boy was doing tiny Sailor Jerry flash tattoos. Normally at these Sailor Jerry events they do normal sized flash, but Jon Boy is known for his tiny fine line tattoos and so they thought it would be cool to do micro flash which ended up looking real cool. When I saw his work I thought it was a little bit silly given my love for the thick black lines of American Traditional but talking with Jon Boy changed my mind in 2 minutes. This is a guy who knows what he’s doing and clearly gives a fuck about tattooing and unfortunately her ran out of time before I could get a tiny dagger.

Also, one of the first people to get tattooed I knew I had seen before and he told me he had been to a couple Sailor Jerry events I had shot so I figured that was it… but I checked Instagram this morning and realized he was pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini and while I have probably taken his photo before I really recognized him because he was the host of the tragically short lived Top Chef Just Desserts. And if you know anything about me you should know about my love for competition reality shows about food. Funny thing is that my friend Ashley Holt was supposed to come with me and she won Next Great Baker so they could have maybe had some sort of violent pastry fight.

Anyway, check out the photos from the jacket launch and when you see me out in my Perfecto make sure to rub on my aggressively soft and incredibly badass jacket.

Click here to see all the photos from the Schott NYC x Sailor Jerry Classic Perfecto launch party!

Last night I celebrated my 10 years in NYC by heading back to 8 Of Swords Tattoo where I had just got my 10 year tattoo to shoot the opening of “Eleven” an art show tattoo artists Drew Linden and Squire Strahan. I am a huge fan of bartering and it was fantastic timing that the shop needed a photographer on the same day I needed a tattoo. Plus the gallery was filled with tattooed babes all night so it’s not like I needed a reason to be there anyway…

The art was rad, I had fun talking to everyone, I heard an insane story about stalking someone using a popsicle stick puppet and about a half dozen new cute girls follow me on Instagram so the night went pretty well. Plus there was free PBR and Michter’s whiskey so by the end of the night people were in a serious picture taking mood.

Now go check out the work by both artist and maybe get a tattoo from them (Drew is at 8 Of Swords and Squire owns Trilogy Tattoos in Tampa). The work is also going to be up at 8 Of Swords for a while so stop by and check it out and get more tattoos. And now that you’ve done all that go look at the photos.

Click here to see the pics from Drew Linden & Squire Strahan’s Eleven at 8 Of Swords.