Posts Tagged ‘Equipment’

Most popular tattoo equipment eBay auctions:

Starter Tattoo Kit Machine Guns Inks Grips Needles Power Set Equipment Supplies

US $60.24 (1 Bid) End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 3:33:18 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

Starter Tattoo Kit Machine Guns Inks Grips Needles Power Set Equipment Supplies

US $53.81 (0 Bid) End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 3:38:16 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

new Star tattoo kits complete all tattoo equipment tattoo supply

US $149.40 End Date: Sunday Feb-05-2012 4:00:03 PST Buy It Now for only: US $149.40 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Some recent cheap tattoo equipment auctions on eBay:

Cheap Tattoo Kit and Tattoo Supply tattoo equipment kit

US $159.65 End Date: Tuesday Feb-14-2012 17:51:29 PST Buy It Now for only: US $159.65 Buy it now | Add to watch list

Cheap tattoo kits new 4 tattoo machines all tattoo equipment tattoo supply

US $175.95 End Date: Monday Mar-05-2012 10:04:37 PST Buy It Now for only: US $175.95 Buy it now | Add to watch list

If you’re interested in becoming a tattoo artist and you’ve done any research online about tattooing equipment, then you’ve probably seen a plethora of websites that teach you how to make your own tattoo equipment, such as tattooing guns or special tattooing ink such as white ink. Most of these websites instruct you on how to make the essential tattoo equipment from everyday, common household supplies. Some of the things that these websites tell you to use in order to make tattoo equipment are things like electric toothbrushes, electric guitar strings, or even certain kinds of pens and pencils. A lot of novice tattoo artists end up looking at these do it yourself sites after they look at the prices of real tattoo equipment, especially since many aspiring tattoo artists are young and don’t have a lot of money to put towards tattoo equipment.

 

However, aspiring tattoo artists can stand to learn a big lesson from their first tattooing supply shopping experience; that they should never sacrifice quality for price, and no matter how cheap something is, or if it’s free even, doesn’t even begin to make it a good choice: not for them and not for their customers. If you’re an aspiring tattoo artist, simply flip the tables: would you want someone putting a tattoo on you, which is going to be there forever, using a homemade device like an electric toothbrush instead of the artist using a professional tattooing gun? Before you begin to open up every kitchen drawer or every medicine cabinet in your house to try and construct tattoo equipment, do some more research and find out what some of the repercussions are of doing such a thing, as well as thinking about the fact that you’re sacrificing your name and possibly ruining any chance you have of ever becoming well known as a tattoo artist. No matter how talented you are, nothing will make up for the damage you could do to others by using homemade tattoo equipment. You run the risk of spreading diseases among people, causing infections, and of course, losing the respect and companionship of friends and family, not to mention your reputation, which is one of the most important thing you’ll ever have, and that’s not something you can find in even the best tattoo kits. Do yourself and others a favor and buy professional tattoo kits if you want to get started in the tattooing industry.

Although there have been many improvements to basic tattoo equipment, the major components of tattoo equipment really haven’t changed as far as what’s needed, and surprisingly, there aren’t  many different things needed for tattoo artists to complete their job. For many, they actually only need about a handful of tattoo equipment to complete their job, but every component is important. If you’re someone who wants to consider breaking into the field of the tattoo industry and want to purchase a tattoo kit to learn the basics, you’ll find there are three major components included in a tattoo kit that will give you the essential pieces of tattoo equipment.

 

Of course no tattoo kit would be complete without a tattoo machine. The tattoo machine, also known as the tattoo gun, is probably the most important piece of tattoo equipment. It is shaped slightly like a gun, and is what the artist holds and uses to put ink into the customer’s skin. They hold it and manipulate the piece of tattoo equipment to create precise lines. Most of the modern tattoo guns allow the artist to have greater control over this piece of tattoo equipment than they used to, and they can now control how much penetration is used, creating a better level of accuracy and detail. When you order a tattoo kit, this is the most important thing you’ll receive, and of course as you become experienced, this is something you’ll create preferences about.

]]>

 

Tattoo needles are the next piece of tattoo equipment that’s important, and are also included in most any tattoo kit you buy as a novice tattoo artist. Tattoo needles come in a very large variety of sizes with different technique specialties. They are put into the gun, and then disposed of once the tattoo is done so that diseases aren’t spread. Different needles are used to achieve different effects.

 

The third most important component is ink. Now, ink is better than ever and is available in more variety than ever. Black tattoo ink is probably the most used, and so it’s included in most any tattoo kit bought.

 

There are other components used of course, but these are three main necessities. If you’re looking for a kit, these are the things you’re going to be receiving, and once you get the hang of using them, you’ll be able to grow and develop as an artist.

Find More Tattoo Equipment Articles

A few nice tattoo equipment images I found:

Football: Jets-v-Eagles, Sep 2009 – 08

Image by Ed Yourdon
(more details later, as time permits)

********************

I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that, until last night, I had never been to a professional football game in my life. Baseball, basketball, and tennis: yes, of course. High-school and college football games: sure, though that was a long time ago. Indeed, the last college football game I watched (in person) was in the mid-60s, when I was invited to the annual Harvard-Yale game by a Radcliffe student I had begun dating — a development to which my MIT college roommate reacted, in shock, by howling, "Radcliffe? You’re dating a Cliffie? She must be a pig!" After which he pulled out his flute, every time he thought she might be present when he returned to our off-campus apartment, and played "Old McDonald Had a Farm" until he collapsed in gales of laughter on the stairwell. Highly inaccurate, I hasten to note, and totally unfair. But I digress…

Anyway, a freelance writer, Mitch Ligon (whose photo you can see here in one of my Flickr sets), invited me to accompany him last night to the New York Jets – Philadelphia Eagles game out in the New Jersey Meadowlands — another first-time experience. I was given a photographer’s press pass, which gave me access to the locker rooms, press box, various other "inner sanctum" locations … and, most important, the football field itself. I was given a red jersey to wear, told to stay outside the yellow dashed lines that ring the field, and turned loose for the evening. I felt somewhat inadequate, because I knew that the "real" professional photographers would be equipped with high-cameras and monstrous telephoto lenses beyond anything I had ever touched, or could possibly afford; and even though my Nikon D300 and 70-300mm zoom lens is fairly respectable in amateur circles, I had no idea if I would be able to take any decent photos at all…

The other problem is that I know little or nothing about the nuances of football, beyond the obvious fact that the quarterback either passes the ball, or hands off to someone who attempts to run the ball downfield. Punts and field-goal kicks are also a familiar concept, but if you don’t have a good anticipatory sense of who is about to do what to whom, it’s easy to miss the "moment" when the perfect shot might be available. Also, I didn’t really know anything about the players, aside from the respective star quarterbacks: Philadelphia’s controversial Michael Vick, and New York’s newly-named starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez. I had looked at the team rosters on the Internet before the game, so at least I knew their jersey numbers (#6 for Sanchez, and #7 for Vick, as you’ll see in the photos) — but the "action" was often so far away (at the other end of the field) that I couldn’t tell whether the starting quarterback, or one of the substitutes, was making the plays.

Nevertheless, by the beginning of the second quarter I was feeling a little more comfortable — if only because I found it easy to follow along behind the other professional photographers as they marched (or ran) from one end of the field to the other, in order to get their equipment set up for what they expected would be the next great shot. By the end of the game, I had taken 1,100+ photos, including several of Michael Vick in a post-game locker-room interview; and from the sound of the clickety-click-clack of my fellow photographers, I could tell that many of them had taken several thousand. I’ll spare you the technical details of my feeble attempts to get some decent shots; I had picked up some good tips from the sports-photography chapter of Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography, and I did my best within the limitations of my equipment and my lack of familiarity with the situation.

What impressed me most about the whole experience was the scale of modern professional football — the scale of everything. It’s one thing to read that there are 80,000 people in a football stadium; it’s another thing to actually be there and hear the simultaneous roar of those 80,000 people as a quarterback is sacked or a long pass is completed. It’s one thing to read that a professional football player is 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 350 pounds; it’s another thing to stand next to several dozen such giants. Heck, I thought there were only 20 or 30 such giants on each team; I had no idea that there were 64 of them (a number which will be pared down as the pre-season comes to an end), or that there might be 20-30 different coaches. And then there are the hundreds of "staff members" scurrying around all over the place, carrying out their various duties and assignments; and there are the security guards and State Police, who spent most of the time scanning the stadium crowd rather than watching the players, presumably watching for scuffles or fights or … well, who knows what. There are cheerleaders too, in this case bearing the official name of New York Jets Flight Crew; I had expected half a dozen, but there were two dozen perky, long-haired beauties, with permanently frozen smiles, who who danced and pranced before the crowd at every conceivable opportunity.

All of this has resulted in the photos you’ll see in this album. I had to delete roughly a hundred of my original images, because they were out of focus, or because a referee decided to walk in front of my camera at the wrong moment; and another 900 were "okay," but not terribly exciting. I’m sure that none of them are as crisp, sharp, and well-composed as those taken by the Sports Illustrated photographer and the other professionals on the field; but I did end up with 72 "keepers" that I hope you’ll enjoy…

… and, yes, I probably will attend another football game or two in the years ahead. Whether I’m lucky enough to get down on the field again is anyone’s guess….