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See Kennedi as she learns to walk. We captured this segment of her walking in the living room one night. Now that she’s walking, there’s no stopping her.

After alot of anticipation my day had come. I walked in to Lucky Devil Tattoo and Ron had the koi designs ready, along with the peonies and cherry blossoms. After placing the stencils on my leg, he freehanded the splashing waves to make the water flow organically and connect one koi to the other. And then…he began. For the next two and a half hours I went through many stages of pain. But in the end, it turned out to be remarkable.My next session will be sometime in October and will include shading and maybe some color. Below are a few photos from several angles, however, the real thing is much better.
(Session Time: ~3hours)

A Little History

To give a little history about myself and tattoos I will start back when I was about 16. In fact maybe before I was 16. I can’t place a date, year or time, but since I was younger I have been facinated by tattoos. I have always stared at them and wondered about their significance.

I remember once when I was maybe around 12 I asked my Poppy why he didn’t have any tattoos (seeing as he spent time in the Navy as a young man). He told me he had no use for them and didn’t want to become a human billboard. And although I take his wisdom to heart as much as possible, that piece of advice didn’t have much of an affect on me.

Fast forward to when I was 18. Ah…18…a magic age where your life instantly changes and you wake-up an adult (yeah, right). It was around this time that I realized I would be getting tattooed soon. Just as soon as I figured out what to get. Six months later I took a trip to Denver to visit my friend Michael. And among the many activities we took part in, getting some ink was just one of them. It was at this point I became hooked. Within the next year and a half I aquired two more.

In 1998 my life forever changed…and I became a father. And in mid-1999 another life-altering event, I became a husband. My desire for more ink was obviously pushed to the back burner for much more important and meaningful reasons.

Fast Forward To The Present

For a year (or more) now, Juli and I have had the idea of getting tattoos as anniversay gifts for one another. So this year I was determined. Sometime around my birthday I started researching more about tattoos, designs, concepts, imagery, colors, styles, artists, etc… About a week later I went to Lucky Devil Tattoo and talked with Ron Dolecek about my concept. Two days later I had an appointment setup.

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Watch Mikayla knock the cover off the ball. This was her last game of the season. Juli cheers her on as she races down to First.

Last Saturday Juli and I ended up in jail. It happened around 10am. Fortunately we didn’t have the kids with us as we set out that morning.

We were driving downtown…and to make a long story short (and without going into any detail), we ended up at the Sedgwick County Detention Facitlity. There, we were escorted to Booking by a Sedgwick County Sheriff. As we entered, there was a fine funk in the air. There we encountered men and women of all kinds packed within the holding cells. Each one’s eyes staring out at us. After leaving the “mug-shot area” we headed towards our destination on the second floor.

Oh, did I mention we were on a group tour of the jail?

Juli’s professor at Newman University (Major Danny Bardezbain) works during the day as Sheriff of the Sedgwick County Detention Facility. He was gracious enough to give us (and several other students in the class) a personal tour of prison life. And let me say, in prison, you have no life. All freedoms are completely stripped away.

We walked through several “pods” (or areas of grouped prisoners). Prisoners spend just about every hour of the day within a dormatory type setting (unless they go to group activities like obtaining a GED, church, AA, Anger Mangement, etc…). Some pods have open beds, with bunks lined up next to each other. Other pods confine prisoners into their own cell with a common area to sit, watch tv and play cards.

Amidst all the prisoners in each pod sat a single, alert, Sheriff’s Officer…with cameras on him/her at all times. From this center console this officer controled everything. TV, lights, cell doors, and telephones. Need more toilet paper? You’d better ask first. Need to use the phone? Better ask first. In other words, prisoners had better ask the guard for permission to do anything.

The last place we visited while touring the prison was Master Control. Yes, the name says it all. This 4-person podular room controled everything including lights, elevators, intercoms, sliding doors, cameras, etc… Oh, and to add even more power to their status, they have the power to control any guard’s pod station within the prison…at any time. Basically, these 4 Master Controllers are the gods of the entire prison…so don’t even think of escaping.

After seeing only a portion of the prison that took up two city blocks, we were released 4 hours later. Those 4 hours enlightened our minds against a life of crime. Personally, I enjoy my freedom.

Amidst the bugs, food, relaxation and family, I managed to squeeze in a few photos along the way. We spent alot of time at the zoo, at bar-b-ques and driving. Take a look at the new albums documenting our 4-day weekend. I particularly enjoyed experimenting with the long exposure night shots of the fireworks and using the macro lens to show the wonders of nature. Enjoy!