The second month in this series wraps up with an intimate photo from the 1st International Hong Kong China Tattoo Convention, where See-ming Lee shot self-titled “Men of Patience” on Oct. 6, 2013. “Most of the photographs I have taken from this day was made possible mostly because of the excellent low-light high ISO performance of the [Canon EOS] 6D”, he explains, “combined with the super 100-400mm [lens] which allows me to photograph people from afar without alerting their attention”. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 4000, 1/320 sec, 260mm.
There are different philosophies of photography. Some shooters like to get in close to their subjects, interacting with them. Others like to keep the distance, which is a good approach for an event like this one.
“This image captures the spirit of the event best”, See-ming says, because “unlike many conventions which have sales people talking non-stop, this convention is mostly silent, with men (and women) lying down patiently waiting for skilled tattooist to needle ink onto their skin while the artists patiently wait for the work to proceed while layers of skin heals over the entirety of the day”.
Right, the last thing any tattoo artist needs is someone with a camera causing distractions. See-ming used his gear wisely. A Hong Kong native, he specializes in user experience design and photography applied to marketing strategies. He joined Flickr in February 2006.
Photo Credit: See-ming Lee