2008 tattoo expo

this past saturday and sunday, my brother, mania and i took a detour from normal living to visit the tattoo expo at the los angeles convention center.  i had been wanting to go to this exp since i got my first tattoo several years ago, but since it was always at the pomona fairgrounds, i never got the chance to make the trip. 

this was the first year that the expo was held in LA.  and from the glamorous sign, i'm sure you can tell it was a high class event.

it was actually a lot smaller that i had imagined, but the floor was filled with booths from dozens of well known and less famous parlors around the LA area.

vendors, artists, piercers and many more lined the rows of exhibits.  i snapped this shot of tattoo machines from one of the many vendors selling tattoo equipment.

i was surprised to see an obey tattoo.

but this black and gray of mary was the best tattoo that i saw at the convention.  this guy was taking part in one of the many tattoo contests.  i wonder if he won.

black wave tattoo was using the more traditional method of inking.

can you guess what i got?

i'll post more about the expo later on with pictures of my new tattoo.