Graeme

pretty nice looking tattoo,I like it a lot.and you look great !  wait til you get to my age !(56) my skin is loose and getting wrinkly,but I am still getting tattooed and actually I am wearing more tank tops than I EVER have ! I am having more fun with my tattooes than I ever have as well.my wife and myself might be old,but we are fucking cool old people ! LOL 

@HettyKet, who did that incredibly rad stomach tattoo! Love it!!! 
@polliwog from my experience, every spot that was a bad spot suddenly disappeared once i tattooed over it. It's really strange because i definitely did not start getting tattooed with the idea that I would take control over my body image or whatever.  I definitely had this horrible feeling like what the hell was i doing to myself, why wasn't i more mature, how dare I mess up what little beauty has been given to me, blah blah blah - i mean I went through every part of self-recrimination there was (those thoughts are only a little part of it!). 
In any event, what happened was that though I was terribly nervous about finally getting tattooed, and thought every person in the world would judge me as an uggo trying to be pretty (i do NOT think like this now but I'm just saying I had a really fucked up point of view over a decade ago!!!) (my parents were super judgmental of other people which is why I thought everyone thought that way!! also told my sister and i to lose weight constantly - seriously, if you're parents please be kind to your daughters when they are 10 and under (and over)) - once I started getting tattooed regularly all of that stuff just fell away. (tattoo = jedi mind trick?) (also we are talking about a time period that spans two decades soooo)
TL;DR - there are no bad spots once you get them tattooed.  

Here's the thing about pictures of tattoos on the internet: that may or may not be what the tattoo actually looks like.  Maybe it looks like that.  Maybe it's been adjusted in Photoshop or with some kind of filter.  This isn't unheard of.  For me, I'd rather see tattoos in real life, preferably settled in for a number of years before I determine who makes really bright tattoos or not.

Here's the thing about pictures of tattoos on the internet: that may or may not be what the tattoo actually looks like.  Maybe it looks like that.  Maybe it's been adjusted in Photoshop or with some kind of filter.  This isn't unheard of.  For me, I'd rather see tattoos in real life, preferably settled in for a number of years before I determine who makes really bright tattoos or not.

sometimes we forget that getting tattooed involves a little leap of faith in the outcome
a little bit of balls if you will
shit can happen
even with great tattooers
lines can blowout
some ink might dropout
you could scab and scar
fall off your skateboard
get bit by a dog
struck by lightening
so in the end - you do your research
get your tattoo
and move on with your life
time, skin, cash permitting
you do that shit again and again 

If I can offer some more advice, depending on how often you're planning on working on your back, invest in a good pair of boots or shoes before you start, because you might find money getting pretty tight at some point during the process and things like replacing worn out shoes or clothes become far less of a priority.

@Tiresius so who'd you book in with
i enjoyed checking out the work being done by those tattooers you identified in your original post
i say if you want to get some funky watercolor design then get it
dont worry about 20 years, 10 years - listen - you're only promised today - so go get your tattoo and enjoy it - who knows where your tattoo journey will take you - you may end up becoming attracted to a variety of styles and designs - who knows
good luck - keep us posted
now go get tattooed! 

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

I can't comment on inks etc. because I'm not a tattooer.  But, regardless of whether modern inks are more colorfast than old ones or whatever, skin is still skin.  The matrix of tissue that holds ink particles in place doesn't stay static forever.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/07/the-real-reason-tattoos-are-permanent/374825/

http://www.epicthings.com/tattoos-heal-before-after/
thanks Bill Loika

Some of the visual impact of that tattoo has to do just with knowledge of color theory, i.e. putting complementary colors, like orange and turquoise, next to each other.  But yes, that's a fresh tattoo.  A lot of styles that are popular on the Internet right now (like virtually everything featured on Buzzfeed) really depend upon the tattoos being fresh in the photographs.  We don't know what that tattoo will look like in 10 years; certainly the colors will be much more muted, and some might fade faster than others.  If you look at an actual bound portfolio in a shop, look for healed examples of an artist's work.  I've gone back to local shops a couple times now so that the tattooer can take a photograph of a tattoo that I've healed. The livedinttattoos Instagram account is also great in terms of giving you an idea of the variety of ways a tattoo might age. I do sympathize with anyone who feels like they don't have access to a lot of healed examples of good tattoos in person because virtually nobody I hang out with regularly is interested in tattoos.  Another good option might be to go to a convention; you'll certainly see all kinds of lived-in tattoos there...

That's definitely fresh. And it is definitely not going to look that way when it heals.

theyre just warning you to be aware that some photos online are fresh vs healed...
 
 

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

Just read this thread:
http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/t/2288-what-makes-a-good-tattoo/
 
A lot of the tattoos you linked to don't seem to be well-structured I wouldn't count on them holding up in the long run anyway.

Here's the thing about pictures of tattoos on the internet: that may or may not be what the tattoo actually looks like.  Maybe it looks like that.  Maybe it's been adjusted in Photoshop or with some kind of filter.  This isn't unheard of.  For me, I'd rather see tattoos in real life, preferably settled in for a number of years before I determine who makes really bright tattoos or not.

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

Just read this thread:
http://www.lastsparrowtattoo.com/forum/t/2288-what-makes-a-good-tattoo/
 
A lot of the tattoos you linked to don't seem to be well-structured I wouldn't count on them holding up in the long run anyway.

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

It's not really nudity if it's fully tattooed.
 
Which is my excuse for dropping trou in public places to show people my back.

I wouldn't worry about offending anyone here. Most of us have posted uncensored photos of our tattooed butts.