Erik is a nice young fellow that I
met at the Back to the Banks contest. After having some trouble with
my camera setup previous to the contest I saw him shooting photo's, and
asked him if he would help me out and send his photo's to me to use in
our coverage for Back to the Banks, he obliged and the rest is
history. Since then talking with Erik has been nice, like I said, he's
a nice kid. Here is the brain behind the camera, and skateboardrev's
new friend, and your soon to be favorite photographer, Erik Roman.
Cheers.
SR-Alright, lets get some vitals. Name and DOB: Erik-Erik Roman, 08/14/90
SR-Hometown: Erik-Flushing, NY
SR-Current location Erik-West haven, CT.
SR-What are you doing in CT ?: Erik-I’m in college. Started studying graphic design at University of New Haven
-The hustle and bustle of the city
SR-Very nice, college is important. What is your setup like for shooting photo's?: Erik-Well i use a Nikon d200, Nikon
sb-600 strobe light if i need to fill in, Nikon 18-70mm , Nikon
55-200mm , Nikon 50mm f/1.8. Im all Nikon I don’t like to mix and
match. That’s the most important stuff.
SR-No one wants to mix and match, if
you find what you like you have to keep with it. How far did all of
your gear set you back? Erik-Uhm, the camera was really the
most expensive. I can’t get my hands on real expensive glass (lenses).
The camera was $1200, the flash was about $200, 55-200mm was $250,
18-70mm was $200 , 50mm was 100 bucks. Plus all the other small stuff
like tripods, monopods, filters, comes out to another 200 maybe. When it comes to photography its hard
to stay on budget. I really try my best to stay inexpensive. I barely
even scrape the surface of what the real pros have, sometimes I even make my own inventions to save on the outrageous price some companies expect you to pay.
-A little of the DC shoes demo
SR-What got you into photography in
the first place, and what kept/keeps you stoked on it enough to drop
all the cash that it takes to stay in the game and keep things legit? Erik-Photography has always been
something I wanted to do as a kid. The only set back was that I never
had the money. I always enjoyed playing with my parents stupid point
and shoot cameras but there’s a point when you realize there has to be
something more then that. I'd get so upset that my pictures always came
out blurry because I had no control over what really creates the
picture. I think what keeps me going is that the more I take pictures,
the more I can remember. The coolest thing about pictures is that once
you have them, you’ll always remember the story that went along with
it. Years after you took it you’ll always be reminded of why it was
you took that picture, who it was for, and who was there. I like
peoples reactions when they see my work, whether or not they like it,
it shows that there is something to think about in what I do, and the
more pictures I take the more people will think.
-Looking down times square.
SR-That's a really good outlook on it all. What got you into shooting skate photos? Erik-Well I”ve always been into
action photography. I think it came back from just viewing the
magazines, way back in the day even before i started shooting. I love
looking at skateboard and snowboarding magazines, I like seeing other
peoples work having to do with skateboarding and snowboarding even
online websites like flickr, I just type skateboard or snowboard it’s
kinda simple but its been something I’ve always wanted to do and now
that i have all the equipment why not do what I’ve always wanted to?
SR-That's perfect! After seeing some
of your work, you have a great eye, where do you get your motivation
for some of the shots you take. One picture comes to my mind, it was
from the Back to the Banks contest, the young skater in the foreground
in focus and the actual trick in the back slightly out of focus. Was
this just good timing, or was it a planned shot? Erik-Definitely planned. The guy was
sitting there for a while I didn’t think he'd be moving anywhere. so I
stood to his left, looked into the view finder, set the background out
of focus as much as possible and just waited for the next guy to come
up.
-Willy Akers watching a back lipslide attempt at the Back to the Banks contest
SR-Nice, what are your plans for the
future, as far as skateboard photography, or shooting photo's in
general, where do you want to take it? Erik-think I’m going to keep it as a
hobby. I’m not planning on making a living with photography but I would
love to get out there with some pro skaters or just work I can get
people to see. It really doesn’t have to be big name skaters. Any
photographer would love to see their picture on the front cover of a
magazine but I’m just going to take it slow and enjoy it as it comes.
Meeting new people is definitely one of the coolest things about
photography.
SR-If skateboarding isn't your favorite subject matter to shoot, what is and why? Erik-Well right now I don’t have a
set favorite subject. I’m just generally into subjects that have to do
with motion. Skateboarding has really been fun though. Recently I’ve
been getting into portrait photography. I like getting high detail
shots of people when I go to events. My next subject is going to be
snowboarding. I’m waiting for the mountains to open up so I can get out
on the powder and get some insane shots. My brother is big on import
cars so I have a few sets on hooked up Hondas, Nissans, basically
anything from Japan.
-This photo is worth more than a thousand words
SR-Do you have any professional photographers you look to for inspiration? Erik-I really don’t look at specific
professional photographers for inspiration. I like looking at different
pictures because everyone has their own style. Every photographer has a
different way to use what they have that just makes the pictures
unique. I think looking at one persons work gives one point of view of
how a picture can be taken for a certain subject. I’m not looking to
copy, I’m looking to get different ideas and see how I can mix them all
up to create my own.
SR-Good answer, Do you think that a photo's ability to be aesthetically pleasing is as important as the story it is portraying? Erik-I think a picture is all about
the story it tells, take it any way you want, and as long as it tells a
good story, I’m sure anyone will consider it a good picture.
-Lindsey Roberston during the DC demo
SR-Staying with the great responses. Erik-These questions are getting real deep.
SR-Haha, Alright Erik, anyone you would like to thank? Erik-Yeah definitely. My brothers,
Davis, Bryant, and Kevin. My mom has loaned me some money so I could
get a couple of goodies for my camera. Big thanks to her. My girlfriend
Heather, I’ve put her through long days so I could get pictures.
Basically everyone who’s put out an arm for me so I could keep my
passion going. All my friends. Thanks to Skateboardrev.com for putting
out an interview with me , and Steve if i hadn’t met you at the banks.
hahahaha
SR-Any last words? Erik-Got me there. I’m all out of things to say.
