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Keith Romanowski has been making quite a name for himself in the BMX photography world. For this Vital BMX portfolio, he chose ten of his favorite BMX photos and shared the reasons he likes them. To see more of Keith’s work, check out his website—impressive.
 | Nigel Sylvester: When you can see the eyes of the rider in a photo, it gives the viewer a more personal feeling as well as a great focal point. With a combination of exposure, angle, and timing the photo came out exactly the way I wanted it to. Typically a perfectly timed barspin is when the bars are 180-degress around, but in this case the bars work great the way they are. Nigel jumped on a ledge to quick 180-barspin over a rail. He is easily one of the best street riders and can barspin basically anything. |
 | Frank Juliano: The sky is a dark blue, there is a yellow ledge, red rails, and a pink bike. All of these different shades of colors are what really helps make this photo come alive. Colors can turn a boring photo into an amazing one. The "tuck" is a simple yet timeless trick, and those are the types that can be the most fun to shoot. I was able to time the trick perfectly, as well as proper flash placement to freeze the action. Even with how sketchy the run-up was, Frank was able to pull this perfectly his first try. |
 | Russell Barone: Every photographer has a set amount of angles that they use and feel comfortable working with, yet this number increases as one becomes more experienced. When one finds a new angle it can be quite exciting. That was the case in this situation. A new angle and a ton of colors are what helps give this photo some extra pop as well, and some added originality. What you can't see in the photo is that it is actually quite dark. In fact while shooting the photo I could hardly see the rail myself. I used a long shutter speed to help light up the sky, and therefore made the photo appear much brighter than it actually is. |
 | Dave Cipolla: The simplicity in this photo is what really helps make the rider pop out. Even though the trick is simple, it still has enough visual weight to attract the eye. Although yellow is the hardest color for the eye to see, it at the same time draws attention and leads the eye right to the rider. This photo actually took quite a while to shoot. What was so difficult was trying not to get Dave's hair in the way of his face, but after almost a dozen shots I was able to get it just the way I wanted it. |
 | James Carlucci: I would have to say without a doubt, I like color photography much better than black and white. It gives a certain sense of reality to the photo that can't be done in black and white. Yet on the other hand there are those times where black and white just seems to work much better, and in this situation, that is the case. The lack of color and background keeps the photo simple with the emphasis on the rider. For the most part I really don't like shooting indoor parks, but when the temperature is in the single digits you really don't have much of a choice. James loves riding this mini ramp and had no problem doing a tailwhip a few times so that I could get it just right. |
 | Garrett Reynolds: The consistency of color is one of the reasons I like the way this photo came out. I used a long exposure and that was able to draw in some ambient light and create a greenish glow to the photo. Also since Garrett was riding a green frame it helped tie everything together. If you ever have a chance to ride this slant wall in Philadelphia you know how difficult it is to air out of. Here Garrett did a barspin with ease and landed clean back into the bank. He is on a completely different level than the majority of the people riding today. Watching him ride is like a glimpse into the future to see what BMX one day might hold. |
 | Russell Barone: This is a textbook example of what BMX is really about. Not always having to go out and do the biggest tricks and simply having a good time. I feel that this photo's composition and technique reflect Russ' moto. It’s a simple photo in that the background is sutle and there are no distracting elements to take way from the trick. I used three flashes, one to the right and left of Russ and one directly behind him to give a nice amount of fill lighting. During that night I shot a few photos of Russ doing this moto from different angles and flash locations, and ending up using the very last shot. |
 | Rory Ellis: When shooting straight-on angles where there is a wall to one side it can sometimes be difficult to get a nice amount of fill lighting. When putting all the flashes to one side, only half of the rider will be lit. In this rare situation there was an indent in the wall for a door opening and I was able to hide a flash in there to light up the other side of Rory's face. Also with streetlights and window signs nearby it created a nice turquoise color in the photo. Rory is from Massachusetts and came to New York for only a few days. Although I only had a chance to ride with him one day he was putting in nonstop work all night. This rail is about bar height and really didn’t grind very well, but he did the whole rail perfectly his third try. |
 | James Carlucci: Shooting during the "magic hour" is the best time to take photos. The sun is starting to go down, light is more even, and you get a chance to work with amazing background colors. Here the sun was just about to set and the whole sky turned this deep blue. In addition to that being located at the bottom on the slide, it helps lead your eye right up to James. Even though this slide was really slippery, he was still able to pull it off. |
 | Frank Juliano: Countless numbers of photos have been shoot at the Brooklyn Banks, and pretty much every trick has already been done. So trying to find something original, as well as a unique angle, can be a bit of a task. Here Frank did a feeble-to-fakie, which many people really don't do nor think about. This photo really wasn't planned out at all, it was one of those last minute kind of deals. Two shots later the photo came out exactly the way I wanted—a unique angle as well as good fill lighting. |
