A selection of some of my favorite action photos that I have taken. These might represent the culmination of my childhood BMX magazine driven dreams.
Andy MacDonald
I worked for Woodward Camp, Inc. in Central, PA for five years as their graphic designer and in-house media artist. Woodward is a summer training resort for young athletes interested in Gymnastics and Action Sports. I was responsible for photographing all visiting professionals: olympians, coaches, professional BMX riders, skateboarders, and inline skaters, as well as documenting the camp and the campers. The range of my photography expanded greatly during these years.
At left is professional skateboarder Andy McDonald, on an idyllic summer day.
Clint Reynolds
A recent photo set in late 80’s skate/punk style. Flash in one hand, fisheye in the other. Young me would have loved this photo if it had been in a magazine. I imagine it is the result of youthful impressions come to fruition.
Danish Tumbler
A member of the Danish power tumbling team. I wanted to frame him in the open doorway, to show both the action and the pastoral country setting.
York Uno
An experimentation in blur. I’m often experimenting when I take photos. This is one of the times that it came out much as I had imagined. I wanted to capture a sense of motion, a blurry flurry of action.
Neal Hendrix
Neal liked taking photos, which is somewhat rare in the Action Sports world. He would often ask me to photograph him, and was interested in taking time to work on different angles/ideas. I enjoy the criss-crossing lines, selective light, and his choice of a red t-shirt.
Ever Peacock
This is a relatively recent photo of my sort-a-step-son. He too got bitten by the bike bug and has grown into a very talented and stylish rider.
Extreme Cheer
A potential cover photo for a Woodward Cheer brochure.
Jamie Bestwick
This is during a weekly camp demo when visiting professional riders and skaters would put on a show for the campers. I like the documentary style of this photo.
Pro Main
I did not shoot a lot of BMX racing, but there was some. I like this photo because of it’s classic head-on directness, plus it has one of my favorite riders in it.
Rob Tibbs
This photo is significant not for the strength of the photo per se, but because I built that giant pile of rubbish that he is riding on. This was during my time working for FBM bicycle company, a small BMX bicycle brand and manufacturer based in Binghamton, NY. The brand’s image was raw, D.I.Y., core—riders making bikes for other riders. I built this ramp for a competition we put on called the “Ghetto Street Comp.” This photo appeared as the opening spread for a story highlighting the event in a BMX magazine.
Craig Kleckner
The bird’s-eye view. I think I climbed in a tree for this photo. One of my favorite places to ride during that time, and Craig was always a pleasure to ride with.
Mountains
On mountains and bicycles…
Corey Nastazio
Normally I want to see where the jump or ramp is for a reference. Otherwise it looks like the person is just floating around in space. In this photo I sort of like the that you can’t see the jump. There’s enough information there to put a story together.
Jud Heald
Jud is a very devout Christian, a great skateboarder, and a nice human. I like this photo for a number of reasons, but I think I mainly like that Jud is back lit and sort of in the shape of a cross. Knowing Jud makes that stand out to me. I didn’t plan the photo that way.
Allen Russel
Pretty classic skate shot. Not bad for a BMX’er.
Climbers
I took this for Woodward Camp promotions a long time ago. I think someone complained that it looked like a kid fell off of the wall, which is one of the things I really like about the photo. I remember that it wasn’t easy to get into this position.
Go Carts
I seem to remember being on the back of a golf cart with lights mounted to it in order to get this shot.
Pat Duffy
Another classic skate shot. I spent a lot of time studying photos similar to this when I was a tween and early teen. Those early neuronal pathways light up when I see a photo like this.