SHOOTER: TOMMY VERROCHI
Name: Tommy Verrochi
Age: 16
Location: Oakhurst, NJ
How long have you been shooting?
The first time I picked up a camera was on a vacation to Italy five years ago, I picked up my uncle’s 35mm and was hooked. I was off and on for a while and then I went to a flea market where I bought a Minolta Maxxum 5. But I’ve been shooting seriously for about 2 years.
Film or digital?
Both mediums have their strong and weak points. The quality you get out of film is hard to achieve with any digital camera. But you can’t beat the turnaround time with digital. I pick up my digital more than my film cameras so if I had to choose it would be digi.
What kind of cameras, lenses, flashes, and other bits and pieces do you use?
On the digital side of things I have a Nikon D200 body, 10.5 fisheye and a 50mm. Film wise I use a Hasselblad 500cm with 150 and 30mm lenses. And I light the scene with two Sunpak 622’s and a 120j. I also have various other things like Pocket wizards, a light meter and an Olympus XA2 for point and shoot shots.
Do you have a dream camera that you would like to shoot with?
Maybe higher end digital cameras like a D700 or 1DS mark something. There is also a humungous Polaroid camera that’s about four feet tall or so, but that’s a bit of an unrealistic goal.
How do you go about setting up a shot?
The first thing I do is ask the rider if he’s down to shoot something or what trick he’s planning on doing. From there I set-up my flashes and start collecting my thoughts on an angle to shoot from. Once I have everything all planned out I place my flashes and meter the scene. Then I take a test shot, move my flashes around and take another. Finally I’ll compose it, ask the rider if he’s ready and release the shutter.
Best thing you’ve ever shot?
Technically it would be the stuff that’s been printed. But I would have to say my most recent work. Every picture that I’m happy with seems to be better than the last so I can’t really choose.
Who is your favorite rider to shoot with?
Anyone that is cool, I hate it when people get pushy and try to boss you around, Trey Jones defiantly is a cool dude to shoot with, Cranmer as well.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Multiple sources, I look at photos all the time and think about how the shot was setup. When I see a film that has awesome riding it also inspires me. When I watch any sort of riding video I think, “If I was there how would I go about capturing it?” When I see people in person shooting and then see the photo ending up somewhere whether the medium be print or web that also sparks motivation for me to shoot.
Who is one dream rider you want to shoot with?
-Someone who goes big and has an abundance of bike control, Chase hawk or Mike Miller strikes my mind first.
What do you tell security when they try to throw you out of spots for taking pics?
I haven’t run into any problems photo wise. Riding it depends. I’ll usually just apologize and leave, or ask for another go. But if someone is a dick to me I’m probably going to give him a hard time. I’ve only gotten like that once or twice; I try to be chill to everyone.
Who is your favorite BMX photographer?
There’s way too many to name. A few that stick out are Jeff Z, Walter Perringer, and Rob Dolecki. But there is easily five more that I didn’t name that have a huge impact on me.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I would love a job related to photography, and my ultimate goal is to work in the BMX industry. I’ll choose a job that I’m happy with and I can have fun doing over higher pay somewhere else.
What else do you like to shoot?
BMX is what I’m into the most, but I love shooting portraits and candid/point & shoot images.
Where can we see more of your work?
I update my flickr: www.flickr.com/tommyv with almost anything I shoot, and I recently created my site www.tommyverrochi.net it still has a couple bugs I need to sort out but should be 100% soon.