Born To Ride Lensman Erick Runyon
Behind every great custom motorcycle build, you’ll probably find a great photographer. So when many builders from around the U.S. need the perfect lensman to show off in print or online, they call upon the services of commercial motorcycle photographer Florida’s Erick Runyon.
After nearly 20yrs behind the lens, shooting lifestyle, glamour and fitness for several national men’s publications, women’s fitness publications as well as swimwear and activewear clothing companies, Erick combined his passion for photography with his lifelong love for motorcycles and found his true calling.“ Full time motorcycle photography came to me as a ’happy accident’ about seven years ago. I’d been riding since High School and I guess I had more than a passing interest with them. While working as a lifestyle and fashion photographer, I brought my Harley to Alain Bernrad of Santiago Chopper for some custom work. We became friends and he asked me to photograph him for a new TV series called ‘Cafe Racer’. I hit it off with the production company and started shooting more stills for the series. Since that day almost 10 years ago, I started contributing on a regular basis for Discovery Networks, then Velocity and now the MotorTrend Network.
“As a college student, I was told to put down the camera and that I should start thinking about a real career.” After that motivational sting, I was determined to find my path and use my passion for photography to guide me through life. The work isn’t about ‘money’, it’s about satisfying the inner creative soul. After being featured in a Velocity Channel Documentary where they described me as ‘one of the world’s top motorcycle photographers’. I took pride in the fact that I didn’t put down my camera all those years ago as suggested. I was at least able to pay my bills doing what I loved. Though his images are larger than life, he prefers to keep his ego in check. If you ask, the work is never about ‘himself’, “It’s all about photographing bikes and having the ability to bring these builders’ work to the masses. I envy the talent and creativity these people have and I get to live vicariously through them. With the small amount of talent I have, I hope I can shed some light on the amount of time, energy and talent it takes to create these bikes. I think of my work as a way to showcase the talents of others and not myself.
“I don’t take any of this for granted, by the way. I enjoy it all and I do it solely for the passion of the motorcycling scene.” Erick has joined Born To Ride Motorcycle Media as their Creative Director. Owner Ron Galletti has followed Erick’s work for years and commented, “having Erick onboard with us has been explosive! It’s always been my passion and mission to document the biker lifestyle, but Erick’s lens brings that documentation to life! In an era of digital media it’s important to me that our readers, viewers and fans are sensationalized by the images we capture and Erick’s creativity does exactly that! You can practically smell the fumes, feel the heat, hear the laughter and be in the moment when you look at Erick’s shots of the people and the machines.” “What’s cool about Erick is he just doesn’t get the shot and move on, he can bring his work to life through art and media.” “We’re looking forward to some mind-blowing projects together!”
By Presely Quinn