West Texas’ Next Top Truck Content Creator
And he’s not even old enough to drink.
Establishing yourself in the world of automotive photography relies on the ability to carve your own niche as opposed to riding the coattails of others. Far too often, budding photographers attempt to emulate the most famous in their field only to burn themselves out after failing to gain any traction. However, those who put the time and dedication into creating their own lane ultimately emerge from the pack. Roman Salinas of Salinas Photography is on the cusp of achieving upper-echelon status and he’s only 20 years old.
Roman begin snapping truck pics in 2014 while still in high school. He was taking photography and graphic design classes and even some automotive courses, too. At the time, Roman was a member of a local truck club which gave him ample opportunities to work on his craft. “My one goal in mind was to get the West Texas truck scene known,” explains Roman.
Roman devised a multi-faceted plan to put his region of Texas on the map, focusing on trucks exclusively and delivering consistent content. On top of the photos, Roman also honed his video skills and created a successful YouTube page where he showcases clips from all his shoots. The channel is now up to 25,000 subscribers and has over 5.6 million total views. Roman religiously posts a video every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and with each video, the production and quality improve.
Roman curated one of his now-signature images during his early days in photography - the rolling shot - with repetition and practice. “I grabbed my DSLR, slowed my shutter and started practicing,” says Roman. “I quickly became known for my rolling shots and eventually everyone in our local truck scene wanted one.” After being booked steady for weeks on end, Roman understood he was on to something which ultimately gave him the confidence to continue his craft. For his famed rolling shots, Roman prides himself on not using Photoshop or blur effects to create the image and he seems to actually enjoy capturing the shot, too. “You can catch me out in the streets of Midland, TX at least twice a week hanging out the window of my truck as low as possible to get that perfect shot,” proclaims Roman.
Above all else, Roman enjoys the comradery and notoriety his hobby has afforded him but hasn’t yet got used to the negativity that comes with such a following. “As a 19-year-old, I made a lot of mistakes and these mistakes were getting examined by thousands,” says Roman. “But I have learned that all publicity is good publicity!” Thankfully, this type of judgment is few and far between and pales in comparison to the amount of friends Roman has acquired all over Texas since beginning his photography journey.
As for the future, Roman intends to keep up the momentum and create additional content and post it more often. He also plans on expanding his current client roster to further promote the Texas truck lifestyle.
SALINAS PHOTOGRAPHY
