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Meet Cody Sowa of ColorCO Photography in Whittier Neighborhood

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Cody Sowa.

Cody, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I guess I’d have to say I started with buying a camera after a layoff. I wanted to take some time to find the right job for me rather than rush into something just for the sake of working right away. During that time, I knew I needed a hobby to keep me sane and busy when I wasn’t job hunting. Over the course of the next few years, I developed a deep love and passion for photography and decided to dedicate more time to learning. Over the next few years, I became obsessed with photography and even more passionate about the excitement that clients had when capturing their personal or corporate memories.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not! As any small business owner would tell you, there’s a ton to learn no matter how much we think we already know or feel prepared for.

The roughest road came almost a year after I decided to take my side business into the realm of a full-time career. All small businesses have to make sacrifices along the way and risk a few things. One of those items for me was health care for the first year. I’ve always been a fairly “normal” person when it came to my health. I’ve had a few surgeries and the occasional larger injury or sickness, but nothing out of the ordinary. However about seven-months into my full-time business venture, I found a lump on my leg.

After a few months of trying to diagnose it, it turned out to be a Stage 3, high grade, Pleomorphic Sarcoma that developed in my quadricep. I had to hire some help so I could photography two weddings during chemo and also hired two replacements for a few other jobs that I was just unavailable for (due to being in chemotherapy on those days). I also had surgery to remove the tumor and then did 35 weeks of localized radiation to ensure the cancer was dead and gone. That made it very difficult to book future events, weddings and portrait shoot as I was unsure of what my future held. Thankfully, I’m now almost a full year into remission and cancer-free!

We’d love to hear more about your work.
Many artists that decide to start their own business tend to lack good business practices. They tend to run on their own schedules/times and can be tough to communicate with. Artists also tend to charge a ton of money for their art as they price based on their emotional attachment to the process and the art itself. I like to think that I’m a great mixture of both an artist as well as a business owner.

I was a business coach and consultant in the past so I understand the liability of poor customer service and the lack of communication with clients. While I’m also quite attached to my art/photography as well as the process of creating it, I understand that it is also a competitive market here in Denver. With that in mind, I offer high-quality photography at affordable pricing with no post-service sales or up-charging. Clients get all photos (minus unflattering photos such as blinking, mid-talking face, etc) edited and delivered in full high resolution.

I am also well versed in off-camera lighting to ensure that I can make and take great photos no matter the weather or lighting conditions. Lastly, I limit myself to one wedding/event per day in order to be able to give my best efforts to my client of the day. There is no risk of me showing up to your big day/event burnt out or exhausted. I take each event and assignment very seriously and treat that event as if it were my own.

What were you like growing up?
Curious. I was lucky enough to grow up during a very limited electronic period in time. So I spent most of my days and nights outside playing with my friends. We rode our bikes all over my hometown, Longmont, CO, playing in puddles, crawdad fishing, basketball, tag, ice fishing, baseball, fort building and just about anything we could get our hands-on. So I’d say my friends and I were adventurous and had a really great childhood!

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