Rising Stars: Meet Tommy Cowan of Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tommy Cowan.

Hi Tommy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started in photography, well…. my whole life! My parents were both photographers in the sports world my whole life and the reason why I moved from Portland, OR to Denver, CO in the first place! They bought a sports photography business here in Denver and I was around it since I was a kid.

I went to college and took a photography course because I figured it’d be an easy A, if I’m being honest. While in that class, the local newspaper (yes, it was that long ago) came in and asked if anyone knew how to shoot sports action, and with that being the ONLY thing I knew how to do, I joined their staff and shot high school sports for the Journal Advocate in Sterling, CO for my college job! I then transferred and graduated with my photography degree and immediately went into portraits and weddings. After 15 years in the wedding business… it just didn’t fit my life anymore.

While knowing I needed a transition in the photography world and not knowing where to go, I also started to coach varsity baseball at my Alma Mater at Thomas Jefferson High School, I started up an Instagram account for the team and did a bunch of photos for the squad that turned out pretty awesome. I then did the same thing for my oldest son’s youth team and saw that I might be onto something. I decided that I was going to go all in on the sports side of things which gave birth to Snapback Sports Photography!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Well, the first thing I noticed when starting this new business, is that I wasn’t actually starting over. I remember when I started my first photography business, my work was NOT at a professional level. It grew to that, but it sure wasn’t where I wanted to be to start. Now with Snapback, my work is at a high level, but I needed to grow the business. The number one challenge with this new business is the perception of what sports photography is in the first place. Let’s be honest, sports photography hasn’t changed much in almost a century. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but the photos my Dad used to take (no offense, Dad…) was the same photo over and over and over again. You know the shot. The doofy looking kid with his bowl cut poking out of the hat too big, uniform tucked in way too much from mom, etc. What I do is WAY different. I highlight the athlete with creative and dynamic lighting and bring out as much personality and emotion as possible. Something I’ve taken from my portrait and wedding days.

The challenge with all of that is most people don’t even know this type of photography exists! I intend to change that and to make what I do, the industry standard.

Another thing is that I don’t do just sports. I put “Sports Photography” in the name because of marketing, but I do lots of other types of photography. I do a lot of high end portraits and images for professional businesses that need media on a consistent basis. It can be a challenge to market both sides with the main area of focus being on the sports side of things!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a photographer, you might assume that I have been a creative my whole life. You’d be wrong. Sports was my whole life growing up. It wasn’t until that photography class in college did I even consider the arts as a hobby, let alone profession. Doing weddings for as long as I did, I enjoyed capturing emotion. REAL, true emotion and nothing staged or faked.

Thinking of what sports photography was to most parents, I wanted to change the game. I didn’t want parents to order their prints because this is just the next year they played in their sport. I wanted clients to order prints because they said “WOW, I HAVE to have that photo hung in my house.” I want my clients to see their child’s personality, hard work and dedication in the photos I capture and I want the kids in my images to see them and feel like rock stars. Whether it be baseball or dance, I want all of my images to speak a thousand words in the truest sense.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The sports photography industry is about to change. Big time. The images that I, and other photographers around the country, are creating are so dynamic, so eye popping, that people will only want this type of photography. I am trying to create a business here in Denver that will be the industry standard. Adapt or die is a common phrase in the tech industry and the sports photography industry is no different.

Contact Info:

• Website: snapbacksportsphotography.com
• Instagram: @snapbacksportsphoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/snapbacksportsphotography