“Who is this Michael Cummins guy anyway?”
I was walking behind them down the hallway before the annual convention even began. They had just picked up a flyer about the $10,000 team poster project I had donated for the auction. I was not trying to eavesdrop, but when I heard my name, my ears perked up. The cynical tone in his voice worried me. I wondered how the person with him would respond. She began to share with him about how my company, Sports Photos USA, had visited the gym where she used to coach. She told him about how the kids and coaches loved our portrait program, how the gym made money, and about a fundraiser we had done to assist their fundraising efforts.
At this point, I really wanted to hear all of her story, but I suddenly realized that now I really was eavesdropping. What if they turned around? So, I slowed down and let them walk away, hoping to see them in the Exhibit Hall over the weekend.
That conversation got me to thinking. “How many coaches and gym owners don't know who I am?”
Athletes all over the southern part of the country have been receiving my portrait information letters for years, but I have never spent any time talking about me---the guy behind the program.
So . . . without further delay, let me answer the question-“Who is this Michael Cummins guy anyway?”
I know that it is NOT your burning desire to read about a guy you may only know through my photography. But I hope that you will read this page in your leisure time. In a small way I hope this will give you some insight into what I and my company are all about. You see, that is what life is all about---relationships. It's about people building bridges to others, connecting in new and unusual ways. It is about seeing how far a person's influence might travel and how many lives might be changed by some little thing a person says or does.
It is about watching the last few Olympic All-Around Gold-Medalists, and knowing that they had been in front of my camera---and feeling a tiny bit of a connection with some of the most monumental gymnasts in the world. It gives me chills to even write the words.
I own and operate the widest-ranging sports portrait business in the United States. I travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific creating emotional portraits of athletes. You see, it has always been hard for me to settle for doing things the “normal” way. Most people with a camera are content to work out of their house part time and offer their work to whomever comes along. Some get really adventurous and open their own studio where they photograph 4-6 sessions in a day. That type of existence would not satisfy me.
So I set out be the best in the field of sports portraiture. Actually, I am getting a little ahead of myself. Let's back up just a little (well actually a lot---all the way to the year 1969). Yes I know that is nearly the dark ages, but it was the time I was entering high school. My Dad was a part-time photographer. We had a darkroom in our house. That was in the days when we used all those smelly chemicals and really worked in the dark to print wonderful portraits. That year I won a national photography competition and I was HOOKED. Photographing my first wedding at 19 years of age was really cool. During college, I paid my way with my little photography business. After I received an undergraduate degree, I went to the University of Texas School of Law and became a lawyer and a judge. But there was never any satisfaction for me in law. There was always a yearning for something else. So after 15 years of law practice, I began dabbling in digital video production. I was reminded how much I missed photography. Soon I had a crazy idea to close my law office and resume my photography career. A quick call to a gymnastics training center which I had helped my dad photograph several years earlier, led to a quick job. That job led to a connection with the Gymnastics Association of Texas and a commission to photograph the Junior Olympics. From there, those relationships led to relationships with gyms across the country, and I have never looked back.I am continually recording “The Art of Athletics” in the lives of athletes, from beginners to Olympians. Those moments I capture tell the story of their hopes, dreams, and aspirations, and even sometimes their worries and fears. In any event, the images are precious memories that will be dear to their hearts for a lifetime. I am glad to have been a part of that. In closing, let me share an email I received just the other day from a client who has moved 1000 miles away.
"Got the poster! It is beautiful! I have loved working with you over the years and will miss you and your wonderful pictures. Thank you for all of the precious memories."---Suzanne P.