by Carol Mowdy Bond
Matt Treptow was a 14-year-old skateboarder, hooked on adrenaline rushes and skater magazines. He was so enamored with action imagery that he wanted to capture that intensity. So he walked into a pawnshop and bought a camera and lenses. Treptow set the camera on sport mode, held down the button, and began to shoot action shots in sequence. He soon became known as “that kid who always carries a camera.”
Treptow (pronounced “Trep-toe”) mined YouTube videos and Internet tutorials for photography information. But simultaneously, he was soaking in local flavor.
A native Oklahoman, Treptow, who will turn 38 this spring, grew up in the small town of Sulphur surrounded by ranch, rodeo, and cowboy lifestyles. Near the end of high school, he landed a paycheck cleaning barn stalls on a ranch, where he connected with Tony Mendes. Mendes is a former professional bull rider who qualified for the Professional Bull Riders World Finals nine times. The two chatted about techniques of bull riding, and Mendes lent Treptow his vest and rope. Treptow began to compete on rodeo trails, and he loved it.
But just out of high school, Treptow zigzagged between jobs and more education. Then in 2013, Herzog Railroad Services hired him. For seven years, he worked all over New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming, immersed in the American West.
Changing Focus
About five years ago, Treptow transitioned into his day job with 3C Cattle Feeders in Mill Creek, Oklahoma. “We manufacture digital counting cube/cake feeders and creep feeders for cattle and other livestock,” Treptow says. “We also build and manufacture heavy-duty stock trailers. I work in the front office, doing everything from troubleshooting feeders over the phone to sales to shop operations.”
After a 14-year hiatus from rodeo and about seven years from photography, Treptow’s life changed. In 2021, he inherited some high-end cameras.
“I took the cameras to a local rodeo,” says Treptow. “After I got shots of barrel and breakaway runs, everyone else was asking me if I got their run or ride, and they were offering to pay me if I did. That’s when the lightbulb went off. From there, I took a few photo clinics taught by Click Thompson, who has won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Photographer of the Year award three times. That’s where I really learned how to shoot professionally.”
Treptow adapted Thompson’s feedback and techniques to his own style. He assisted Thompson in shooting Chris Neal’s Rising Stars Roping at Lazy E Arena in Guthrie and the Patriot and Junior Patriot competitions in Fort Worth, Texas. In February 2025, Treptow was the official photographer for the Pana‘ewa Stampede Rodeo in Hilo, Hawaii, for the fourth year.
These events with Thompson and Treptow’s work in Hawaii served as his stepping-off point into a professional photography career.
But Treptow’s biggest influence was possibly the late Doug Carpenter (1956–
2020). A multiple world and reserve world champion and a legend in the western-pleasure industry, Carpenter was also an avid photographer. From 2016 through 2020, Carpenter was Treptow’s mentor in photography, horses, business, and life.
Capturing Rodeo Action
These days, Treptow hits rodeos during weekends and evenings as a professional photographer. Rodeo committees, stock contractors, and companies who endorse rodeo athletes commission him to shoot photos. His clients include Billy Cook Saddles, 3C Cattle Feeders, BEX Sunglasses, and Cattaneo Bros. in California.
“For me, rodeo photography is a thrill,” says Treptow. “Capturing a bronc ride with a good, crisp, detailed shot of animal and man, you’re seeing something that the naked eye doesn’t catch. The fear, pain, but also determination in the rider’s eyes, while the horse is stretched out and flying through the air, all in a single shot, are cool to me.”
Treptow’s photography spans many genres. But he primarily channels his adrenaline into seconds-long rodeo action and preserving the rodeo world. He focuses on capturing the intensity of rodeo athletes, freezing their top skilled moments to relive over and over.
“I like different rodeo events for different reasons,” Treptow says. “But I really like shooting saddle bronc, ranch bronc, and bareback. Those horses are amazing to me, the way they can kick, buck, and move, all while jumping six feet in the air.”
But Treptow also loves riding and roping. “I like the bond you get with your horses,” says Treptow. “There’s not another feeling like being on top of a horse that is reacting and doing what you’re thinking. But that only comes from a good bond and time in the saddle.”
Gravitating to the hard work and simple lifestyle of the classic American West, Treptow says, “I’ve done my share of cowboying, from rodeoing to working horses and working cattle on horseback. For my photography, I love capturing horses either in the wild or when they are working and trying hard for their rider. I love shooting the cowboy lifestyle because the true cowboy lifestyle seems to be a dying breed at times, all while ‘cowboy is cool.’ ”
Matt Treptow Photography in Sulphur is on Facebook at Matthew Treptow, Instagram @Matthew Treptow, and the web at matttreptowphotography.mypixieset.com.
