Thom became interested in photography at age 12, and by the time he was 14 was processing film in his own dark room. At age 17 he entered the Army Rangers and become a scout. During the next 4 years he trained in various types of camera equipment for recon purposes.
Upon his discharge from the service he moved to the Seattle area and entered the Seattle/Tacoma Arts Institute for Video/Film production. He then started doing band promos and stills for local bands throughout the northwest.
By 1986 Thom was offered a stage photography job with Alias Productions doing main stages in the Seattle area. After several years he had earned his way to the position of house photographer for the Seattle Center, Tacoma Dome, King Dome and the Gorge with many other venues up and down the west coast.
In 1997 Thom was looking to expand his career and moved back to Butte, Montana where he was raised and began a 4-year degree in Technical Communications at Montana Tech. During this time he worked as a cameraman for C.B.S. news channel 4.