Thomas Broening

Frankenstein's Dog Emailer

2011-11-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

7x7 writing about Frankenstein's Dog

2011-10-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here

Frankenstein's Dog

2011-10-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a short I directed, shot, edited and cowrote.

Film Still #2

2011-10-18T06:59:00.001-07:00

Film Still #1

2011-10-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

Day 2

2011-10-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

DP

2011-09-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

I worked as a DP on a short this weekend and it went incredibly well. Thanks to all for their help

PreProduction

2011-09-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

We are in preproduction on a short that I will act as a DP.

Sly Sylvester/DP

2011-09-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

We are in preproduction on a short to be shot next week.

Healthy Advice Magazine

2011-09-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

10 years ago

2011-09-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

Writing about 9/11 from the distance of California reminds me of that joke about how many Vietnam Veterans does it take to screw in a light bulb ?
Answer:"I don't know"
Response, "You don't know !!!! You don't know because you weren't there man!!!!"

I was in the kitchen in Japantown in San Francisco making breakfast for our one year old and for her 8 year old sister. A friend called knowing we did not have a TV and we watched the second tower fall on the CNN website. The 8 year old thought it was a movie and said "Cool! I closed the computer and did not watch any footage again.

For the next three or four months everything seemed different. Everyone seemed more careful with each other on the street. We were all more patient with each other.

A few weeks after September 11 I was at the counter at Peet's coffee and there was a long line behind me. I paid for my drink and put 40 dollars on the counter and told the woman behind the counter to buy everyone behind me what they wanted and walked out. Stangers paid my toll on the Bay Bridge.

Now 10 years later it is hard to remember that time at all. Looking back buying those drinks for those people seems grandiose. We are back to cursing at each other on the freeway. A woman yelled at me because she thought I was trying to cut in line at Whole Foods. I catch myself notifying an assistant that we could no longer work together...via text message.

We are like that married couple who come close to breaking up and decide to reconcile. For the first few weeks things seem like they are better but slowly they forget how close they came to ending it all and soon the old problems return and they learn to live with them.

But I remember when things were different and I will not forget.

Awesome Making of Video for Chipotle

2011-09-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

Le Monde Travel Piece

2011-09-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

I shot all of this within 5 minutes of my house in Oakland.

Steve Jobs

2011-08-24T16:05:00.001-07:00

I got a call from Fortune Magazine asking me if I wanted to shoot Steve Jobs and some new device Apple was working on.It was 2001. I had shot him before and always left the shoot a little shaken but said yes. We got to Apple early to set up. All the traffic around the building was stopped and blackout curtains were put up around the room. Someone put a plain cardboard box on the table.

Steve Jobs rolled in and I spent about 15 minutes photographing him and this little white music player ( the image above is from a later shoot) .

After he left, I picked up the iPod and held it in my hand.

'Mheh" I thought to myself.

Emailer

2011-08-17T07:09:00.001-07:00

The 10 year old

2011-08-16T06:22:00.000-07:00

Sister Coritia's Rules

2011-08-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

Mr Anderson: An Interview with the film maker

2011-08-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

Mrs B in Maine

2011-08-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

Maine Dream

2011-08-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

Most of my film work has been shot with the camera or a jib. I recently saw a movie that was shot with a lot of hand held camera work and I wanted to give it a try while on vacation in Maine. I like the looseness and spontaneity of not having the camera weighted down by a tripod but I found that I have to shoot a lot more footage than I usually do.

This song is from a John Lee Hooker album from the early '90s.

The 18 year old hating life

2011-08-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Stills and Motion

2011-08-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot written about the convergence of still photography and film. Television shows are shot on still cameras and still photographs are made with film cameras.

I have drunk the Kool-aid and have jumped in with both feet. It is incredibly easy to shoot stills photographs while shooting motion. Above is a still image and a short video clip.

New Wonderful Machine Emailer

2011-08-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

Here

On Vacation in Maine

2011-08-02T06:49:00.001-07:00

The Jeff Singer Intervention

2011-07-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

I first met Jeff on a shoot in Santa Cruz over looking the Pacific ocean. He was at a photo school up in Canada and was in California on vacation. We chatted while I waited for the right light and enjoyed talking to him. A couple years later he moved to the Bay Area and hung out his shingle as a photographer. I would see him over the years at various APA functions and he seemed to have an easy going manner which I chose not to hold this against him . He had been an engineer at Cisco and was just as methodical and focused in his new career. He quickly started getting assignements.

A couple years ago I ran into him at an APA show.

JS WTF?
TB Wha?
JS What are you doing ? Who would want these images? You are a still life shooter? I thought you shot people ?
TB They are conceptual. Not still life
JS I guess I don't get it.
TB I want to bring the same sensibilty I brought to people as I do to these images shot in my studio (office ) . Don't you see I am dealing with light and space the same way no matter what I point the camera at ?
JS Not really.

Of course he was right. I had spent 10 years establishing myself as a portrait/location photographer and people were confused by the new work. So for the last year I have been focusing on what I have been shooting since I was 16. People. I really enjoyed the two years I spent looking at objects through an 8x10 camera. But I am excited about shooting people again whether it is shooting films or still.

Doritos Spec spot

2011-07-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

Cleaning out my closet

2011-07-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

I came across all these old promos. From when I started as a magazine photographer 14 years ago until now.

BTS

2011-07-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

New Spec Spot

2011-07-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

I cast, scouted , shot and edited this 30 second commercial myself. The script came from a CD in New York. I have really enjoyed shooting films and am learning a ton. Will post another commercial I shot next week.

New Dog image

2011-02-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

Before

After

Mark Zuckerberg

2010-10-06T14:59:00.001-07:00

I just saw the social network and was struck how spot on Jesse Eisenberg's performance was. I have photographed Zuckerberg a couple times and found him to be incredibly shy and withdrawn. The first time I shot him I think they had three employees. Here is a shot from a couple years ago.

Mr. Anderson banner Ad on the jackanory

2010-09-20T06:39:00.001-07:00

Paula Gren: MY NEW REP !

2010-09-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here

Mr. Anderson's Birthday

2010-09-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Mr. Anderson's Birthday from Thomas Broening on Vimeo.

Mr. Anderson goes to the beach

2010-08-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

Mr. Anderson goes to the beach from Thomas Broening on Vimeo.

Second Short

2010-08-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

I shot a second short this week . A bit more complicated with some car to car jib shots and a little crane move. In the middle of the edit now.

Mr. Anderson: The Short

2010-07-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Mr. Anderson from Thomas Broening on Vimeo.

Editing

2010-07-19T20:55:00.001-07:00

Slogging through Final Cut Pro and have run through four different rounds of editing. I feel like I am getting close.

First Short

2010-07-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

I shot my first short last week and really enjoyed the process. I have spent the last month casting, story boarding and location scouting.

The process was not as difficult as I expected but certainly a challenge. I found myself dealing with the same issues I have dealt with since I fist picked up a camera. Waiting for light. Putting the subject within a frame. But with motion I had to think about how all the shots would fit together and also had to think about the camera moving.

Mike Sugrue has been super helpful throughout and has always been willing to answer any questions I had no matter how simple minded they were. Archibald was there on day of the shoot and stuck it out on a very long day.

Emailer

2010-07-07T07:18:00.002-07:00

Rhino

2010-06-17T16:28:00.001-07:00

New Project: Endangered

2010-05-21T15:19:00.001-07:00

New project

2010-05-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

I just started a new ice project. I tried to make them myself but was not happy with the result so I had San Francisco Ice work on them. Stay tuned for the results.

Communication Arts Photo Annual

2010-04-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

New Section on Website

2010-04-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

Here

Still Life for Discover Magazine

2010-04-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Archive Ad

2010-03-31T09:43:00.001-07:00

Cover

2010-03-30T13:33:00.001-07:00

Moss Last 4

2010-03-29T19:37:00.001-07:00

Moss :2 more

2010-03-27T06:59:00.001-07:00

Moss

2010-03-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

Start of new project

2010-03-15T16:57:00.001-07:00

New Promo cards

2010-03-13T10:23:00.000-08:00

TB on Heather Morton Blog

2010-03-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Here

Giant Final

2010-02-23T19:08:00.001-08:00

New blog: The Photography Post

2010-02-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

Here

LeBron, Steve Jobs and my man servant

2010-02-14T18:17:00.000-08:00

I was packing up a bunch of film and came across a whole stack of polaroid books. For years every time I shot a job I put a polaroid in a note book and ended up with dozens of books before switching to shooting mostly digital. I opened one up today and came across a week in early 2004 that looked especially fruitful. Lebron and Steve Jobs in same week though I don't remember having a personal man servant that year.

Half a photo

2010-02-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

Flower Meat Finals

2010-02-03T20:02:00.001-08:00

I need to come up with a better name for this series. The butcher of barrows rd or meat field both miss the mark. For now I working on making a promo card, an ad, an emailer and updating website with new work.

The Giant Conversation

2010-02-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

I just got this early jpeg back from the retoucher. I am trying to decide whether to finish this image or not. I sent it to a friend and he said it "looked like a job that turned out good enough for the client". Not much of an endorsement I must say.

Archive Ad

2010-01-29T07:50:00.000-08:00

The Green Eyed Monster:Julia Fullerton-Batten

2010-01-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

Here

Shooting Parts

2010-01-25T15:54:00.001-08:00

We finally had a break in the weather where we can start putting together parts of a couple images we are working on.

Poultry

2010-01-25T14:39:00.001-08:00

Pig Head

2010-01-22T14:22:00.001-08:00

The Green Eyed Monster: John Clang

2010-01-20T21:13:00.000-08:00

Here

Top of the food chain

2010-01-20T20:36:00.000-08:00

Last week I went to Chinatown in search of a fish to photograph. I had two of my girls with me. We walked into a large market on 12^th street here in Oakland.

Each customer seemed intent on handling each and every piece of fish laid out on huge beds of ice before making a final selection which invariably turned out to be the initial fish fingered many minutes earlier.

I have observed this phenomenon years ago at Macys. I once saw a woman methodically unfold and examine every shirt on a four by eight foot table stacked 8 shirts high before heading off empty handed.

I guess it is just cultural. I have on more than one occasion come precipitously close to getting my hand slapped for almost making physical contact with a piece of fruit at a Parisian peddler’s stall. I think they would have been only mildly more offended if I had attempted to take a crap on the apples.

At the fish market we decided to have a look around and came upon large tanks filled with all kinds of crustaceans, fish and amphibians. We rounded the corner and saw a squat man with rubber boots all dressed in white beating two giant catfish the size of small dogs to death with a wooden dowel. The girls were fascinated by what they saw. They were not afraid nor were they giddy. They just stared while they held hands.

Lobster

2010-01-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

The Green Eyed Monster: Craig Cutler

2010-01-14T17:50:00.000-08:00

Here

Fish

2010-01-13T14:49:00.001-08:00

Website update and emailer

2010-01-12T15:54:00.001-08:00

Here

New Flower Series

2010-01-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a rough scan of 8X10 contact sheet from a new series I just started. A neighbor mentioned that he thought it looked like the animal series from a few years ago. .
That is my goal. To bring the same sensibility to anything I point the camera at regardless of what it is so that whatever I am shooting it still looks like one of my photographs.

Animal Series

New Friday Feature:The Green Eyed Monster

2010-01-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

Every friday I will feature the work of a photographer whose work I admire.

First Up :Dwight Eschliman

The Middle

2010-01-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

In addition to the lake/climber images I am also working on a new still life series. I have an idea but am at that point in the process where I am not at all convinced its going to work out.

Right now is the best time . I have the germ of an idea that is propelling me forward and gets me excited. As soon as I wake up I can't wait to go to work on it.

In the beginning it blows. In the beginning you have no ideas and are convinced you will never have one again.

I don't care for the end. At the end all is worked out and there is no doubt in the process and it is just about executing the original conceit. It becomes like a job. The end is about finishing and paying attention.

But the end is what separates the men from the boys. The wheat from the chaff. The clever from the sublime. Well you get the idea. The end is where the masters live.

New Years Resolution # 2

2010-01-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

Create new work.

I have begun a new project that will involve some compositing. I spent a couple days driving around western Marin County scouting and found this lake I think will work for a background Also I think I will use this rock which I found on a magazine shoot.

Palm Press

2010-01-04T18:13:00.000-08:00

This image was used by Palm Press in a greeting card. I have always been impressed by them and was excited they were interested in this shot.

Bread Finals

2010-01-04T09:42:00.000-08:00

New Years Resolution # 1

2010-01-04T07:03:00.001-08:00

Blog more. Promise.

Business Week Cover

2009-12-21T19:54:00.001-08:00

Brioche and Pan de Mie

2009-12-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

APA Party

2009-12-01T15:54:00.001-08:00

Here

Elizabeth Avedon

2009-11-25T13:57:00.000-08:00

Here

Rye Bread

2009-11-06T13:27:00.000-08:00

Large Camera Stand/Small Studio

2009-10-22T11:44:00.001-07:00

Bread

2009-10-20T16:48:00.000-07:00

Archive Ad

2009-10-05T14:51:00.001-07:00

Sod Promo

2009-09-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

Stick Around :Life gets interesting

2009-09-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here is an Ad I shot a while ago that finally ran in the Geographic.

After Capture Magazine profiles TB

2009-08-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

“If I didn’t care about my own work,
I might as well be an accountant—it’d be
an easier way to go for sure. Ever since I’ve
started photography, I’ve been doing work
for myself. If there was another way to do it,
I would. If I could be happy just taking pictures
for other people and not taking pictures
for myself, I’d do it. But I’ve always felt
compelled to make photographs for myself.
Photography is such a gift in the way that
through the simple act of looking at something
and giving it your full attention you
can transform a simple, mundane thing and
make it beautiful and thought-provoking.”

" After graduation,
he wanted to be a documentary photographer,
and left for the retirement town of Sun
City, AZ, to document the community that
was developed in the 50s. In the process, he
became burned out with photography. “I
sold all my equipment, moved out to California
and stopped shooting for five or six
years,” Broening says. “I honestly thought I
was done shooting. But during the hiatus I
continued to see photographs all the time.
Mostly I was struck by how light fell on
something and then I would think about
where in the scene the photograph was. I
think I am hard-wired that way. Strange as
it may sound, you don’t need a camera to
be a photographer.”

Stanford Magazine for Susan Scandrett

2009-08-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

TB on Flak Photo

2009-08-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

Here

Sod is up on TB.com

2009-08-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

Here

Archive Ad

2009-08-07T07:21:00.001-07:00

Snow

2009-08-05T15:31:00.001-07:00

I think I am done with Sod project.

Sir Fenn Makes the Big Time

2009-08-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Shaun Fenn, former assistant, makes it into Communication Arts.
http://www.commarts.com/fresh/shaun-fenn.html

Which one?

2009-07-29T15:37:00.001-07:00

Cranking out more editorial

2009-07-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

Heal

2009-07-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

It looks like that as the result of an injury I will have to put my career as a professinal pickup soccer player to the side. Which means I will have to go to the good old fall back:photography. I have been cranking on a bunch of editorial the last few weeks while I wait for my leg to heal.

Golf Outtake

2009-07-16T21:17:00.001-07:00

Sod Edit

2009-07-15T12:15:00.001-07:00