Thomas Boggan PhotographyA spot to post thoughts and recent work

OK, so one day I’m walking along a canal looking for wild art when I see a sign that says “Llama Rescue.” Well, what’s a llama rescue? Why here? Are there really that many llamas that need rescuing? Can I get a llama? What is a llama good for? Why is this guy on the bike yelling at me?Being a photographer for a newspaper means I get to go up to the door of the house with the sign, knock on the door, and say “hey, can I do a story about your llamas and rescue?” Had fun shooting this, learned a lot about llamas (they do spit by the way, but usually just at each other–and it’s a lot of fun to watch it in ssssllllooooowwww motion while editing the video), and as a bonus the rescue had Queen Creek connections so I got to work with Sarah (my wife) on the story–she covers Queen Creek for the paper.[flash http://thomasboggan.com/flashvideos/llamarescue.flv]  

Trapeze school.  Had fun watching it.  Had fun doing it.  Now they call me “Big Top Tommy.” Hup. [flash http://thomasboggan.com/flashvideos/trapezeschool.flv]  

…for times just like I experience when I shot this video.  Teachers getting grant money….prize patrol style.[flash http://thomasboggan.com/flashvideos/prizepatrol.flv]  

Shot this at a festival of football fanfare (I [heart] alliteration).  Basically it was a carnival of football-themed games and exhibits on the front lawn of the University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale, Ariz., the week before the Superbowl. The line to get in was a bit long.[flash http://thomasboggan.com/flashvideos/nflexperience.flv]  

When I was a kid in elementary school, I spent a lot of time in speech therapy. So I guess I kind of felt for some of these kids. This video’s from another still photo/video assignment mashup. Sometimes those get tough and the quality of one element, the video/audio or stills, gets neglected.  I made sure to leave the video cam on a tripod pointed at the group while I walked around and made stills.  Were the stills as well made as they would have been if I shot the whole time? Not sure.  But the audio for this–the teacher stressing the sounds of letters–may have helped some people get an idea of what goes on with speech therapy. The photo that ran in the paper ended up looking like a shot of the teacher making a goofy face. [flash http://thomasboggan.com/flashvideos/speech.flv]  

These past few videos I’ve posted are in no way in any kind of chronological order, though this video was one of the first ones I produced.  I have to give a big thanks to the Tribune’s video master, Tony D’Astoli.  He left a long TV video career and started shooting video for the Tribune’s website, www.eastvalleytribune.com. The guy’s got like 5,000 Emmys (well, some where closer to mid-20′s, but that’s still damn good) and a grip of other very well respected awards.  But most important he knows his stuff and he’s a great guy. Needless to say, the photo department’s (and my) venture into video would still be way behind if it wasn’t for Tony.  He gave some great pointers on this video that really helped to keep the pace going and keep it from wandering all over the place.[flash http://thomasboggan.com/flashvideos/gilprograms.flv]  

OMG! Kids are shouting and chanting to keep their school from closing, I wish there was some way I could capture that sound, all I have is a stil camera. But wait–to the photo mobile to fetch the video cam! Horaaay… [end sarcasm] actually enjoyed making this video. Though producing it on deadline was kind of a kill joy.[flash http://thomasboggan.com/flashvideos/pimaralley.flv]  

A day at the botanical gardens and releasing frozen butterflies.  The butterflies were frozen and shipped in envelopes packaged in boxes.  Once the bugs (yeah, bugs) warmed up they fluttered back to life–or dropped to the ground, causing me to tippy-toe around so I didn’t end up the jerk with the camera who massacred all the new butterflies.[flash http://thomasboggan.com/flashvideos/butterflies.flv] 

Here’s the first video I shot with HD (Canon HV-20) and edited with Final Cut Express.  It was a business preview for a new shopping center.  As I remember I had to go back and get the audio a second time because I messed up the mic connections. [flash http://thomasboggan.com/flashvideos/malladvance.flv]