Biography

Photographic Craftsman / Certified Professional Photographer / Owner
randy@brogen.com

Randy Brogen is a published, international award-winning, Certified Professional Photographer (CPP), only one of 46 in the state of Massachusetts. He earned the Photographic Craftsman degree from the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) in 2014 for his contributions to the industry as an orator, author and mentor. 

Randy thrives on capturing special moments for his clients that are often times fleeting and then truly enjoys watching their reactions when they see the final results. Randy has always had a passion for creating images as seen in the various murals he drew for local game rooms as a teenager. He enhanced his creativity and technical skills during his career in the US Army where he used cutting edge technologies to develop new ideas. This led to a 25+ year, all-encompassing technology career in the private sector culminating with Randy working as the Chief Technology Officer for an international firm in downtown Boston.  Randy finally took the leap into photography about 10 years ago during the “digital revolution” since his technology background made a perfect fit with the more technology driven processes, techniques and equipment in the photography arena. 

 Randy specializes in not specializing.  He is driven by his inner desire to create the absolute best results for his clients regardless of whether it is in Portrait, Architectural, Commercial or Sports Photography. Randy is motivated by his desire to constantly explore and learn something new, he will photograph any subject that is interesting and piques his curiosity. As a result, he has been awarded numerous state, regional and international awards in print competitions since 2009. Most recently, PPA named Randy the 2014 Platinum Photographer of the Year. Randy's work was also accepted into PPA's prestigious "Loan Collection" during both the 2013 and 2014 International Print Competition. During the 2014 Professional Photographers Association of New England's (PPANE) annual convention and image competition, Randy won the Best of Show award for the best image in the entire competition as well as Best Portrait award in the entire competition.

During the 2014 PPA Northeast District competition, one of Randy's images was the second highest scoring image in the entire competition, scoring an amazing 97 out of a perfect 100. His work was also recognized by various panels of Master Photographers and was awarded the Kodak Gallery Portrait Award in 2012 for the highest scoring portrait print, as well as the Court of Honor award in 2011 and 2014 for the highest scoring Illustrative/Conceptual print in the Professional Photographers Association of Massachusetts (PPAM) image Competition. He also achieved the fourth highest overall scoring print and one of the top 20 scoring cases at the PPA 2012 Northeast District Competition. In addition, some of his prints have been included in the prestigious PPA Loan Collection, PPA General Collection and Showcase book and placed on display at different venues throughout the year. 

Several of Randy’s images can be seen in books such as “The Best of World: Photography”, Volume I, “The Best of America: Photography”, Volume II, the “PlusOne Collection”, and “Changing Planet, Changing Health”; newspapers such as The Boston Globe, The Burlington Union and The Concord Journal, magazines like Boston and Boston Common, and online publications such as National Lacrosse League Insider, Boston.com, Wicked Local and The Patch. In addition, many of his images have been featured on the Fox25 and Channel 5 news…most memorably one of his Boston skyline images was used as the backdrop during the summer of 2011 for all Channel 5 Weather reports. Randy was also honored by The New England Aquarium in the fall of 2010 when they created an exclusive gallery of his marine life images, and then again in the summer of 2011 with the cover shot for their member magazine, “blue”. 

Randy is the immediate Past President of the Professional Photographers Association of Massachusetts, an affiliate of the Professional Photographers of America. Randy has served on the Professional Photographic Certification Commission for the last three years as a liaison with the responsibility of helping other photographers earn their certification. This past June, Randy recently completed a 3-year term as one of the Massachusetts Counselors to the PPA National Council helping to govern and grow the industry. 

Since Randy has the innate desire to learn and be the best he possibly can be at his craft he continues his education through seminars and conventions developed specifically for professional photographers. He is 98 percent of the way to earn his next major achievement of “Master Photographer”. He also spends countless hours reading various journals, books, etc. and practicing current techniques and styles, as well as new ideas and compositions. 

He looks forward to “work” every day, and loves that his photography provides a portal for those who cross his path to get a glimpse of how he sees the world.

Certified Professional Photographer / Studio Manager caroline@brogen.com

Caroline Brogen is one of only 55 Certified Professional Photographers (CPP) in Massachusetts, an internationally award-winning photographer, as well as the Brogen Photography Studio Manager. Caroline has been interested in the arts, especially dance and photography since she was a young child. She began her creative journey as a dancer when she was three years olds and pursues this avocation still today. Her love for photography also developed at an early age; growing up, her family always used slides, pictures and videos to document daily life, special events, trips, etc and then to reminisce about fun times. A tradition she continues as an adult through digital scrapbooks of her life with her husband and three young children.

In “Corporate America” Caroline acquired over 25 years of administrative, technical, educational and management experience working in various roles. She is an exceptional leader in managing various business functions, with a history of improving efficiencies and operations. As a “Mom” she has been “in your shoes” ordering images and merchandise from other vendors, and as such listens intently to client feedback using it to help her think “outside the box" to provide original, customized ideas within the Photos by R. Brogen services and packages. Her goal is to have the studio processes as “client friendly” as possible.

Influenced by her creative mother and business savvy father, Caroline has realized that it is possible to marry the right and left sides of her brain…allowing her to be a successful businesswoman running the studio with her husband, Randy, in addition to being an innovative photographer specializing in infants and childrens portraits, as well as dance photography. In addition, she likes photographing vintage and antique items and experimenting with monochromatic treatments and textures to make a good image even more powerful.

Caroline is a member of the Professional Photographers Association (PPA) where she has been awarded multiple state, regional and international ribbons in print competitions since 2011. She earned her Certified Professional Photographer designation in September 2015.

Whether behind the lens or behind the desk, Caroline strives to make Brogen Photography clients feel like they’re working with old friends not a vendor, and enjoys creating a unique and memorable experience every time.