Light, Lines & Designs

Moving To WordPress

2010-11-17T16:04:00.013-06:00

Blogger was a terrific app to begin blogging with. Yet, I discovered after a year that I wanted more control over the layout of my posts and also hoped to combine my blog with my portfolio web sites. After much research and learning I moved all my work to a site developed with WordPress. It isn't for everyone, but it works just fine for me. Thanks so much for all the support I received from Google and Blogger. See you in a new place at http://harveytillisphotography.com/.

2010-09-12T17:04:00.002-05:00

I will allow this slideshow and the title to speak for itself.

2010 Photos So Far

2010-08-03T07:51:00.004-05:00

It's time to review the work I have been doing since early this year. Wide variety of clients including nonprofit, corporate and government agencies. This doesn't include my musicians portfolio which continues to grow and remains a truly exciting, fun project.

2010-04-07T21:12:00.003-05:00

Some images stay in my mind. Here they are as a slide show of personal favorites from the First Annual Chi-Town Jazz Festival in March, 2010. The event was organized by guitarist John Moulder. All the musicians donated their time. All the venues donated their cover charges. Over $17,000 was raised in 6 days for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Catholic Charities, West Suburban P.A.D.S. and Northern Illinois Food Bank. So many people in the Chicago jazz community came together for the cause including the Don Stienberg Quartet, Kick the Cat, Evanston SPACE, the Ryan Cohan Quartet with Geof Bradfield, Corey Wilkes Quartet, the Chicago Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble with Victor Garcia & Darwin Noguera, the Jazz Showcase, the Rich Corpolongo Group, the Jim Trompeter Trio, Bobby Lewis' Quartet with Jeremy Kahn, Stew Miller, and Mike Raynor, Ron Perrillo's Quartet with Scott Burns, Dennis Carroll, and Greg Artry, Andy's Jazz Club, the Josh Moshler & Mike Lebrun Quintet with John Moulder, John Deitemyer and John Tate, Grazyna Auguscik's Quintet with John McLean, Rob Clearfield, Matt Ulery and John Deltemyer, The Skinny with Kyle Asche, The Green Mill, Marbin featuring Dani Rabin and Danny Marcovich, John Moulder's Quintet, and Paul Wertico's Mid East Mid West Alliance at Fitzgerald's.

New Series Started - "Night Light"

2010-04-01T21:01:00.006-05:00

I decided late last night while driving home from a shoot to start a new series and title it "Night Light." Don't know where it will take me. Here are the first three candidates. Comments welcome. And thanks.

Cocktails In Paris? No, it's Katerina's

2010-03-29T09:31:00.003-05:00

There is a lovely, moody feeling to this image. I like the light and composition. Not very intense. More serene and cerebral. Two friends meeting over drinks at an intimate cafe. Not in Paris. On Irving Park at Katerina's in Chicago.

Inspired By Mr. Matisse

2010-03-26T10:05:00.007-05:00

I visited the Art Institute of Chicago recently to preview the new Matisse exhibit, "Matisse: Radical Invention: 1913-1917." It was inspiring for me as I develop my eye and skills to see how he had experimented and reworked his paintings and sculptures so many times to achieve the effects, goals and feelings he sought. Of particular interest was his painting, "Interior with Goldfish," a room he had lived in in Paris. It had "...a distinctive light, warmed by the reflection of the sun on walls opposite." Warm light and reflections were two images in my mind when I came across this scene the next night while shooting on location. I loved the feel of the room, the colors, the green lamp on the wall, and the angle of view. All pretty mundane perhaps, but taken as a whole it moved me enough to shoot a bracket and work this finished image up. My inspiration accompanies it.

Changing The Way I Shoot?

2010-03-17T14:15:00.002-05:00

I saw William Eggleston's exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago yesterday and found Robert Caplan, a freelance NY shooter online last week. These two have viewpoints different from mine. I am intrigued by them and want to explore my interpretation of what they do. Eggleston's skill and mastery of craft impressed me greatly. I truly wasn't interested in him before yesterday and was tired of looking at his images. But seeing them the way they were presented was another matter. I especially loved his angles, lighting, composition and subject matter. I don't want to use a view camera though. Have to figure that one out.

Robert Caplan exposes for certain areas of his images and allows the other areas to go dark. I seldom if ever do that. And his compositions are beautiful. Very inspiring. I am so glad there is an internet.

Photos From SPACE - Terence Blanchard

2010-03-02T20:38:00.003-06:00

Terence Blanchard performing at SPACE in Evanston, IL February, 28,2010.

2010-02-27T12:16:00.002-06:00

Here is an invitation to my first gallery show of the year. Two photos, “Street Crossing,” and “Duks At Night” were accepted. If you are in the neighborhood next Friday I hope you will stop by. Morpho Gallery, 5216 North Damen, Chicago, IL 60625

As In A Dream

2010-01-31T17:44:00.003-06:00

I saw this scene in my dream and woke with the images fresh in my head. Couldn't wait to get out, take a bus to the subway, then walk to MIllennium Park to see the skaters. Then it was on to the Art Institute. A perfect sunny Sunday!

Art Institute Inspired

2010-01-31T17:07:00.005-06:00

Dramatic play of light and dark - strong diagonals - attention to details - meaning may remain elusive - revolutionary - artistic - unconventional - realistically rendered - allegorical - immediacy - technical - context - characteristic - rapid - bold - abstract - highly cropped - exquisitely pared down - nearly abstract meditation...

Duks At Night

2010-01-23T12:59:00.018-06:00

I have always been fascinated with shooting at night. The first photos I ever took were at night - a statue of George Washington on the steps of the Art Institute of Chicago long ago. Puddles, reflections, window displays, blurs, portraits, even fashion. Push that film. Damn the grain! Create a picture of lines, light and dark that moved me. These days I explore how well my digital camera records at night and how resulting images can be manipulated. Nothing beats shooting at night.

Leon Didn't Move

2010-01-23T12:28:00.006-06:00

What a treat it was to see and hear the legendary Leon Russell recently! He sounded as great as ever. And those songs! “Lady Blue,” “Tightrope,” “This Masquerade,” “Back To The Island,” “A Song For You,” “Bluebird,” “If I Were A Carpenter,” So many more. Close your eyes and that funky, bluesy, New Orleans sound, that distinctive voice and masterful piano playing created a timeless time out of time. Open your eyes and it was a somewhat different story.

The flowing white mustache, beard and hair under a white cowboy hat are still there. So are the dark aviator sunglasses. That slim figure in a white Mississippi Riverboat gambler suit is gone though, replaced by a comfortable Hawaiian shirt covering his more portly torso. He walks with a walking stick now, slowly. And when he sings he just leans into the mic and belts it out. As I said, great sound, great music, but no animation whatsoever to photograph. How do you get a great shot of a great performer when he just doesn’t move?

The answer is, YOU move. And I did. Everywhere I could. In a jam packed room. Looking. Waiting. Hoping for the slightest flicker of life to see and shoot. Nothing. Finally, out of frustration, I just climbed up onstage and crawled behind him. Snap, snap and off I went. Then, with a touch of help from Photoshop I was able to create an image that captured a little of the magic of the night.

Photos That Look Like Paintings – #1

2010-01-16T15:07:00.002-06:00

Sometimes they just strike me that way. Especially when they are blown up larger than they should be.

This image, of Francesca Johnson singing at the Long Room in Chicago, captures that feeling, that atmosphere for me. It was shot in very bad light using an excellent camera pushed near its optimal sensitivity; ISO 3200, mixed warm tungsten lighting, 4 second exposure, f2.0 aperture. Such an exposure always produces “noise” – what used to be called “grain” which we saw when we used film, especially when we pushed it. I loved grain. It was in so many memorable LIFE magazine pictures. I learned to minimize it back in darkroom days, but it was still there. There was a time when I thought photos weren’t real photos without some grain. Now we call it “noise” or “digital noise.”

There are times when you don’t want grain, I mean noise. Like in corporate executive portraits or an annual report. It takes away from the goal. Rate my camera ISO lower, use a larger format camera, use more light to get it done. More often than not, though, I am attracted to scenes that require testing the limits of a camera to capture what I see – what I want to show.

This image is 15x10 inches. I’ll blow it up twice that size to accentuate the noise and mush up the colors. I want to have the image fall apart if you stand too close. Become splotches of color and form. Movement? That’s a plus. Overexposed in areas? So?

This is the first image like this I am posting. When I have 20, I will create a portfolio and mount a show.

Memories From A Road Trip Home

2009-12-30T18:22:00.003-06:00

I relaxed into the colors and light of the time. Looking forward to the drive and visits. Simplified with one digital camera body and one fast 35mm lens just like the old, old days. Knowing that Photoshop would help modify what I saw to reflect what I felt.

Maybe I Shoot Bartenders?

2009-12-23T11:31:00.091-06:00

I have always been fascinated with bars. Don't know why. I didn't spend a lot of time in them growing up. Never needed to stop for a cold one or a cocktail at the end of a busy day. Maybe the lighting, the shadows, all those bottles and glasses of different colors and sizes were endless eye candy for me.

2009 was a year I spent lots of time in bars and clubs. I had decided in January to pursue a project long dreamed about; shoot blues and jazz musicians performing live. I love the music. Love being out late at night. Love meeting new people. And shooting in difficult lighting situations would keep my photo skills sharp. I just had to find some venues that would allow me to move around among paying customers to create the images. I didn't anticipate that I would also be fascinated by the personalities of the bartenders in those venues. Here are four who said, "OK."

Rosa, at Rosa's Lounge, doesn't like to have her photo taken. After watching me work for an evening she finally allowed me to shoot her, cooperating without seeming to. She studied the finished print I gave her for a long time before finally looking up at me and, barely smiling, said, "OK. This is good." That made my night!

Ken owns the Gallery Cabaret. He wears his "Model Citizen" T-shirt on the third Monday of every month when the Model Citizens big band plays there. They are a fantastic group of outstanding jazz musicians from all over the city lead by the brilliant, whacky Brian O'Hern.

Ken is friendly, street smart and tough. His taste in music runs from 1930s ballads to latest rock releases and you can hear that entire kind of mix anytime the nightly live musicians (different every night) are on a break.

Gallery Cabaret is a sliver of a place. Might well be empty at 9:30, but fills up fast and by 11 PM you might not be able to move. On Monday night! It is quite the friendly crowd with many regulars. Ken was instantly open and supportive of me shooting the band. I am grateful and gave him this photo to express my thanks.

Johnny Z works at Gallery Cabaret. He appears to be a fixture, a force, and an institution. To say he is outgoing is an understatement. Never misses a beat. Johnny is fast behind the bar yet still available to whip around front for a quick dance with a beautiful patron. Lots of jewelry and skulls on his clothing. Johnny flipped out when I gave him this picture. He placed it over the cash register. Every time he rang up a sale he took the photo along with customer change to show it off. Very funny - and gratifying.

Ouisie is the bartender Tuesday night at the New Apartment Lounge on east 75th Street when Von Freeman plays. Customers literally come from all over the world to hear Freeman. Young musicians come too in hopes of playing for him. Von calls the young musicians "horses." "Are there any horses in the house?," he yells. "Yes!!" they yell back, holding their horns, sticks, even a full set of vibes. They jam from about 1:30 AM until about 3:00. What a time!

Ouisie, short for Louise, handles them all. She has an aura about her that gives off both a "What you need, baby?" and a "Don't fuck with me!" message. She has lived a life and paid her dues. I think of her as one of the true royalty of the world. This photo is my attempt to capture that side of her personality.

Shooting these bartenders has kept my skills fresh. The lighting is always poor. I never use flash. Photoshop adjustments are always required. I have to compose and work very quickly. Yet, that's the style I prefer. Very photojournalistic. The style I first saw in LIFE magazine growing up. The style I love.

Happy Holidays -- And Welcome To My Blog

2009-12-20T09:47:00.013-06:00

Hello and thanks for visiting. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Welcome to my first blog post.

Thought I would start this adventure with a favorite photo, timely for the season, titled, "Humboldt Park In Winter." I'm using it as a holiday email greeting card to clients and friends. They seem to like it a lot. However, you should be warned that one stock agency describes it as, "Noise/Grain/Chromatic or other artifacts due to low light, blue or purple fringing, high ISO, over-sharpening or post processing techniques." Duh! Yes, I did a lot of work on that image. That's how it got to look as good as it does. (I'll address the issues of noise and post processing techniques in another post.) I will keep offering it for sale anyway. When the limited edition print price passes $10,000 at auction I am sure they will be embarrassed.

This blog starts a search to discover why I shoot the subjects and scenes I shoot. Here is what I know so far...

I always wanted to be a photographer. Always.

I was originally inspired by the weekly arrival of LIFE magazine when I was a kid. My first photo hero was Alfred Eisenstaedt. The first fashion photographer I noticed was Richard Avedon because he made his models look like people and his style was documentary. Danny Lyon, Shomei Tomatsu, and Sebastiao Salgado were the documentary shooters who most inspired me when I was getting started.

I believe that a good photo moves the viewer, touches her emotionally.

The best quote heard recently was made by Chase Jarvis who said, "the best camera in the world is the one you carry." I also remember a mantra heard long ago, "shoot a lot and show the best."

I shoot pictures because I have to. It feels right. I am most at ease and feel most satisfied when I am shooting.

Kindness, respect and curiosity are the qualities needed to shoot my best portraits.

I am inspired by light, lines and designs. I see order and design everywhere, even in chaos. Always have. Thought it was a curse for too long.

I shoot to deepen my understanding of people and to give meaning to my life.

That's enough for a first posting.