tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-95831532009-04-08T00:52:43.201-05:00The adventures of a Chicago photographer (© 1984-2008)Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.comBlogger252125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-90749582119419692722008-08-06T17:07:00.002-05:002008-08-06T17:18:48.721-05:00

I’ve been doing a lot of fashion shooting lately. It’s always intriguing to make interesting photography of beautiful clothes on a lovely model. Clothes are always a challenge because I have to find the right balance between making sure the clothes are really prominently featured, but at the same time making a compelling photograph as well.Not all fashion photography can be considered art, but I

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-11861261721537056272008-07-27T03:08:00.002-05:002008-07-27T04:21:08.823-05:00

Today I spent a couple of hours with CSPAN, catching up on two important speeches/news conferences of Barack Obama in Europe. The first was a speech he gave in Berlin on Thursday in front of the Victory Column and crowd of 200,000. There in the Tiergarten where I had walked and photographed 13 years ago during my own visit to Berlin, Senator Obama expressed his vision for a hopeful global

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-76246116701568092382008-07-13T12:02:00.009-05:002008-07-14T11:50:15.188-05:00

I'm finally catching up with my life after the little Detroit adventure for the CIAO BELLA-dolceMODA fashion show @MOCAD. I drove up on Thursday, pretty much stayed up all night and drove back early the next morning. It was an incredible time. My amazing friend and fab hairstylist Jessica James invited me up to photograph the event and we had a blast. It's been about 12 years since I've been to

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-42813870546683828672008-07-09T23:23:00.004-05:002008-07-14T11:57:04.951-05:00

A quick one tonight. I'm off to the Motor City tomorrow to shoot the CIAO BELLA-dolceMODA fashion show at MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit). A fabulous stylist friend of mine called Jessica is doing all the hair for the show and in the midst of one of my busiest summers I can remember, I managed to carve out 24 hours to head up there.The show is called CIAO BELLA-dolceMODA fashion show @

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-58775694511178952672008-07-03T20:52:00.005-05:002008-07-04T01:11:57.702-05:00

Every time I call a phone and get voice mail these days, I find myself suspicious of how long it takes to get to the beep. How long have we had voice mail? Or even answering machines? Does anyone not know how to leave a message? So why the long list of instructions?One theory of mine involves minutes. Mobile phone minutes. Since all wireless phone companies round up, if they can get you to stay

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-11258823953306577612008-06-24T22:33:00.003-05:002008-06-25T00:11:21.621-05:00

I'm having the most wonderful Griffin & Sabine experience these days. I tend to keep these blogs fairly vague and general in nature, saving the really personal writing for my book (still coming along nicely, thank you!). But almost a month ago, I began corresponding with a very engaging woman over eight thousand miles away.We've never spoken or met. It began with a kind comment about my

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-89899505835273392742008-06-21T23:04:00.002-05:002008-06-21T23:26:39.173-05:00

I'm in a funny mood tonight. Not funny haha, but funny bemused. I'm smiling a lot these days, even though there are plenty of reasons out there not to. But I just feel so damned lucky anyway.I spent the day photographing a beautiful new model, and then heading out to Taste of Randolph with one of my great friends and two of her friends. We were quite the international bunch, trading stories of

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-29360820310415637242008-06-16T13:35:00.004-05:002008-06-16T15:43:34.650-05:00

The Paris Foncé (Dark Paris) show was really great on Saturday. Had a lot of fun and so many wonderful people attended. I love when my loft gallery is full of people, laughing, talking, looking at the art, heading up to the roof for more fun.Somehow the day of these events always leaves me with never quite enough time to get everything ready and as usual I was jumping into the shower 15 minutes

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-13248752902507961142008-06-01T14:50:00.003-05:002008-06-01T16:00:18.620-05:00

Here's a new development for the neighborhood. A tour bus stops right outside my window every hour. It's one of those English double decker buses. So if I happen to be walking around in my robe... or worse... and wave, the tourists get a little more than they bargained for. Kinda funny.I saw a father with three young boys ages about 5 to 10 years old on Michigan Avenue the other day. The youngest

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-90462453958565331072008-05-30T14:13:00.003-05:002008-05-30T14:28:09.941-05:00

Saturday, 14 June 2008 7pm - midnightParis Foncé (Dark Paris)Billy Sheahan Photography Studio Gallery1017 W. Washington, Suite 3F Chicago, ILThe moment I click the shutter is really the moment for me. Finding the right subject. Composing. Waiting. Click. The moment of commitment. But there are other aspects of photography I also enjoy. Standing back and looking at a group of images displayed

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-48552935370191702172008-05-16T11:35:00.005-05:002008-05-16T11:48:05.820-05:00

There are plenty of reasons why Paris is called the City of Light. Certainly because of it being a center of education and ideas as well as it being an early adopter of the beautiful street lighting when day turns to night. But beyond that, I find that even the daylight has a certain quality that is unmatched in most places in the world. It's perhaps the most evident during the Paris spring.I

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-87831059448148519642008-04-28T14:11:00.002-05:002008-04-28T14:19:32.774-05:00

I put up a gallery of some of my work from Paris. Some of the images still need a little work, but it's a pretty good example of what I've been doing here.Enjoy!Galerie de Paris

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-53914152039993141902008-04-28T10:24:00.003-05:002008-04-28T10:41:53.646-05:00

A few more from the wee hours excursions...And to prove I was actually out in the daylight once in a while...

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-37093783521794405442008-04-27T10:07:00.002-05:002008-04-27T10:46:07.063-05:00

A few people have asked me what my little apartment in Le Marais looks like. It's small, but perfect for my needs and I put together a rather Picasso-like photo montage of it.My midnight excursions have been continuing here. I've been walking between 10 and 15 miles a day, setting out in a direction with a particular type of photograph to make and I don't come back until I know I have it.And

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-9590382200783787262008-04-26T00:37:00.002-05:002008-04-26T01:05:36.708-05:00

I've turned into a bit of a vampire in Paris. I've been making photographs almost exclusively at night while I've been here. The images are different than any I've made before here. There is a dark quality about them. And not just because it's night. Or maybe it's just what I'm perceiving in them as I edit them down.You decide.

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-42554573791044322752008-04-25T12:38:00.002-05:002008-04-25T13:04:17.428-05:00

An hour ago I saw a young woman jump off the Pont Neuf bridge into the River Seine trying to kill herself. I was standing in the middle of the bridge and had just pulled out my camera trying to decide if the light was right to make a photograph of the sun beginning to set when something on my right side caught my eye. She didn't get up on the stone wall, she had a running start and in one bound

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-76575433445799645442008-04-20T16:27:00.003-05:002008-04-20T16:56:26.850-05:00

"Do you know Paris?"I was unpacking and my landlord, Eric, stopped by to check on me and make sure everything was good. "Yes," I said. "It feels like being home again."My apartment is in Le Marais, so I've been hanging out on the right bank for the first few days. But it seems like I have so many memories here that I'll be heading back into some of my favorite rive gauche neighborhoods before too

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-70527020356271981862008-04-15T17:13:00.003-05:002008-04-15T17:20:00.299-05:00

When I was in high school, I was the lead singer and keyboard player for a garage band. At the time, we were pretty sure we were the real thing. I remember one week discussing with my band mates that perhaps we didn't have to study for our chemistry exam the following Friday because we might get signed before then. Luckily we studied for the test anyway.So when a friend of mine recently asked me

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-22078042311213418802008-04-02T17:53:00.003-05:002008-04-02T18:28:18.732-05:00

I feel like I just graduated from accounting school. I've literally spent almost every waking moment in the last month recreating the entire financial history of the photography business from scratch. My accountant and I agreed that the software I had been using was slowing me down and we decided to bite the bullet and switch to something else.I think it was a good idea and as of last weekend, we

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-90571932848909899642008-03-28T23:43:00.002-05:002008-03-28T23:55:09.610-05:00

Good energy. Sometimes when I arrive at a place I've never visited before, I instantly get a sense or a vibe from it. Part of it might be my state of mind when I get there, but I think it's something more than that. Some places just have something creative, artistic or even mystical about them. You can feel it hanging in the air.Santa Fe, New Mexico is one of those places. I recently spent a week

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-70906907019049908412008-03-17T11:23:00.003-05:002008-03-17T11:32:22.870-05:00

For those of you who prefer not to get newsprint on your delicate fingers, here's my picture from page two of the Chicago Tribune today in the online edition as well.The picture on page two is a liiiiiiiittle bit tiny. But at least I'm above Rezko.If the link above doesn't work, go to the Chicago Tribune home page and scroll down and click on "Photo of the Week Winners."

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-61248893917385892632008-03-16T13:52:00.002-05:002008-03-16T14:01:45.959-05:00

It's been a while since I've written here, but that's because lots of great things have been going on. Santa Fe was wonderful and more than I could have ever hoped for.And tomorrow (Monday) I'm going to be in the Chicago Tribune on page 2 for their new Photo of the Week. It's a photograph I made two weeks ago downtown looking out over the Wrigley Building as the sun was beginning to set. I made

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-39906963988063046332008-02-24T17:34:00.005-06:002008-02-24T22:24:45.113-06:00

You can purchase a 16x11" signed print of the photograph in this postcard for $25 for a limited time. Details below....People ask me all the time if I've switched to shooting only digital. I always say that I'm shooting a lot of digital, but there is still something about film I love. If I have a good thing going on a shoot, I make sure to capture a bit of it using one of my beloved film cameras.

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-44686851455954093762008-02-23T22:33:00.003-06:002008-02-24T01:05:34.822-06:00

Funny story. Today I'm driving up from Albuquerque, New Mexico up to the mountains in Santa Fe, going over my itinerary, when I realize I'm here a day early. Not sure how I managed to do that, but my workshop doesn't begin until tomorrow and here I am.It's even funnier because I haven't really slept since Wednesday night, as I've been frantically trying to fill a couple of photography orders (

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9583153.post-32361493152495742402008-02-17T14:38:00.004-06:002008-02-17T15:43:04.085-06:00

*** Nerd Alert ***This blog entry will probably be of little interest to most people who read my blog, but, for those photographers who, like me, are using Apple's Aperture and Abobe's Lightroom, this may be of interest.This past week, Apple released the long awaited version of Aperture 2.0. I was an early adopter of Aperture, pretty much the day it came out. I loved the idea of what it provided

Billy Sheahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18119667291273416529noreply@blogger.com0