Another busy week at RedEye in Chicago. I shot 4 covers this week & a spread on c2e2. Today there was a great spread of Superman Vs. Batman content for which I shot a cover with Superman & Batman action figures having it out. Designer Sara Amato did a great job designing the cover and lending art direction on this one. To accomplish the image I held a smoke machine and threw foam pieces and sand while Sara hit the shutter for me. The strings holding up superman were photoshopped out while his laser eyes were photoshopped in. If my smoke machine hadn't set off the Tribune Tower's smoke detector I would have done the laser eyes in camera as well... cant win em all.
Chicago
RedEye Covers from 2015
My fifth year at Chicago's RedEye was a creatively productive but tumultuous one. I wanted to share a gallery of a few of my favorite print covers and spreads I was a part of over 2015 as a photographer or illustrator.
I'm really proud of all the great reporters and designers I work with over at RedEyeChicago.com . We are a really small, but tight knit team. They've given a lot of trust and I'm thankful for that.
Looking forward to what 2016 will bring.
Happy Holidays folks!
Portrait of Aaron Sorkin
I had a brief shoot with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin at Chicago's Peninsula Hotel this week for RedEye. My photos appear on the cover and inside of today's ( 10/16/15 ) RedEye print edition.
I've done countless celebrity portraits at the Peninsula, so I'm always trying to think of new spots there. I was limited this time between shooting in a hotel room or in the hallway. I had a 300mm lens with so I dropped a chair in the middle of the hallway and backed up as far as I could ( 50 ft? ), taking advantage of the spacial compression of zoom lenses.
Aaron came and sat down after his interview with Matt Pais ( Read & watch it here: trib.in/1LmbBhX ). Maids scurried down the hallway for the first 5 minutes, preventing much photography from happening but allowing time for a staring contest with a certain famous screenwriter. As soon as the hall cleared I got my shots, Aaron thanked me & was gone.
Wish I had a chance to make some small talk, next time I'll bring walkie talkies.
Aaron Sorkin. ( Lenny Gilmore / RedEye ) ©
Portrait of Chicago Blackhawk, Marian Hossa
Marian Hossa met me in the lobby of the United Center for a 5 minute portrait shoot for the cover of the RedEye newspaper. I directed him over to a spot of light splashing across a nearby staircase. I made some small talk about what he'd been doing with the Stanley Cup during the off season, he told me about taking it back to his home country of Slovakia. He turned his head towards a nearby window and I quickly snapped a pic.
Hossa did an interview with my colleague Leonor Vivanco, read it by clicking here
MARIAN HOSSA. ( LENNY GILMORE / REDEYE )
Alicia & Geoff Wedding
Roman candle battle in Chicago
I was heading home Tuesday night, about 10:30 p.m., maybe 10:45 p.m., south down Western Avenue near Adams Street where fireworks started popping off all around my car. Looking around I saw teenagers in two groups on either side of Western pointing Roman candles at each other, as sparks ricocheted off my car and the vehicles around me. I drove to Van Buren St. and turned my car around while pulling my camera into my lap. I parked my car and walked into the fray, aware that this might be the beginning of something less playful.
I made my way into the the group of men and teenagers grouped on the West Side of Western Avenue A man asked why I was shooting and I said I was a photojournalist for RedEye.
e yelled to the group to leave me alone and then told me to make them look good as I put my camera in front of my face and pulled my button-up shirt over my head to keep sparks from getting in my face or hair. I began photographing the group on the East Side of Western Ave as they ran at the group coming from the West Side of Western Avenue. Meeting in the middle of the street with Roman candles pointed towards each other, they engulfed each other in rhythmic streams of sparks.
I backed up to the sidewalk as a cop drove into the middle of the battle, breaking it up as one young teenager pointed his Roman candle over his shoulder sprinting away. The cop chased one group around a nearby vacant area until they had all dispersed in all directions. Turning around I realized the other hadn't stuck around to watch the cop's actions and I was standing alone. Pulling my shirt down I walked back to my car and finished the drive home.
An onlooker told me the two groups were rivals of some sort, but that you weren't sure. I think it was mostly all for fun; men of all ages like playing at fighting.
Portrait shoot with Leon Bridges
Leon Bridges photographed shortly before his performance at Chicago's Green Mill
Loved shooting Leon, his style was perfect for the Green Mill. Check out his music below.