Shooting at Festivals is a special item. Normally Shooting is very much restricted. At the Bregenz Opera Festival the restrictions are pretty limited: No Flash! But on the other side I do not want to disturb my neighbors while shooting - especially if your neighbors are from your family.... For me it was pretty interesting to shoot there because the location and the timing is giving you great opportunities. The performance starts directly after sunset: almost the first half of the performance offers you blue hour photos.... (If the weather is fine. We had been there with thunderstorm and the ski clothes on because the temperature level was below 10ºC - in August!).

Another reason why I like to shoot there is the stage. Bregenz Opera festival is building amazing stages. They are pretty expensive that they have to use it for 2 years. (If you get the inspiration to watch the Magic Flute: 2014 is another chance!) The stage is changing for each act. The stage is in the lake. Boats are part of the production as well as special effects like fire work. And sometimes the actors have to go into the lake - and divers bring them back...

One of the effects of the stage this year has been tha magic forest that has been just blown up. It had internal light that changes depending on the acts content...

Camerawise I used a special setup. My Panasonic Lumix G5 has a silent mode - using an electronic shutter. This mode has some limitations (ISO is limited up to ISO 1600 and the longest shutter speed is 1s) but the camera is perfectly loudness. Great for this kind of environment. The lenses I took with me was the X-vario 3,5-5,6/14-42mm Power O.I.S lens as well as the Leica 2,8/45 mm lens. Both have image stabilization which is making shooting easy. And both are very tiny and easy to carry in you sacco´s pockets...  

Sometimes the changes on stage are coming fast. If you have the 45mm lens on (with the crop factor of 2 the effective focal length is 90mm comparable to full format) ad you do not have the time to change the lens another option is to shoot a panorama. Like the Image above: It is really sharp - and has 34,5 Megapixel!!! Really amazing!!

The stage is changing permanently. There are lot of effects build in. And all movements are completely loudless - as well as the G5!

You can imagine: A stage which is using all basic elements Fire, Water, Earth and Air: It´s just magic!!!

And the final act all actors went through the publicum...

For all of you who are interested in the details of the shots: I used mostly ISO 800, open aperture and 1/80th s exposure time. Only the very carp shoots like the panorama I used ISO 1600...