Berlin meets Røros, through music.

I have a passion for music, obviously, and for photography. When those two worlds meet, then I’m really in my “happy place”. That happened recently in Røros (Norway), a wonderful place in so many ways. It’s a town of great beauty and character, and consequently included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Combine that with just as welcoming and dedicated locals, world class musicians from the Berliner Philharmoniker mentoring young talents from Norway and it would be hard imagining a better day out in the field.

The day started at 4AM, catching an early train to Røros and ended back home again at around 11PM. The client, “Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden” (a festival being held in March each year), wanted promotional images of Røros, the people involved locally and the visiting artists. A real challenge fitting all those things into a single day of shooting, but seeing the different images now appearing on the festival’s website and social media platforms, I think that the collaboration went quite well. Take a look at https://vinterfestspill.no and judge for yourself.

I’m delighted to be going back to Røros for the festival in late March.

Portrait session

I had the pleasure of doing a studio portrait and “lifestyle” session with chief conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera, Han-Na Chang, recently.

This session continued our collaboration from last year, when we made a series I called “Han-Na Chang in Trondheim”.

All these images are now the visual backbone of her website and press material:

https://www.hannachangmusic.com

I have now switched to an all Leica-setup, and I am delighted with how this system works for me both on location and in the studio. Like everything, it has its quirks but the gorgeous image fidelity makes it all worth while. I enjoy that the images coming straight out of the camera is so close to where I want them to be, the editing is more about tweaking than completely rebuilding the image file.

Our planned “conductor on stage and in action”-session sadly had to be postponed due to the Covid-situation, but will hopefully happen later this spring.

Gear used:

Leica SL2s

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm/f2.8-4 ASPH.

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 90-280mm/f2.8-4 ASPH.

3x Profoto B10 studio strobes with various light modifiers.

Christmas in the cathedral

A few images from the performance of the Christmas Oratorio by J.S. Bach at the Nidaros Cathedral. Due to the ongoing corona-situation, the whole setup of the orchestra and choir was different and movement was restricted, but I kind of like the framing and “peering through”-feeling those challenges presented.

Musical architecture and more

The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera recently performed the Christmas Oratorio by J.S. Bach at the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, a tradition before the Christmas holidays.

The cathedral has just finished installing a completely new lighting setup, which really showcases the (vast) space. This was also the first time that I could test my latest lens purchase, the Leica 18mm Super Elmar for the M-system.

All these shots were captured handheld using the Leica M10 and the Visoflex typ 020 electronic viewfinder. This lens may be tiny in its stature, but it’s a beast when it comes to perspective and performance. These images can almost be considered as snapshots since no tripod was used (shutter speed of 1/30s) and subsequently the ISO-values were pretty high at 6400.

It was exciting to finally be able to take in so much of the architecture, in one single frame.

The impressive organ pipes served in my mind as “musical architecture”.

More images from the performance and a group portrait will follow shortly.

Vacation mode

I took my two Leica cameras (M and Q) to the north of Norway this summer, and here are a few of the results. Enjoy and have a great summer!

Visual harmony in beautiful Busan

My two Leica cameras saw a lot of action on our day off i Busan, the second largest city in South Korea. I was especially eager to test the latest addition to my arsenal of camera gear, the Leica M10, in a real world scenario. I’m happy to report that this old school manual camera has been featured numerous times professionally during this tour, which I didn’t expect going into this assignment. The split second images captured with the M10 might not be as crisp and technically “perfect” as those taken by its more modern counterparts, but there’s a special feeling when capturing and looking back at an image that you have taken without any of the modern conveniences. That is very similar to playing a classical instrument, as mentioned before on this blog.

I hope that you will enjoy this little taste of Busan, in full manual mode.

Ole

"Practice, practice, practice"

The punchline from the famous joke “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” couldn’t be more true for a musician. The time spent on stage, performing for the audience in the evening, is only the tip of the iceberg. Finding time and a place to practice and to focus on the task at hand is crucial, whether it is in a Seoul hotel room, on stage at the venue or in a dimly lit backstage corridor.

Ole

Exploring Seoul

After landing in South Korea, and spending at least 13 hours onboard airplanes (not including the ground stops ), it was time to hit the streets of Seoul. The body craved some light exercise and a bit of fresh air.

I took my Leica cameras for a walk to capture the contrasting vibes of the city, the serene and ancient temple grounds and the hustle and bustle of a modern metropolis.

Ole

Arrived in South Korea

The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera has landed safely in Seoul, South Korea. I personally have been to Seoul once before, many years ago, touring all over Asia with the Trondheim Soloists and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. Touring with a full sized symphony orchestra is something quite different, logistically, compared to travelling with a smaller string ensemble. Here are some first impressions after touching down at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul.

Ole

Musician and tour photographer

My orchestra, The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera, is soon leaving home base in Norway for a tour of South Korea. I’ll be doing double duty as co-principal of the viola section and tour photographer for the duration of this trip. The images will primarily be delivered to and distributed by the communications office of the orchestra, but I will also try to update my own blog with pictures and some accompanying text. I hope that you will enjoy following us as we head to Asia!

Here are some behind the scenes moments from our concert in Trondheim last night.

Ole

Berlin, March 2019.

Hello from Berlin,

I’m spending the month of March in this awesome city of culture. The municipality of my hometown of Trondheim (Norway) has very kindly allowed me with to stay in their “artists apartment” here in Berlin for a whole month. This is a rather unique opportunity for an artist like myself, that’s allowing me to get to know the cultural scene of Berlin in greater depth than is possible during a short visit. There’s so much going on at any given time here, which one expects of a world class city. The more you experience, the more you realise the scope of whats on offer, and that you cannot possibly take it all in, in the course of just one month. That’s of course not entirely a bad thing, it just means that you have to return again and again.

The focal point of any trip to Berlin, as a classical musician and photographer, is of course Die Philharmonie. The home of the mighty Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. There are so many great orchestras and concert halls around the world, but can they top this power house of music I wonder? There’s something of a “Gesamtkunstwerk” going on when you visit this place, located close to Potsdamer Platz. You can see the architect Sharoun’s golden and edgy building from afar. When you enter into this structure, you wander around in these angled and quirky shapes. The evident reason for the shape of this building hits you when stepping into the main performance hall. You as an audience member are surrounding the stage and the sound surrounds you. An immersive feeling, if you’re on stage performing or comfortably seated in the hall as a member of the audience. Do make the time to come to Die Philharmonie and experience the true power of the performing arts. If you would like to see more of the hall, the resident orchestra and behind the scenes footage, I highly recommend checking out the orchestra’s own photographer Monika Rittershaus. You can find her work online and, believe it or not, in good old fashioned books. Her book “Moving Music” is a wonderful documentation of Sir Simon Rattle’s tenure as chief conductor of the orchestra.

I still have a few days left in Berlin before I head home, and those days will be filled with cultural activities and of course photography.

Bis später,

Ole

Die Philharmonie