The theme for #photo101 today is Landmark and the Opera House in Oslo fits that category.
Last year I printed this panoramic photo on an aluminium plate measuring 40×120 cm (that would be approximately 16×47 inches if you live in one of the 3 countries – Liberia, Myanmar or USA – that are still using the archaic imperial system). Trivia: I once worked in construction and I was part of the large team that built the Opera. Here you can see the printed version of this photo: https://cardinalguzman.wordpress.com/2014/05/28/my-largest-print-so-far/
Cardinal Guzman 
The opera house seems amazing!
It’s pretty amazing. A lot of locals were against that the Opera was being built, but once it stood there I think that most of them changed their minds.
Some opera houses around the world are quite grand. While ours may not be the most stunning on the outside, I think the inside is beautiful. We have ballet season tix and I always look forward to going there.
Wow
Thanks.
I remember your largest print post :), and I am even more impressed with your trivia :). What were your duties on the site? When I was a little kid I loved going to construction sites with my dad (he used to manage large construction projects). I still remember the smell of tar and how much I enjoyed it. Now I translate for a construction company, but they only let me get on a paver once. This is a beautiful sunset sky, and I love your touch of tonal contrast – just the right measure!
Thanks for the great feedback on the photo Paula. At the opera I was doing diamond core drilling – a noisy, heavy, dirty and disgusting job. In the beginning I was just a henchman, picking up garbage and doing all sorts of other crap.
How long did you last? Did it pay well? Am I asking to much? 😀
It didn’t pay well and luckily I didn’t work in construction for a long time.
🙂 every experience counts for something
Interesting that you were involved in its construction. Is it purely an opera house or are there a series of performance areas for plays, concerts and symphonies?
They have several scenes and arrange symphonies, concerts, dance shows and operas. You can see their program here: http://operaen.no/en/
The same with the Sydney Opera House. Somehow, the Sydney Multifunction House doesn’t have the same meaning. 🙂
Haha, no it doesn’t roll that easy off the tongue.
Cool, shot and how wonderful it must be to have been part of the team that built it, not many of us can say we have left a mark like that 🙂
That’s true: not many can say that. Thanks Andy.
The architecture is stunning and your composition plus the personal story made it even more beautiful. You helped building it, and now brings it to posterity with your art.
I’ll gladly admit that I prefer taking pictures of it!
I would agree with that! 😉
By the way, I checked some cameras and came across Sony Alpha6000 and Olympus EM10. Have you heard of them?
I haven’t heard about Sony Alpha6000, but the Olympus EM10 is very interesting and you get a lot of camera for the money! It has a great focus and you can choose the focus point on the screen, that way you don’t have to focus on your subject first and then recompose your picture.
I headed to the shop with the Olympus in mind and loved it. There they showed me the sony because i said that i had prime nikon lenses from my old nikon fm. They said i could use with the sony plus an adapter. But just the adapter is very pricey. I guess it is not going to work. Olympus was love at first sight.
Thanks for replying and for the insights.
If it was love at first sight I’d say go for the heart! I’d love to get my hands on Olympus EM10 myself.
That’s decided! Thank you so much! You’ll get my first (good) pic!
I’m looking forward to see the result!
Yesterday I got myself an Olympus OMD Em 5ii, so now we’re both Olympus photographers.
Yay! That’s great news! Congratulations and welcome!
Which lenses did you get?
https://artishorseshit.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/new-toys/
Magnificent shot of the Oslo Opera House! I have seen many photos of this Opera House, this one is the BEST, CG!
Thanks Amy! I totally agree, I’m the best 😀
😀 🙂
I’ve seen your image several times this morning as I cycle through my tagged Reader groups — and each time I marvel at the colors, tones, and composition. I really like it.
I’ve never worked on a construction site, but I did help to create many large construction projects across the globe, one of which you can read about here: http://exploratorius.us/2013/06/20/georgetown-park/
That was a great story Mitch!
I bet you have some cool stories of your own!
Wow amazing story, really modern sleek bulding, would love to visit and go inside x
It’s an awesome building and I’ve posted a lot of photos earlier. Here you can see some from the inside https://cardinalguzman.wordpress.com/2013/03/16/gallery-details-from-the-oslo-opera/
If you follow the Oslo Opera tag, you can find even more.
Beautiful post, really interesting!
Have a nice day!
Photographer Gil Zetbase
http://www.gilzetbase.com/
Thank you very much Gil.
“that would be approximately 16×47 inches if you live in one of the 3 countries – Liberia, Myanmar or USA – that are still using the archaic imperial system”
Brunei hopped on the metric bandwagon too? I remember seeing a list somewhere that had them listed as one of four holdouts. At least the US does use metric where it matters.
According to the Wikipedia article, Liberia, Myanmar and USA are the only ones that’s not using the metric system. It’s true that the US uses the metric system too, for example NASA.
Yeah we pretty much use it for anything scientific, but I wish we would just fully convert. The only reason Liberia hasn’t is because we haven’t, and Myanmar probably doesn’t because they were isolated for so long.
Nice to see this again -great shot.
Thanks again!
Yes, I remember the print.
Being in Canada, we;re officially metric but Imperial measurements still is used in many things because there are generations of people who grew up with that due to US influence. I drive my wife crazy with talking about weather temperatures in Celsius when she’s still used to Fareheit.
How long was that construction project?
Fahrenheit doesn’t even make sense. Zero is the temperature of a mix of ice, water, and ammonium chloride. 96 degrees – approximately the human body temperature… You can’t rely on systems that’s built on a foundation of approximately or the temperature of a mix where the temperature changes regarding the salt content of the brine…
Celsius is more scientifically based and it makes sense, but really we should all use kelvin. The problem with kelvin is that it doesn’t make any sense to operate with those numbers when we’re talking about the weather.
The idea of an opera house in Oslo first started 1917, then again in the 1920’s and in 1946.
In 1989 they started working on some plans, in 1999 they finally decided where to raise the building.
Then the construction started in 2003 and it was finished for the opening in 2008.
I like how you captured the light in the sky.
Thanks. The light is beautiful during the winters.
Magnificent structure … so modern! The photography is exquisite as usual! That large print — what a great idea for a gift!
Yes, it’s a gift that looks very decorative on the wall.