Under the Spotlight - a photo on Flickriver

The Old Vic Theatre isn't photographed often, so getting a chance to visit and capture its interior during the Open House Weekend at the end of September was a wonderful opportunity. There was only one tour -- and, at over 90 minutes, an extensive one -- but the theatre was filled with incredible architecture and a joy to photograph.

This is the auditorium, shot from the centre of the upper Lilian Baylis Circle, and a view over the centre of a 19th-century "minor" theatre which was built for pantomime and melodrama, but which went on to become world famous for its high drama, opera, ballet and the occasional rock concert. Despite numerous changes in ownership and management during its history, as well as the constant threat of closure, its stunning auditorium was restored in 1983 to replicate Jethro T Robinson's original 1871 design, complete with the original lyre-shaped balconies and cast-iron columns. The theatre has featured performances over the years by the likes of Laurence Olivier, Peter O'Toole and Ben Kingsley, and even when you only catch a glimpse of its empty auditorium, there's a palpable sense of the location's immense character and history.

The image was straightforward to shoot, but a challenge to edit. I captured a range of exposures, knowing I would want to recover some deep shadows among the boxes along the edge of the image, but at the same time emphasise some dramatic shadows dancing across the auditorium's ceiling. I also had to contend with some intense lens flare caused by the spotlights above the stage, which involved careful work with luminosity masks. I also took some time to carefully adjust the white balance of the image to ensure the red within the seats was as close as possible to the colour I saw as I stood there, as well as desaturating the yellow glow from the lamplight along the balconies and incorporating brighter exposures to emphasise the stage, where a chair, a suitcase and a wastepaper basket were all that remained from the theatre's latest production.

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Taken on: September 19, 2015

Tags:

City

Architecture

England

OldVic

TheOldVic

Theatre

Auditorium

Empty

Deserted

Red

Seats

Audience

Drama

Stage

Performance

Spotlight

Victorian

Playhouse

OpenHouse

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Camera: Nikon D800, f/7.1, 2.5 sec, 14mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D800
Lens:	14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/7.1
Exposure Time:	2.5
Focal Length:	14mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	+2 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.0 (Windows)
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