Locarno in Focus: Why the Leica SL3 Is the Perfect Festival Companion

I recently returned from the 78th Locarno Film Festival, my cinematic home from 6 to 16 August 2025, where I’ve been photographing every opening, every red carpet, every award moment with photography precision and passion for photography and cinema.

Capturing Locarno: Three Daily Rituals

Each morning, I stepped into Palazzo della Sopracenerina with other fellow photographers for the daily photocalls, where the filmmakers showcased their presence. Evenings brought the electric energy of the red carpet including stars like Emma Thompson, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Willem Dafoe, Golshifteh Farahani, Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof, and Alexander Payne before the monumental Piazza Grande screenings. On the last day of the festival, I covered the award presentations and the portraits of the winners.

Why Locarno 2025 Was Exceptional

This year’s festival was a triumph, 221 films over 11 days, magical open-air screenings at Piazza Grande, and incredible love for cinema in the “smallest of the great festivals”. Rithy Panh presided over the jury with Joslyn Barnes, Ursina Lardi, Carlos Reygadas, and Renée Soutendijk; Maja Hofmann steered the festival as President, alongside Artistic Director Giona Nazzaro and CEO Raphaël Brunschwig. This curated vision brought films that talk, provoke, and connect, films worthy of their title and of capturing.

Gear That Helps You Be Ready

My gear choices are no accident, they are my long term companions and have been used for the Locarno Festival in previous years:

Leica SL3 + handgrip HG-SCL7 (for good balance) + Vario-Elmarit 90-280mm: perfect for tight portraits, delicate expressions, and those candid reflections across the red carpet.

Second Leica SL3 + Vario-Elmarit 24-90mm: versatile for close-distance and group portraits at photocalls and the red carpet.

Award ceremonies? I switched lenses: one SL3 paired with a Summilux-SL 50mm, the other with a Summicron-SL 90mm, ideal for portraiture with superior background separation.

What the Leica SL3 brings to the table:

Low-light mastery: no flash needed under shifting festival lights.

Rapid autofocus & high ISO performance: never miss an important portrait, an expression or a decisive moment.

Outstanding image quality & ergonomics: reliable, tactile, intuitive: a true extension of my intent.

18'000 Photographs, 10 Nights of Editing

Covering a major festival like Locarno means producing a huge volume of work. On average, I shot over 1,000 images per day, which added up to more than 18,000 photographs over the course of the 11 days. That volume alone makes the workflow just as critical as pressing the shutter.

Each night, after the screenings and red carpet, I would sit down for editing sessions in Adobe Lightroom. Lightroom, and only Lightroom, is my indispensable tool:

Speed & precision: It allows me to move quickly and select through large batches of images without compromising accuracy.

Personal presets: I create on my own preset system tailored for each situation, photocalls, red carpet, and award ceremonies. This gives me consistent looks while keeping post-production efficient.

Organization: Collections and smart folders help me manage thousands of files and track exactly which images go where.

Keywording & metadata: Essential for later searchability, archiving, and delivery to media outlets.

Daily backups: Every night, my images are backed up to multiple drives, ensuring that no moment is ever lost.

This workflow ensures that I can deliver festival-quality images under tight timelines, often just hours after shooting.

---

If you’re curious about how to build such an efficient workflow for yourself, I share these methods in my Lightroom classes and workshops, covering everything from setting up catalogs to advanced editing techniques and preset creation.

---

Why Photographing a Festival is Demanding, but Greatly Rewarding

Photographing a festival is thrilling... and unforgiving. You’re one among many, yet you’re chasing that singular image, the celebrity locked in your lens, looking straight at you. Moments vanish as quickly as they appear. Light changes, crowds shift, the pace is relentless. And yet, amid that orchestrated chaos, the best photographs, those that resonate, are those you prepared for.

Key Takeaways

Locarno 2025: Stellar programming, cinematic atmosphere, lasting inspiration.

Leica SL3: The perfect festival companion: fast, quiet, uncompromising.

But: Two heavy SL3 bodies are a burden to carry. My refined suggestion? Pair a Leica SL3 with handgrip and Vario-Elmarit 90-280mm, plus a lighter Leica Q3 (or Q3 43) as your second backup. Compact, fast, and equally sharp.

Explore my full Locarno portfolio.

What’s Next?

I’m now gearing up for:

Zurich Film Festival, opening 25 September to 5 October 2025, Switzerland’s second-largest film festival, packed with galas, competitions, masterclasses, and more.

An exhibition with the Street Photography Club Basel.

Trieste Photo Days, 24–26 October 2025—the 12th edition of this rich photography festival hosting exhibitions, workshops, portfolio reviews, and masterclasses.

I’d love to collaborate, with event organizers, brands seeking imagery, photographers debating gear choices, or learners in my workshops. Let’s create the images that matter.