Capturing the Poetic Challenge of Concert Photography
On October 11, 2025, the city of Murcia hosted a truly unique musical event: the “Autumn Haiku” concert. The event featured the voice and guitar of Jesús Victoria, accompanied by the masterful percussion of Hermes Alcaraz.
An intimate and poetic journey
This was far more than a simple performance; it was an intimate and poetic journey, themed around the melancholy and profound beauty of the autumn season. While the musicians created an unforgettable treat for the senses and the soul, their delicate, low-light performance presented a formidable challenge for anyone tasked with documenting it.
The Melancholy and the Masters
The concert’s repertoire was designed to evoke the spirit of the haiku, the short Japanese poetic form, capturing tranquility and reflection. Though Jesús Victoria took artistic freedom, deviating from the formal 5-7-5 syllable structure, his interpretations were deeply motivated by the essence and energy of the season.
Victoria is a musician whose life has been built between the strings of a guitar and the power of his voice. His education is as varied as his residency, absorbing creative influences from Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, and Granada before settling in his hometown of Murcia. His career spans two decades, marked by co-founding the acclaimed rock fusion group “Bosco” and creating music theater for early childhood.
Beside him, Hermes Alcaraz, a master drummer originally from Cartagena, brought a deep sensitivity to the stage. A specialist in jazz, Alcaraz honed his academic skills at the Maastricht Conservatory and the National Music Academy of Denmark. He is known for blending rich jazz traditions with contemporary techniques, ensuring every beat is both precise and emotionally conscious.
The Stealth Mission
Photographing an event of this nature, intimate, acoustic, and highly atmospheric, is often a photographer’s biggest test. The first rule is always to be inconspicuous and silent, ensuring the focus remains entirely on the music and the audience’s immersion.
The technical hurdles were immediate and complex. The lighting was minimal, primarily illuminating the background. This forced the musicians into dark, high-contrast silhouettes against an irregularly lit stone wall. Furthermore, the small, crowded hall allowed for almost no room to move without disturbing the audience.
The stone wall presented a dual problem. Due to its surface, the camera’s autofocus often missed its target, making manual focusing an absolute necessity. Since the musicians were close to the wall, it was impossible to achieve the soft, blurred background effect (bokeh) that a fast lens usually provides. The subjects, though seated, were moving, requiring quick shutter speeds to capture them without motion blur in extremely low light.
Gear and Experience: The Essentials
The common saying that “the camera doesn’t matter” quickly falls apart in concert photography. To succeed in these conditions, professional gear is a must. A full-frame sensor is vital to shoot at high ISO settings without generating excessive noise or grain. Using a flash is entirely out of the question, as it would destroy the carefully crafted atmosphere and disrupt the performance.
Therefore, the key relies on good, fast lenses (with wide apertures) to maximize the minimal available light reaching the sensor. However, equipment alone is not enough. Success requires significant experience to anticipate the performers’ movements, understand the flow of the concert, and utilize angles and composition to make the most of every scarce ray of light.
Ultimately, capturing the “Autumn Haiku” concert required technical precision and stealth, ensuring the final images perfectly reflected the tranquil, unforgettable journey created by Jesús Victoria and Hermes Alcaraz.
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More information
Original article (Spanish): Haiku de otoño, un soplo del alma
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