My Madrid Obsession

The ideal photo of the Metropolis Building has eluded me year after year.

It has almost become a ritual for me. Whenever I’m in Madrid, I make another attempt at getting a good, long telephoto shot of the Metropolis building looking down Calle de Alcalá. Maybe it’s more of an obsession at this point.

It might not be healthy.

I’m not even sure how many times I’ve been to Madrid by now. Often I’m only at the airport or on the outskirts of the city but I’ve been in central Madrid at least half a dozen times, I’m sure. Maybe for just one night. Maybe two.

The Metropolis building is a Madrid landmark and I’ve seen many, many photos of it. There’s one view that I really admire — a super-compressed telephoto view looking down Calle de Alcalá with the Cibeles Fountain in the foreground and the Metropolis as the backdrop. I’ve crawled all over Google Maps trying to ascertain the point from which that photo was taken, but about the only thing that makes sense to me is that someone stood in the middle of the insanely busy Calle de Alcalá to get the alignment right (actually, there are a couple of tiny tulip-planted medians that might be the spot but no crosswalks lead to them and I still think you might be taking your life into your own hands to be out there).

Still, I consider it a challenge to make my own version of this view. Preferably without getting run over.

On my most recent trip, my flight landed – as usual – around 7:00 am. I made my way downtown and killed a little time until I could get checked in to my hotel. Once I was settled, I set off with my Fujifilm X-Pro 3 and a 50mm f/2 lens to scout my location. Why scout when I’ve attempted this shot so many times already? Well, because nearly every time I’ve made an attempt, there was some unforeseen circumstance. The first couple of times I was there, the holiday lights had already been strung along Alcalá in such a thick mass that the view of the Metropolis was obscured. On another visit the Metropolis building was covered in scaffolding. The next time the scaffolding had moved to the building next door. It seems to always be something.

So, around 2:00 pm, I set out and walked to my shooting location. Lo and behold, nothing was obscuring it this time and I grabbed this scouting shot:

I was very happy to see that there were no obstructions this time. Given the sun angle at this time of year, I decided to try for a sunrise shot rather than sunset. I also hoped that the traffic might be a bit lighter in the early morning.

Scouting with the 50mm on the X-Pro 3 also gave me some useful lens information. The 50mm on an APC (crop sensor) body is the equivalent of a 75mm on full frame. Since I wanted at least this much telephoto reach for the shot, I knew that taking just my Nikon D850 and my 70-200mm zoom would cover everything I needed.

Early the following morning (but thankfully after the breakfast buffet had opened) I headed out into the darkness with my D850 and my 70-200. I took advantage of a few other street scenes that presented themselves along my walk.

I placed myself on the east side of the fountain and shot back toward the Metropolis building. It was a beautiful, clear morning and I enjoyed my wait for the sun to fully rise. I never did get myself into the exact position for the shot I’d seen online, but I got all of the elements in the frame that I wanted. The fountain is there, it’s just not right in front of the Metropolis as it is in some photos I’ve seen. The reference photos were also taken with a much longer lens than anything I had with me, but having a slightly wider view gave my photo a little more context, which I don’t hate. Or maybe I’m just rationalizing because I was too chicken to stand in the middle of the street.

As it got lighter, I wandered around a bit to try different views, included a shot through the arches of the Puerta de Alcalá. All-in-all it was a great morning of photography. It’s fun to go out with no set schedule and just a single lens to see what you can make of it. Of course, this being a zoom lens, I still had plenty of options, but it beat walking miles with a big bag of gear around my neck, much of which might not get used that morning anyway. I think it also settles my mind a bit to know I’m only looking for telephoto shots.

I went back to my original spot as the sun began to hit the Metropolis and took a few more shots. Then, I started making my way back to the hotel looking for other angles along the way.

Did I get THE shot I was looking for? Probably not. I’m sure it could be better in a different season, different light angle, with a different lens, etc., etc. So my obsession will likely continue, but at least I have this morning in the can. Anything I get next time will be a bonus.