Spain Plaza de la Armeria, Madrid

The Plaza de la Armería sits between Madrid’s Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral, making it a great place not only for wide architectural shots but also for searching for smaller details. In its current form, the square dates to the late 19th century and creates a monumental transition between the two buildings.

This particular detail shows the bronze statue of Saint Paul beside the main façade of Almudena Cathedral, combined with one of the ornate street lamps and the geometric stonework behind it. Saint Paul and Saint Peter occupy niches at the ends of the cathedral façade and were sculpted by Juan de Ávalos.

Instead of photographing only the entire palace or cathedral, I spent some time looking for smaller details and interesting combinations of light and shadow shortly after sunrise.

For this image I used a 70–200mm telephoto lens. The longer focal length allowed me to isolate the statue, lamp and architectural background while compressing the different layers into a much cleaner composition. The low morning sun was especially important: part of the façade was illuminated with warm golden light while other areas remained in shade.

Walk around the plaza with the telephoto attached and watch how the light changes across statues, lamps, reliefs and windows. These smaller scenes can often produce more interesting photographs than another wide-angle shot of the entire building.

Plaza de la Armería sits between the Palacio Real and Catedral de la Almudena in the heart of Madrid, making it easy to include on a photography walk through the historic center. The plaza is also used as an access point for visitors to the Royal Palace.

For photography, early morning is particularly worthwhile. I visited around sunrise and continued shooting afterward as the sunlight gradually moved across the architecture. Bring both a wide-angle and a telephoto lens: the wide-angle is useful for the monumental surroundings. At the same time, something like a 70–200mm is ideal for discovering details around the plaza.