Capilla de San Miguel Arcángel and Popocatépetl

When visiting Atlixco in October, I was hoping to get some nice photos of the volcano Popocatépetl, potentially with some of the local churches or other landmarks.  I thought a photo of the volcano with the small chapel San Miguel Arcángel would be nice.  San Miguel sits on top of a small hill, so it’s above the rest of the skyline and easy to see.  Ideally, I’d use a very long lens to compress the scene and make the volcano look gigantic.

Prior to arriving, I spent an hour or more on Google maps looking for places to try to take the photo from.  I wanted the Chapel to line up with the volcano behind it, so standing in just the right place was important.  To use a long lens and compress the scene, I’d need to be a couple of miles away from the Chapel.  I found a few spots that looked promising on the highway outside of town.  I decided to take a 150-600mm lens with me, which I don’t always like to carry (it’s huge and weighs 5 lbs), but for this photo, it was needed.

When I arrived in Atlixco, the clouds gave me fits for the first day.  I wasn’t able to see the volcano, so clearly a photo was out of the question.  On my second day, the skies cleared in the late afternoon, so I decided to go for it.

I had a taxi drop me off outside of town, and I made my way to the location I had found.  While it looked good in Google street view, it didn’t work in person.  I ended up moving to a secondary location, nearby, and it was much better.  Here’s the photo:

View of Cerro San Miguel and Popo.  Capilla de San Miguel Arcángel

I think this turned out pretty well.  It ended up being very popular on my Instagram feed, and I’m glad I made the effort!

Related posts:

Puebla Cathedral and Popocatépetl San Miguel de Allende Fuerte San Miguel, Campeche Popocatépetl and Atlixco