[advice needed] Back against the wall

[Dikkie]

Imagine, you want to photograph a large, wide and heavy building.
Limitations: not enough space to step away from the building to get it framed well, you can walk 10 meters until the other side of the street, but further behind you is a wall.

Standing there against the wall, watching the building... you check your equipment.
You notice you only have a 50mm lens that you like for its sharpness, and you have a 28-80 zoom lens that does not suit you very well because by experience it's not giving you the results you want. And, at 28mm the building is nearly framed as seen through your viewfinder. But, you have a fisheye converter too, that reduces your quality because that one is not that sharp.
You're not planning to buy new gear for this single shot.

Solutions?
- a screw-up fisheye converter on your zoom to capture the building totally, with less quality and aberration.
- shoot a part of the building with an alternative composition, with your 50mm lens, sharp, but not in it's whole.
- shoot the building in different shots, stitch together afterwards with software?
- ...

What would your solution be?

 

[SCraig]

Take multiple shots and stitch the pano together.

 

[pixmedic]

buy a wider lens

 

[Dikkie]

Admitted, the building is ugly, with an urgent need for renovation.
But damn I have to get this on photo for some reason. The urge to photograph that 'thing'.
My wife doesn't understand this urge. I guess you guys do

 

[greybeard]

I would do both of these. 1) I would rent or borrow a high quality 24mm wide angle. You said that 28mm almost does it, a good 24mm prime should more than frame the building, you can then straighten it up a bit in PP. 2) I would shoot several shots with the 50mm and then stitch them together in PP.

 

[Dikkie]

Take multiple shots and stitch the pano together.

Hmm yeah.
Can anyone recommend me good freeware ?
I just tried Hugin, but seems not to stitch that well.

 

[EIngerson]

Take multiple shots and stitch the pano together.

This, but I don't have the answer to your dilemma on free software for it. I use PS.

 

[Rabbitcatcher]

Compose your shots. It doesn't have to be straight from the front.

 

[TCampbell]

Buy a "World-size shrinker". This device allows you to make the world smaller so that it fits in the viewfinder of your camera. Nikon makes an especially powerful version that can even bend tall buildings. It's marketed under the name "PC-E 24mm f/3.5D ED"

Combination world-size shrinker and building benders are VERY expensive and difficult to control. Please read all instructions before attempting to use and operate it responsibly.

Just remember to "un-shrink" the building after you finish photographing it or the residents wont be able to fit back inside.

 

[tirediron]

Tim's advice of the PC-E lens is best, but I'm guessing that might be outside your budget; you say there's a wall across the street. Is this the wall of another building? One with windows? As in, one you could ask nicely and gain admittance to and shoot through a window from the half-way height point of your target building? Or, bring a ladder and shoot from the top of the wall?

 

[Buckster]

My solution would be to look deep inside myself to try to figure out why I'm obsessed with shooting this particular wall with the gear I have, when that gear is not adequate to do the job. After curling up in the fetal position and crying for awhile, I would then pick myself up and go find something else to shoot, like North America from the height of the space station.

Rinse and repeat as necessary.

 

[rzxrey]

...or...or...or... find another building with a wider place to step back (assuming its an option).