Deconstruction

This photo is a good example of the limitations of a 50mm lens on a crop-sensor camera*. I went to see a demolition crew tear down a building on campus recently, and brought my trusty D200 and 50mm 1.8G to document the experience. Thankfully I had my iPhone as well, because there was just no way to realistically show the scale of the destruction with that particular body/lens combination. With the limited field of view offered by this lens, I would have had to stand way, way back from the building in order to get enough of the action in frame. For example, this photo was taken from across the street, and while it is kind of interesting there are many things it does not show: the building, the excavator, the existing rubble, the crews of workmen, and the spectators. In other words, there is almost no context for the image, which severely limits its utility. My iPhone, by contrast, was able to capture the full scale of the scene with remarkably clear detail.

However, the challenge