Which view?

I have been struggling to move the kangaroo around in the HDRI ‘world/environment’ image. Looking into it I understand now that the point where the photo was taken from will always be the centre of the ‘world’. I can’t put the kangaroo in the centre and step back to look at it. If I try and do this the kangaroo gets smaller or bigger but the background stays in the same spot. 

From what I read about creating an HDRI before taking the photos I thought the camera lens had to be in the middle of where the kangaroo would be. 

I think the camera actually needs to be a few steps in front of the kangaroo and still about 1m off the ground. Perhaps the same distance between myself and the kangaroo. The kangaroo will be 2m tall in the painting. When hanging on a wall the eyes will be about 2.5m-3m (98”-118”) from the ground, or higher. The audience looks up to the kangaroo, but also to my reflection. If I was really standing there with the painting I would be standing about 50cm off the floor. The audience when close to the painting, looks up to us both, like being in the front row of the theatre, looking up to the stage to watch the drama unfold. 

Anyway, I have found a good enough solution to the problem. If I make my reference image using the front orthographic view of the kangaroo I get my face in the reflection, I can rotate the kangaroo to get the angle I want, everyone wins. But it really flattens the kangaroo when I do this. 

Front orthographic view:

Front perspective view: 

I did take other photos the day I hired the 360 camera. I may have a photo a few steps forward from the kangaroo that I can try.