to crop or not to crop?

That is indeed the question. I'm sure I could wax philosophical for ages on the topic of cropping. And I'm sure there is a ton of technical information out there on the subject as well. But generally this is how I roll: I shoot it how I think I'm going to want it framed and usually I don't end up cropping it very much, if at all. It's not something I normally think about, it's simply what I do. Same thing with cropping in post-production. It's not something I normally agonize over because the proper crop jumps out at me with very little consideration.

But I'm not much have a landscape photographer (have you heard?). So when Dave and I went for a drive this Sunday, I didn't even notice how zen this old farm house looked sitting up on the hill. My immediate thought was, "I would like to live somewhere like this." Not, "I want to take a picture of this." But since Dave hauled out his camera, not to be outdone, I did too. :)

This is what I shot, in camera:


After opening it up in lightroom, this was my immediate reaction (to which Dave commented, "A boomkmark!").


And then, I was inspired to play around with different crops.

Isn't it interesting how they all evoke such different emotions? And how they end up being pictures of very different things? In the end, I decided that this one is the best crop and my personal favourite. I love the big blue sky. (A place for dreams to soar!) What do you think?