Beginner's question: opinion on cropping

Cropping and post processing is not cheating IMHO.   The question is are we doing art or are we doing forensic analysis where nothing can be changed?  I think the answer is art, and so any enhancement is fair game to create the image the meets your artistic intent for that image.  I think this is especially true since the limitations of the sensor will never capture what your eye sees.

In the old days when we shot slide film it did have to be right as you didn't get to re-do it.  It's one of the huge advantages of digital.  I crop many of my images, as I experiment with creating an image that expressed what I felt when seeing that scene.

Of course we often have enough pixels to throw some away, but if the image is not sharp or has noise, or is underexposed then those elements are also magnified.  The example you show has some of those side effects as wll.  I have only tried a bit of BIF, and I find it really hard.  I'm guessing most dramatic bird in flight pictures you see have been cropped.

--
http://imagesbydale.smugmug.com/