Beginner's question: opinion on cropping

You've got to know that I'm just having fun here. The wrestling and brawl references were purely in jest.

I know Karl takes his stuff very seriously. Karl has given me some great advice and helped before on this forum. He knows is stuff. As does everyone else here. I'm probably the weakest link here.

But someone on the previous page whom I cannot remember right now made a good point. And that is, if I take a shot and for some reason couldn't get the composition quite right because of focal length of the lens or some other set of circumstances, but can clearly see in post that cropping would save the shot, do I then trash the shot because cropping would be an insult to photographers everywhere?

So do I run the risk of being considered a charlatan and do I do whatever it takes to save the shot? I know great shots will come and go. It would not be the end of the world if I trashed it. But Zee Char clearly showed what cropping did for his photo. And I'm sorry I can't remember who made the tennis shot, but that one also clearly made what would have just been an average shapshot into something worthy of a second look. And also thought provoking.

Believe me, I'm a purist. It took me a long time to jump onto the digital bandwagon. With everything. Karl is right in that there is a mindset that goes along with all of this.

Here is a classic example, and I apologize for using musical analogies all of the time, but that's what I am and know best. For years before all of the digital technology if you wanted to transcribe a piece of music, you put the record or tape on and listened over and over again at normal speed to try to hear what the player or composer was doing. If it was a really fast passage, you were in trouble. Good luck. You could try slowing down whatever device you had to 16rpms if it had that capability, but otherwise you were screwed and had to listen over and over again. What that did was build up your ear to a point where you could hear anything and transcribe anything at any speed.

Well now you can slow things down to almost a stop and literally listen to one note at a time, while still maintaining the correct pitch and key of the piece or whatever it is you are transcribing. In doing that I feel horribly GUILTY because it is not doing my ear any good. I am just caving in to what technology has become. The dumbing down of musicians. Just like so many things technologically that are contributing to the dumbing down of society in many ways.

Just the mere fact that we are having this discussion via this incredible new technology speaks directly to the purist mindset. Why don't we all jettison these devices with which we communicate, and get together and meet personally in a room and have a live discussion. Then you can truly see and feel a persons emotions. You can see facial expressions, hear vocal inflections. You all have to know that there is a lot of humor lost here through typing. Why do we all have to qualify or clarify a humorous statement with LOL! LOL! LOL! Because we have succumbed to the dictates of modern technology.

Would any of us go back to analog? I think not. Fortunately or unfortunately, it's progress. Yes there are times when I lament the analog days. But on the other side of the coin, sometimes I truly revel in digital times. I'm incredibly stubborn and hard headed. Or opinionated as my friends would say. Well I say thank god for all of the stubborn and opinionated people. There is nothing wrong with it. Eventually we will probably come around. But I think a good healthy memory of what used to be is a good thing that only makes you appreciate what is going on now much more.

I think if I were on a wrestling team I might want Karl on my team.