Shooting the homestead through a window - which version do you prefer?

Left:  the original image  Right:  the same frame but the scene enlarged by 60%.

I wrote about the photos I took at this farm near Cypress Hills a few weeks ago; you can view that blog here.  The farm was an amazing find; one steeped in history that has long been abandoned.  Around the place was evidence of a life once lived; a washing machine drum, a wooden bed frame (possibly) - an exploration could have turned up more but time was limited.  

I stepped inside the shed with the window pointed at the farmhouse.  I wanted enough depth of field to get the frame and the opposing building in focus, so I chose a 36 mm focal length with an aperture of f/16.  I couldn't back up any more due to the debris on the floor and didn't want to disturb any wildlife that may be under it.  If I could have backed up a bit and zoomed in with a 58 mm focal length (and a smaller aperture to compensate for the reduced depth of field), I may have gotten an image like the one on the right.

Both images have a certain appeal.  Certainly the subject matter is captivating, and in both images the focus is fine.  The original image (left) has a lot of grass and sky which takes away from the building itself.  The altered one (right) has less of both with a larger, although cropped, building.  Which do you prefer?

I tried to rotate the window frame 90 degrees in order to accommodate a horizontal central image, but I found that the shadows didn't make sense on the frame.  I think I prefer the original for a couple of reasons.  The first is that the sky and grass gives the image more of a country feel and I always prefer using an original image as opposed to one that has been heavily edited.  It's what I saw, and I loved it at the time.  Great memory, awesome shot.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com