Lovely image, Vaughan!
It's amazing how differently good photographers can work. I crop almost everything (I enlarge) and plan my end result before I set up for the shot; anything from tall and skinny to panorama to square (and occasionally full-frame too ). My viewing frame helps me to eliminate many shots from consideration, saving set-up time as well as finding the right camera position. I set up the tripod, put my chin on the camera platform, close one eye and find my (fairly) exact position before I mount the camera. Occasionally I'll adjust tripod position a bit based on the ground glass image, but really, only rarely. Then it's just find a lens that'll work, focus and apply movements.
Doremus
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