I do not crop and although I have Adobe Photoshop CS2 I rarely use it.
As a semi-pro I enjoy getting my pictures correct the first time. Adjustments after the fact if I screw it up. But I usually leave that to our photo-tech.
1/60th is the shutter speed. I probably shot that pic of the tubing label at 400ISO as it was an overcast day. Your lens will determine how open you can have the aperture. If its very overcast bump the ISO to 800 or higher. This way you can use a higher shutter speed. The new cameras have very little noise and I frequently use 800 or higher for extended shooting at night.
But you can also compensate for exposure. Lets say you have your bike parked up against the white garage door. The camera is going to underexpose (dark). Bump the exposure up 1/3 or 1/2 a stop.
Experiment above all and have fun.