[lolyton]

I prefer the last attempt by quite a way. I had the same 'not wanting to lose the cloud' thing when i cropped the first one, but now they're gone i don't miss them. What i am liking about this one, is as you say the balance is better, also there is more general detail in the shot. You don't get the dark voids you did originally. I especially like the detail running alongside (on the far side) of the river, as it leads up into the hills.
The only thing i may consider altering..... I think the bottom right hand corner is a little colour rich (oversaturated). I am unsure if you have altered the saturation especially in that area (maybe not given the colour of the light elsewhere), but to balance the image slightly better i reckon a slight desaturation in that corner would be good!