This fabulous photo has so many amazing historical details and is truly appreciated by the family holding it in their collection. However, it also holds an opportunity to gain the one and only photo of their ancestor taken at this period of his life. Fortunately it is a very sharp and well-lit photograph, so a close-up of any size was definitely an option.
Cropping this closely means making a higher resolution scan of the original. A closer crop can make for a better image and helps keep the work of removing other people to a minimum. However, it is a personal decision as to how much of the original photo's details will be cut off in the process. Sometimes it is more important to keep the details in the entire photo, especially if it helps link the item to a particular period of time. If you aren't sure exactly how much you want to cut off for the final print, then restore the entire photo and make the decision after you have totally removed the other image(s).
