Both fotos are same! although the 2nd is more presentable.
but here's what I think, In the photo the exposure is based on the the whole frame, If you have not chosen any particular exposure mode, the camera would use the pattern metering by default, which means the exposure meter will collect data from all parts of the frame to determine the final exposure.
In your original foto, since the bottom part (marsh land) is less exposed to sun than the snowy hills and the blue reflection,when the camera calculated the final exposure,the overall exposure is a bit higher than what needed for the view in the edited (cropped) picture, as a result the shadows are not as pronounced as they should have.
I don't know abt the cam options but , if its possible to zoom in , stop down on EV a bit, you'd endup exposing as you'd have wanted.
But all said, it depends on the situation,available light , colors , reflections, stray light that ,time of the day that has a bearing on the final photo.
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In cases as you mentioned where you have two very different subjects in the image where if you frame both, atleast one part will be overexposed and the other underexposed, one can use Neutral Density filter or even better Graduated ND filters. polarising filters in cases where reflections are profound. In this case you may have lower shutter speed to compensate for loss of light!
Another way is to take 2 photos of the same , exposing one part properly in each photo and mix them with PS (multiply option). make syre you use a tripod and take simultaneous shots with different exposures set.
Another soln, if possible, change from pattern to center-weighted/(or if you have Exposure lock choose it )and choose an area that you think will be mean between the two very contrasty areas.
or may be hdr them. (don't want to get into details)
But keep in mind these are pretty time-consuming for shoot and move ppl
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But for himalayas, at that temperature, fighting all that chill, pain in a$$ its easier said than done
and the hills look just stupendous in the foto you finally capture !
