Check the Background and the Edges

Beginners look at the subject; the picture includes everything else too. A lamp post growing out of someone's head, a bin at the edge of the frame or a bright window behind a face pulls the eye away from what matters. Before pressing the shutter, run your eyes around the four edges and behind the subject, then fix what you see by stepping sideways, crouching or moving the subject a pace or two. Exercise: for one week, make a deliberate edge check before every picture. Then compare those shots with a batch from before the week; the tidier backgrounds usually show straight away.