A Matter of Inches.

Patience is a virtue that many of us do not often possess. We see something and we want it. The line is long so we turn and leave.(OK, so this just might be me!) Anyway... this same lack-of-patience can show itself in our photography, too. Sometimes we see a scene, point the camera and shoot. Done. No problem. Well, not no problem. Actually there can be many problems in the way of unwanted elements in the frame. Elements that, had we taken 5 seconds, could have been easily avoided. A matter of inches in most cases, really.

Here's a backyard. Nice green grass, decent light, cool shed, canoe, etc. Fine. But it is kinda messy, isn't it? All that crap on the left. Do we need that? 

I don't think so. Shift to the right a little bit.

Better. But even those bits of blown highlights on the far left distract, don't they? So just a couple more inches and...

Gone! A much cleaner image with an actual point of interest now.

Taking those few extra seconds to really scan around the viewfinder and eliminate the unwanted bits before tripping the shutter will, more often than not, result in more pleasing images.

Have fun.