This question is asked of every photography instructor and workshop leader. My answer is simply, “Before you trip the shutter, think about it.”
Think about what the subject of the image is and what you are trying to say with the image. If you don’t know what the image is about, neither will the viewer of the image.
Think about how you can use the other elements in the image to draw attention to your subject or how they can be used to add emotional impact or mood to the image.
Think about how each element in the image relates to the subject. If it does not add impact to the subject then think about a new framing that will eliminating that element from the composition.
Stopping to think about these three things may slow you down and you may take fewer pictures. But that’s ok; because the images you do make will be stronger images.
The shooting meta data for this image is:
D200 with 80-200mm lens @ 200mm
1/60 sec @ f/2.8 , ISO 100
Matrix, Aperture Priority, Comp -1/3