This is the seventh part in a series of tips looking at the “rules” of photographic composition.

While these “rules” are by no means exhaustive or compulsory, learning how to use them will help make your images more aesthetically pleasing and help you move from taking “snapshots” to more professional-looking photographs.

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One way to improve the images you take is to strive for visual Simplicity. This means having a clear main subject in your photograph with an uncluttered background.

You can achieve this by thinking carefully about the image you want to achieve and by asking yourself these two questions:

• What is my main subject in this photograph?
  Ideally, for simplicity, you need just one item in the frame – but if you choose to have others they should compliment the main subject and not distract. For example, a vintage car positioned in front of a modern supermarket would jar and distract you – placed on the driveway of a stately home would be a much more sympathetic background.
• How can I minimize clutter in the background?
  Top interior designers tell you to do it in your home… you need to do it in your photographs too! Give your main subject some space – can you move to a different viewpoint to avoid distracting elements, can you use a shorter depth-of-field to blur out the background, or (if all else fails) can you crop the final image or clone annoying elements out in a photo editor later on?

Have a go and post a link to your photographs using Simplicity in our comments. Most of all, have fun!