7. Background.

Do not use a background, unless it can contribute something to your image. In general, tend to avoid using busy and cluttered backgrounds, instead, arrange for, or use the opposite tone of background color than the tone of your subject's color, have dark subjects positioned against light background and vise-versa. I used my shirt draped behind the vase with flowers in it creating this stilllife photo of flowers in a vase. Kodachrome 64 film in Minolta x-700 set at f.32 with a shutter speed of 1 second, Metz 60 CT1 set in automatic mode and a Bogen tripod with a cable release were used to make this photo.

To set yourself up and patiently wait until your subjects walk in front of your background, is another way to use the background to your advantage, when an inclusion of a background helps to convey a certain atmosphere.