SIMPLIFICATION
Portrait of a flower. (Explored) by Flickr user Linh H. Nguyen
"As a general rule, simple images tend to be more appealing than complicated ones. This idea is similar to the previous “fill the frame rule,” in that it demands that you get rid of distracting elements in your photo (see how all these rules are related)? To use this compositional rule, simply ask yourself this question: does that element add to my composition? If it doesn’t, get rid of it. You can do this by recomposing so that the element is no longer in the frame, zooming in on your subject, using a wider aperture for a shallow depth of field, or simply cropping the image later in post processing."
http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/3372/18-composition-rules-for-photos-that-shine/
"As a general rule, simple images tend to be more appealing than complicated ones. This idea is similar to the previous “fill the frame rule,” in that it demands that you get rid of distracting elements in your photo (see how all these rules are related)? To use this compositional rule, simply ask yourself this question: does that element add to my composition? If it doesn’t, get rid of it. You can do this by recomposing so that the element is no longer in the frame, zooming in on your subject, using a wider aperture for a shallow depth of field, or simply cropping the image later in post processing."
http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/3372/18-composition-rules-for-photos-that-shine/