I think SM is talking about ....stoner moment here.....form and space. I dont know the rule, but in Art, you try to mirror the size of dark shapes to light shapes. If you dont, you get a lopsided feel in a picture, the same applys to photography.....
Lets look at the below picture,
PIC 1. I took this as the sun was
way down. I am trying to show dark/light example.
1. the first thing you should note is the dark to light. half (lets not get real picky here, about half) of the pic is in dark, it balances the light.
2. the water is semi framed in the tree and bank, drawing your eye to the center or the water.
This translates to taking pics of bud as, REMEMBER the light/dark or foreground/background ratios.
Applying that to taking a pic of the bud (
Pic 2).......look at your background as you take the photo. Look behind your subject the bud. Make sure the
subject is the subject, not the background competeing with the subject. Your Background can draw your eye to the subject..the bud. I just spent 15 minutes looking for a pic, I think I am still stoned from last night. This second pic, I dont know if I posted in my last journal, but note the background just makes eye draw to the background, tho the it is a pretty good shot of the bud (even tho focus and placement is right on). Therefore, not a great pic.
Comfort......feel comfortable with the pic. If dosent Feel/Look right...it prolly isnt. I am trying to say.....your eye should automaticly be drawn to the subject, not compete with background.
Also, what NV said was very true........
Take HUNDREDS of PICS. I love taking pictures, with the advent of digital cameras and computers.....I am in heaven, I take my camera into the garden almost every time I go in there. I take my camera in the truck with me, almost everytime I go somewhere. By the end of harvest, I have to take alcohol to my camera to get all the stickiness off from all the trichs.
Picture 3, this is the kind of pic I put up here as an example of how your eye is drawn. Your eye is drawn to the stake. The color of the stake is in HIGH contrast to it's surroundings. You may look at the plants, you may look at the background, but your eye is drawn to the stake. Your mind says....What the heck was she taking a pic of the stake for?

I dont remember, I was stoned will be my excuse. I think I was taking the pic of the "tied" up Flo.
This would lead us into the subject of "The Subject", more on that later.
Thank you NV for inviting me to look in on this thread and post here. I hope some of what I typed made some sense. More later.