I don't know photography, but one of the things I picked up in drawing classes decades ago might also help.Here's another interesting thing. Look at Alaskans two photos, and select which you like better.
Then take a look at these two pictures, and select which one you seem to prefer.
The photo on the right in both cases.
In both cases, the left picture sort of has horizontal lines going through it, and they leave a slightly dull feeling. The ones on the right have sort of a triangular shape formed in them, which often makes pictures seem more interesting.
There's an idea of "movement" in a picture - the way the items in the picture lead your eye from one area to another. Of Alaskan's two pictures, the water in the foreground on the second picture automatically collects your attention, and leads it to the back and to the right, then the water, the trees, the sky, all move your eye back to the left. It gets you involved, leads you in to the picture. In the first picture, the foreground (nearly a third of the frame) is just grass and some not particularly interesting dead leaves. That has a feeling almost of being a wall, keeping you out of the scene. Try covering that part up with your hand, right up to the edge of the water, and see if the picture isn't already more interesting.
(Did anybody notice that in vehve's second picture of the pencils on the desk, even the grain on the desk "moves" to the upper left?)
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