The Ten Most Common Photographic Mistakes 

There are really good tips in this article that I plan to follow and incorporate into my photography but there was one major mistake the author forgot to mention: when taking a picture of someone, amateur photographers often place the person's head right in the middle of the shot. This is a mistake! It often leaves too much empty space/blue sky in the shot and not enough of the person. The frame should be divided in thirds, and (for a basic "hi mom" photo), the person's head should be within the top 1/3. Change this, and often the picture will automatically look better!