Here’s a snapshot (of a student the other day, who kindly let me take this image to demonstrate how not to do it):

Not bad.. but look at all the distraction.  This person has doorhandles growing out of his head. A chair growing out of his neck.  This is a typical “Uncle Fred” snapshot.

The solution?

1. Look. Observe the antennas growing out of heads; the garbage cans in the background. Only after seeing them can you work on removing them.
2. Move. By moving yourself a few inches you can make a huge difference to your subject’s background. A circle has 360 degrees, not one. And not every shot has to be taken from 5.5 ft above the ground.
3. Zoom in: “fill the frame”. Get closer.
4. Blur the background if it is distracting.

And then you get this:

Rather better, no?