Combination
So, we talked about different things. Selective sharpness on interesting things, place subject NOT in the middle, compose with other picture, spice up, do vignettes, look for details, lead the observer etc. And today i say: Combine it !
You learned hopefully a lot of little things, small details. OK it is time to do a complete picture. Take a detail look, place it a bit off the middle, take it with very small DOF and compose an attractive background. This may be a bit more tricky. You have to do layers and layermasks within your software. You do not have such a software ?? Photoshop too expensive ?? Take THE GIMP. A fantastic free software ! It can do nearly everything photoshop can do and costs nothing, nada, niente ! Give it a try ! Its a great software which enables you for layers, layermasks and the complete range of darkroom gimmicks available in our electronic version :)
Have fun ! See you …