1) Determine what in the scene is the desired focal point or center of interest (COI). The goal of the capture then becomes drawing the viewer to it and holding attention there.
2) Determine the best strategy for creating stong tonal contrast between the COI and everthing else in the photo. The eye of the viewer will naturally be attracted to the lightest area on a dark field, or conversely the darkest, most colorful one on a white one.
3) Crop in tightly on the COI -- literally, or in my minds eye-- then expand the photo outward keeping the COI at a third node (four points created by intersecting lines dividing photo into thirds).
4) Watch the edges of the expanding frame for distractions which pull my eye away from the COI. If it pulls my eye away it will also distract the viewer.
5) Develop a plan for dealing with the distraction. If in the studio change the lighting or adjust pose. If outdoors decide if the distraction can be dealt with effectively in post processing. If not, stop expanding the frame since an isoloated and simplifed COI is always better than one competing with distractions near the edges of the frame which tend to pull the eye out of the photo.
Here's an example. I saw some old farm equipment in the barn at the Samuel Mudd House in MD. He was the doctor who treated Booth after he shot Lincoln and his house is a tourist attraction. I couldn't control the lighting, but I knew I could adjust it in Photoshop the way I visualized it:
Original (color not sepia):
Final Rendering:
CG
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Tutorials listed here:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=14317618
