I don't have any great tips....mostly I just take the picture and hope for the best. When I have the time to think about the image I check for plant labels, poor foliage, bugs, weeds and hybridizing tags. Sometimes just changing the angle is enough to avoid the distractions other times I may move leaves by wedging them under another or in my garden removing damaged leaves and weeds. Hybridizing tags dangling or blowing in the breeze, I use the yard sale tags, these can be balanced/tucked behind the bloom between the scape and branch or buds.
If you need to move a scape for what ever reason, better angle for your subject or move one you don't want in the image, try tying a leave around it to pull it over a little. Sometimes a leave from the other side of the clump or from another clump will reach and put just enough tension to hold it out of the way. ( I also do this with scapes that are overloaded with pods and bending into the path, keeps me and the dog from knocking the pods off )
There's nothing more frustrating than to get a perfect image of a daylily you liked in another garden and not remember what the name of the cultivar is, try to get in the habit of taking an image of the plant label... either before or after each cultivar.
Great idea on the action or sports setting Jan! New camera just before bloom season...I still have a lot to learn about the settings.
