I Can See it - Why Can't I Take It 

 
How often have you seen something terrific, but when you take the photo, the subject blends into the background? We have all experienced that. The reason is, we see with binocular vision which allows us to separate the subject from the background. The camera only has one eye and can't do this.

We have to learn to see. One handy trick is to squint your eyes - this almost reduces the colour to monotone and allows you to see distractions more clearly.  You can then use other methods to isolate the subject.

The series of photos below is of the same tree, but using different light, Depth of Field, contrasting backgrounds and different direction of light.

Try these techniques.
1. Have different light on the subject than the background. eg have sun on the subject and shade on the background.
2. Get closer to your subject. This creates a larger relative distance behind the subject which blurs the background more.
3. Take in duller light for example when it is raining or nearly so.
4. Take the shot as a silhouette against the sky or light background
5. Use a low aperture to help blur the background

Doing any of these suggestions, might mean that you end up with a different image than you first envisaged. However, the photo you end up with, should be more interesting and pleasing to look at.