You’ve got the idea of the ‘rule of thirds’ and you’ve started to use it in making your pictures. What’s the other one thing that you can do everytime you pick up the camera from now? Here’s a tip that worked for me, and I hope it can help you too.
The next time you look through the viewfinder or the LCD screen, pay attention to the edges of the frame. You need to make sure that there is nothing jutting out along any of the 4 edges. Here’s an example. Look at the 2 pictures I’ve posted here. Run your eyes along the 4 edges of the top photo. On the left side of that photo you will see something jutting out. That, in fact, is part of a garbage bag. If I didn’t run my eyes along the 4 edges, I would’ve left that distracting element there. People looking at the photo then might just latch their eyes on that piece of garbage bag and move their gaze to the outside of the frame instead of looking inside the picture on the decaying structure.
Now, take a look at the bottom picture. Because the building is my main focus, I cropped out that piece of garbage bag & I used the fallen twigs & dried leaves on the ground to loosely frame the door of the decaying building, directing eyes to it and to the whole house/building.
To really see what you’re looking at is a great way to really connect with the subject you’re photographing. Sure, you can crop it off in post-processing but it’s such a pity to realise much later that’s there’s something distracting there, rather than detecting it sooner, which would allow you more chances to get a better composition in-camera.
Tell me if this tip is helpful for you. In the meantime, enjoy photography!
The Cocoonist 