I am a mediocre photographer at best, but of course I want to improve. When I saw that @hiro was putting together 5-week challenge to experiment with various compositional techniques and share our photos, I had to join.

I don’t have fancy gear, or a lot of time to go hunting for photos, so almost all of my shots were scenes from my daily life, taken with an iPhone. I realized pretty quickly though, that being deliberate about composition gave a new perspective on even familiar scenes, and I was surprised at compelling some of the photos turned out.

Week 1: The Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds challenge is all about getting your subject out of the middle of the frame. Imagine your frame is divided into three equal segments from left to right, and then again from top to bottom, creating a 3×3 grid. Try to place your subject along one of the lines dividing the thirds, so it’s not squarely in the middle third.

This was a rule I was aware of! I even had the overlay turned on in my Camera app to divide the view into thirds, so now I just need to be deliberate about the positioning.

My photos

A large Pikachu doll standing in front of our children’s bookshelf.
A black pot in the foreground, filled with cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and cherry tomatoes. Various potted plants are visible in the background.
A woven wall tapestry showing the words "hello sunshine" and a rising orange sun. The wallpaper behind is a matching orange color.

The third photo here is my favorite. It is from our kids’ bedroom, and I’m happy that I was able to capture it like this.

Week 2: Leading and Diagonal Lines

Leading lines are lines within the frame of your shot that naturally draw the viewer’s eye to your subject. Diagonal lines [. . .] create a sense of movement and tension [. . . and] can also enhance depth, adding a more three-dimensional quality to your composition.

This may have been my favorite exercise. I learned that I really like the aesthetic of leading lines, but unfortunately couldn’t find many good subjects myself. This will be something that I will continue to look out for!

My photos

A covered walkway with concrete columns leads alongside a grassy courtyard filled with bamboo plants. Sunlight casts intricate shadows on the tiled pathway. A modern building with large windows frames the background.
A corridor with a tiled floor casts diagonal shadows from a slatted fence on the left. A wooden bench with a black metal frame is on the right. In the background, there is a staircase leading upwards. Sunlight illuminates the scene, and some plants are visible along the left wall.
Low-angle view of two modern buildings with reflective glass surfaces set against a cloudy sky. The buildings create a sharp, angular perspective converging towards the center of the image. Subtle patterns can be seen on the facade of the left building, with both structures appearing dark and sleek.

I like the third photo here, again. I thought it would be neat to get a thin view of the sky between two tall buildings, and found the perfect spot. Then I spun the picture around in an editing app to find just the right claustrophobic angle.

Week 3: Frame Within A Frame

Whereas Leading Lines used lines within your photo to point to the subject, this technique asks you to find ways to create a frame around your subject in your composition

I had a hard time finding good subjects again, and 2/3 of my frames ended up just being long corridors. But they are cool shots!

My photos

A young child wearing a cap and dark jacket stands near a white U-shaped barrier with orange stripes, holding a colorful mesh bag. A tennis ball lies on the pavement in front of the barrier. In the background, there is a white van parked beside a residential building on a cloudy day.
A long, covered walkway with a wooden slatted roof and metal supports stretches between two buildings. The floor is paved with square tiles, and there are small plants lining the right side with gravel. The scene leads to an open area where two people are seen in the distance.
A covered walkway with a dark ceiling and walls leads to an urban street. The path has textured flooring, with tactile paving lines. To the left, there's a small planted area. Outside, a parked car and buildings are visible, with sunlight illuminating the exit.

Week 4: Subject Isolation + Contrast

[Contrast] could be very visual by putting a brightly lit subject against a dark background, or color based by contrasting a bright red rose against green foliage, or even conceptual with something like capturing someone who is clearly quite happy on a bus surrounded by dour fellow passengers.

I was surprised that this exercise was the hardest for me. I tried not to rely on just using bokeh to highlight the subject, and it was hard to find things that just naturally stood out from their surroundings. Not only was I tardy in finishing this week, I only managed to take two photos that I was happy with. So it goes.

A small giraffe figurine is nestled among vibrant green houseplants on a windowsill. The giraffe has a brown and white pattern, standing out against the lush leaves.
A playground with a red and blue slide is in the left foreground. My shadow extends onto the dry grass. A clear blue sky with a few clouds is visible above, with a utility pole and wires in the distance.

Week 5: The Golden Spiral

[The Golden Spiral is] about arranging the elements in your photos along the lines of an imaginary spiral, so that it offers an easy and natural flow for the viewer to follow those elements to your subject.

The Golden Spiral
The Golden Spiral

In practice, this ended up being an exercise in imagination as much as photography, as finding subjects that lined up to this mathematically perfect spiral was pretty challenging.

My photos

A building with a modern design features dark vertical panels and large windows. In the foreground, a tree with pink blossoms is in full bloom. The sky is mostly clear with a few fluffy clouds, and the sun is shining brightly behind the branches.
A child wearing a light-colored cap, dark jacket, and jeans slides down a curved, green double slide at a playground. A bright blue sky and a building are visible in the distance.
People are enjoying a spinning amusement park ride designed like spaceships. The ride has multiple colorful cars, with "SPACESHIP 10" written on a red car. The sky is clear and blue, with trees and a building visible in the background.

The spaceship photo is probably the one that follows the spiral the closest, and the your eyes naturally flow in the same direction, too. The photo itself could have been better, but that’s what learning is for.

Wrapping up

And that’s all! Thank you a hundred times to Hiro for organizing this! I had a wonderful time taking photos, as well as seeing everyone else’s submissions. If there is a next time, I will definitely be joining again.