Don't hesitate to use "portrait layout" either, @coco. :) And try different camera angles as well. Especially with the beach backdrop of Sunlit Tides. :)
4. Use the Rule of Thirds to Increase Tension in Your Photos - Draw your viewer's eyes away from the center of the image to your subject.
Here's an action freeze shot of Haruo on a bike in Vancouver (world by sneakfeline0)
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RIzvNxO4T-4/XwLgNV3UXVI/AAAAAAAAhWA/eAfjBA9Ht6kH6HxfcueYbOw0wKvPRxl3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-30.jpg
There's a photography rule called "Rule of Thirds" which divides the photos up into quadrants meaning that you have nine quadrants in a photo. The centre quadrant is called the snapshot as that is where most casual shooters always tend to have their subject situated in it because that's where it's most comfortable.
Photographers as they gain experience tend to shy away from the snapshot quadrant as they want to tell a story with their photography.
Take for example my owl photograph. The owl itself wasn't the subject of the image. The image was to draw your eyes to the owl's piercing gaze (the eyes). Notice how the eyes were not in the center of the photo?
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wRRzs9WwhCg/XwLkqhKVKoI/AAAAAAAAhWM/VH1HkzbcGr0oBPQkHXhmq3LUx_w_HvNlACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/_DSC5445-EditRo3.png
It was to create tension to drag one's sight to the eyes. Note how I used rule of thirds to center my subject right on the two intersecting lines. And further, the shoulders of the owl and the tuft of her ear lands squarely on those lines as well.
Note that Haruo is not squarely in the center of my screencap either. :)
