Griddr Journal
Composition, custom grids, and better photos from your phone.
Short, practical notes on how to frame, align, and photograph what matters — written by the team behind Griddr.
Custom camera grids: design your own overlay
Why custom camera grids beat rule-of-thirds, how to build one in Griddr, and how saved templates keep a series of photos consistent.
Car photography with a phone: a grid for cleaner listing photos
A phone car photography workflow for straight side profiles, readable angles, wheel placement, background cleanup, and repeatable used-car listing images.
Event photos with a phone: use a grid-based shot list
A phone event photography workflow for birthdays, launches, meetups, dinners, and small gatherings using repeatable grids and a simple shot list.
Group photo composition on a phone: keep faces clear and rows level
A practical phone group photo composition workflow for face lines, headroom, edge spacing, rows, background cleanup, and faster family or team photos.
Pet photography with a phone: use a grid for eyes, motion, and space
A phone pet photography guide for cleaner dog and cat photos, eye-line placement, motion space, background control, and faster compositions.
Sunset and landscape photos on a phone: the grid setup that works
A phone sunset and landscape photography workflow for level horizons, sky balance, foreground anchors, silhouettes, and cleaner scenic compositions.
Mirror selfie composition: a phone grid for better outfit photos
A practical mirror selfie composition guide for outfit photos, phone placement, vertical alignment, headroom, crop lines, and cleaner backgrounds.
Phone food photography: use a grid before the food gets cold
A practical phone food photography workflow for plate placement, table lines, negative space, overhead shots, and 45-degree food photos.
Real estate photos with a phone: the grid setup for cleaner rooms
A phone real estate photography workflow for straighter room lines, consistent corners, better listing photos, and less editing later.
Travel photography with a phone: use grids for landmarks and people
A phone travel photography composition guide for landmarks, people, horizons, crowds, leading lines, and repeatable trip photo sets.
Vertical photos for social: build a safe-zone grid before you crop
A vertical phone photo grid for social posts, stories, reels covers, carousel crops, text overlays, UI-safe margins, and cleaner 9:16 compositions.
Architecture photos on a phone: keep vertical lines straight in camera
A phone architecture photography method for straighter buildings, cleaner interiors, level horizons, and deliberate symmetry before you start editing.
Before and after photos: match the same composition every time
A repeatable before-and-after photo workflow for matching framing, anchor points, distance, and crop so the change is easy to see.
Flat lay photography with a phone: use a grid before you arrange props
A phone flat lay photography workflow for overhead alignment, prop spacing, negative space, and cleaner food, product, desk, and social photos.
Phone product photography: the grid setup for cleaner listings
A practical phone product photography workflow for cleaner listing images, readable labels, consistent margins, and repeatable shots across a whole catalog.
Portrait composition on a phone: eyes, headroom, and crop lines
A simple phone portrait composition method for placing eyes, controlling headroom, avoiding awkward crops, and making portraits feel deliberate.
The complete guide to photo composition grids
Every composition grid worth knowing — what it does, when it works, when it doesn't, and how to choose between them. Eleven grids, in order of usefulness.
5 composition mistakes every phone photographer makes
The five mistakes that turn up in 80% of phone photos, why they happen, and the specific grid or habit that fixes each one.
How to photograph paintings perfectly centered
A specific method for shooting framed paintings square, centered, color-true, and ready for print or insurance — using only a phone, a wall, and one custom grid.
Level every horizon: the one grid you always need
A tilted horizon is the single most common composition mistake in phone photography, and the one grid that fixes it is the simplest one you'll ever use.
Rule of thirds vs. golden triangle: when each wins
Two grids, two different jobs. The rule of thirds composes for stability; the golden triangle composes for tension. Here's how to pick the right one in the moment.
Match composition across a photo series with saved grids
How to keep a series of photos visually consistent — for product listings, before-and-afters, vending machines, or 100 portraits at a wedding — using saved custom grids.
Golden ratio in phone photography: what's useful, what's marketing
The Fibonacci spiral, the phi grid, and the golden triangle — what works on a phone, what's mostly an Instagram caption, and how to actually use the ratio that matters.
Photograph artwork straight: the 4×4 grid method
A repeatable method for shooting paintings, prints, and framed art with a phone — using a 4×4 grid, the right distance, and one trick most people skip.
Rule of thirds: 12 real examples from your phone
Most rule-of-thirds tutorials never tell you which intersection point to use. Here are 12 specific situations and the exact line to put your subject on.