To make better photos means to make photos with energy, movement, levity, and power.
Some simple ideas:
1. Hand gestures and movement
Note Cindy looking right, the fact she’s off-center (more towards the right of the frame), the slight blur and movement, and the hand gesture of her right hand:
2. Dynamic contrast
Shoot scenes with more contrast. For example shooting during golden hour (sunset), and after adding contrast to your photos. Even for a simple scene like the tree below, see the separation of the brightness of the photos:
3. Curve
Any element which is curving in your photo is good, and more dynamic.
4. Layers with lots of diagonal lines
Works very well with wide angle (21mm), and architecture/urban landscape:
5. Explosions of light
Shoot things with bright light — like the sun (-2 exposure compensation):
For example when we inverse the photo and use Gaussian blur, we can see how intense the light is.