I was part of a photography club and they said do not put anything in the middle of the picture. Put it on the side. Think of the picture in thirds. You can put it on the side or near top but not right in the middle unless it is a vertical picture. We had alot of rules in our camera club. If you take pictures of people, you might want to ask them for permission before taking their picture.
If it is a close up, you want the background blurred. Take pictures that is something unusual. If you take a picture of a path or a road, you should take not the straight road but a curvey road.
I don't know what is Cross processing. But I would get books on photography. One of the best books is The Nature Photography Complete Guide to Professional Field Techniques By John Shaw.

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