The theme was emptiness. I found some acorns and they were a perfect vehicle for my thoughts. Small enough to get lost in the frame, delicate in shape and nature, and it was empty! Placing the object was easy - we read from left to right - so somewhere right and below the center. Rotated it to catch the sun and made the cast shadow obvious to enhance the position/prominence. It still looked too staged and lacked dynamics. A tiny bit of the acorn had broken off and placed near the empty shell. Balance achieved. Three elements, acorn, shadow and tiny bit. I discount background as an element in this case. Macrolens used with open aperture F2.8 and focused on front rim on acorn and little "bit" which was placed on the same "depth of focus". Rest is soft and our eyes will fill in what they want to see. I dislike photos where everything is sharp, I like to give your brain ideas. Editing in photoshop with various plug-ins to add glow and colours. Always edge my image as placing is unknown.