It’s a popular saying: “Rules are made to be broken.” But this is only half true, and something that beginners in photography should be wary of. Yes, rules are meant to be broken occasionally… but first you have to know those rules inside out, backwards, and diagonally.

In photography, no rules are more common than the Rule of Thirds and the Golden Mean. If you follow the advice in that saying, you’ll avoid them like the plague, always looking for quirky or different compositions so that you’re not taking “the same photo” as everyone else.

But the truth is that many the most popular photos EVER uploaded to 500px follow the Rule of Thirds and Golden Mean to a T. Don’t believe us? Here are 21 insanely popular (and insanely good) photos from the 500px archives that are perfectly-composed and more beautiful for it:

Photograph Alone in The Slum by Alessandro Bergamini on 500px

Alone in The Slum by Alessandro Bergamini on 500px

Photograph Catch Me If You Can by Scott Kelby on 500px

Catch Me If You Can by Scott Kelby on 500px

Photograph Steps by Hossein Zare on 500px

Steps by Hossein Zare on 500px

Photograph AJ by Jörg H. on 500px

AJ by Jörg H. on 500px

Photograph fishing by Ugur Tufan Emeksiz on 500px

fishing by Ugur Tufan Emeksiz on 500px

Photograph Time to come back home! by Arif Unsal on 500px

Time to come back home! by Arif Unsal on 500px

Photograph hey, friend. by Hannah Meinhardt on 500px

hey, friend. by Hannah Meinhardt on 500px

Photograph *** by Ann Nevreva on 500px

*** by Ann Nevreva on 500px

Photograph LONELY by Jørn Allan Pedersen on 500px

LONELY by Jørn Allan Pedersen on 500px

Photograph Slow Ride by Jake Olson Studios on 500px

Slow Ride by Jake Olson Studios on 500px

Photograph Fly over Trolltunga by Zhuokang Jia on 500px

Fly over Trolltunga by Zhuokang Jia on 500px

Photograph Close to the clouds by Darko Geršak on 500px

Close to the clouds by Darko Geršak on 500px

Photograph Catch in the sun by Marco Redaelli on 500px

Catch in the sun by Marco Redaelli on 500px

Photograph One Calm Tree. by Rob Dickinson on 500px

One Calm Tree. by Rob Dickinson on 500px

Photograph Vatnajokull Ice Cave by Antony Spencer on 500px

Vatnajokull Ice Cave by Antony Spencer on 500px

Photograph *Batman* by Regine Heuser on 500px

*Batman* by Regine Heuser on 500px

Photograph ... by Galiya Zhelnova on 500px

… by Galiya Zhelnova on 500px

Photograph I'm watching you by Caras Ionut on 500px

I'm watching you by Caras Ionut on 500px

Photograph Finding A Balance by Ryan Dyar on 500px

Finding A Balance by Ryan Dyar on 500px

Photograph X light by Sebleu on 500px

X light by Sebleu on 500px

Photograph Rule of thirds and Fibonacci spiral by Marco Ciofalo Digispace on 500px

Rule of thirds and Fibonacci spiral by Marco Ciofalo Digispace on 500px

Have an example of when you followed these two rules perfectly? Or maybe you broke them and got a photo you’re particularly proud of? Either way, upload the shot to 500px and drop a link in the comments! Show us how breaking or following the rules has helped your photography.