Thanks for thinking of us @buddingphotographer!
The struggle is real. I’ve had a little experience with trying to get type to stand out against difficult backgrounds, so here are a few tips:
Do not use a script typeface if you are struggling to make text stand out. Its delicate curves and forms are difficult to make out on a clean photo and have a limited use case. Try using a sans serif or serif typeface instead.
Bold your text. As Ezra pointed out, the goal here is contrast. You need to make the eye be able to make out the letterforms, and bold text makes those letterforms bigger!
Make your text larger. This is a luxury I can’t use often for the VersePics because of the format requirements, but it’s a good design principle to use!
Use a subtle shadow and ONLY a subtle shadow! Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you can see the shadow, it’s too much. There certainly are exceptions but for placing text on photos, not many. Visible shadows distract and take away from the photo and text. It helps your text stand out, but not in a good way. Keep the opacity of shadows low and try to match a dark shade in the photo to make the shadow look more natural. Try using the Multiply blend mode for an interesting, and useful, effect.
Use a transparent background. This is my absolutely last resort but I turn to it for a reason. It dramatically increases the contrast between the text and the background and, while very obvious, doesn’t look bad and can even elevate your design. Try using multiple shapes, opacities, and blend modes till you get the effect that you want.
Either use perfectly white text or a dark shade from the background. If you have to use a darker color for your text, try to find a dark shade from your photo or darken a shade from your photo. Do not use perfectly black text. Using a shade from the photo makes the text appear more natural.
Intentionally underexpose your photo or use a dark overlay. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite techniques because it is an elegant solution to a hard problem. The darker background helps the text stay legible while also making the text the center of attention. This definitely won’t work for every photo, though, so keep that in mind.
In all of these suggestions, there is one constant guiding rule I follow. Keep it subtle. While it can be hard to see how that applies to a transparent background, only go as far as you need to make the text legible, then stop. Over the top effects only serve to make designs seem amateurish while stripped back but effective designs will be seen as more professional. Knowing what works and what to turn to will come with time and experimentation, but make sure everything you do contributes to the design rather than takes away from it.
Hopefully, some of that helps!