I had two assignment today that required as much time driving as they did photographing them. So I thought about a lot of things. These days I think a great deal about teaching my photography class and my students. I've been talking about the frame and how really good photographers concentrate not just on the subject, but how they place the subject in the frame. It sounds simple, but it really isn't. We have a ton of people who take good pictures now in the world--cameras and cell phones have given us a chance to see more and more good images, but good photographers take good pictures all the time and they do so because they really pay attention to what is in the frame and how they place their subjects. I was thinking about how moments can sometimes break this theory apart, but not really, great moments help make a photograph great. I didn't notice the girl sticking her tongue out as she whirled around on the ride at first, but once I did I knew I had a picture if only I could capture it. I also talk about looking deeper than the surface for a picture. When I saw Josh Kell at the fair I thought I should concentrate on the reflection of his glasses to get a picture of the fair(its a device I use all the time and am still trying to take as good a photo this way as Jim Stefanucci did of little gridders years ago). But as I kept my camera on him I saw him smoke and then I saw I had a neat portrait of him. And I also try to talk about trying things that might not work. I was waiting for the football game listening to the national anthem and thinking about patriotism and 9/11 and thought I wanted to try to show the emptiness of how we are patriotic at certain times, but mostly we're not practicing day to day patriots. For many its a show, but are they true? I thought it might be an interesting way to make commentary on the 9th anniversary of a tragic event that we will, at least some will, take time to remember today. Meadville Tribune photographs by Richard Sayer