Teaching my students about composition is sometimes a very difficult endeavor. I teach them the 'rules' and I teach them to break the rules...so when does breaking the rules work and does it not work. This photo I took of Angela could be argued that it breaks rules...it could be argued that it isn't a very strong composition. But it could also be argued that the diagonal of Angela's head leads your eye to the darker corner which brings your eye back in- in a circular movement arriving back on Angela. Your eye doesn't leave the frame. Harmony Motter always says things like respect the shadows--respect the black...here I see it as that same idea. Respect the white, respect the space. Sometimes you don't want perfectly ordered compositions and tightly cropped to the subject framing. Sometimes you want there to be air to breathe. Photograph by Richard Sayer