Just to get more technique-related "spark" in here - I would be interested in knowing your "first rule of composition"?

Mine, to state out loud what it is about the image I'm about to shoot that actually interested me- that lets me know what it is I need to concentrate on. Then, my rule is to include everything that supports that definition and eliminate everything that distracts from it.

Sounds simple enough, but there was a time when I was shooting a wet-weather falls in the Smokeys. I stopped by the side of the road and said to myself "that's beautiful" - grabbed my camera and started shooting....but wasn't seeing in my viewfinder the reason I stopped. I literally asked myself "what was it about this scene that made me stop?" - it was the way the water was streaming through these moss covered rocks. After identifying that, I was able to concentrate on what caught my eye to begin with.