Michelle captured Kaylie's personality as she intended. The subject is Kaylie, not her fingers or the sand; facial expression is important.
If you put "Red Flowers in the back ground your eye's would first be drawn to the red flowers and not Kaylie.
Finger tips is not the subject. You put a person in the middle of a room and 10 photographers, you will get 10 different photos of that person.
There are times when you can not be concerned about the depth of field.
"One," know you subject,
"Second," focus attention,
"Third," simplicity.
Michelle accomplished all three.
The rule of thirds is close enough.
In summary, Michelle was not doing a portrait. If she was, it would be a different set up and location and back ground. She captured Kaylie's personality.
