Shape change in metal ion coordination environments is well known to affect measured properties, especially spectral, magnetic, and biological properties. Interaction with visible light is conceptually linked to d-block metal complexes and polycyclic, predominantly carbon molecules with distributed π-systems, each with electronic states separated by an energy compatible with the incident photon. First-row transition metal complexes are often threedimensional, six-coordinate species near to the ideal octahedral coordination environment, with a history of numeric analysis derived from ligand effects and corresponding alteration of coordination environment, such as Jahn and Teller's work on spontaneous symmetry-breaking. Algorithms such as bond valence sum and the continuous symmetry measure allow for the digestion of the distortion of these coordination polyhedra into single numerical terms which assist the correlation of structure to properties. Symmetric-coordinate analysis as previously described by Murray-Rust, Bürgi and Dunitz for the simple enumerated inorganic polyhedra is perhaps the most sophisticated of these analyses, though has seemingly not found a place in routine crystal structure reporting. The nuanced distortional minutiae of inorganic polyhedra, especially in crystalline minerals, is crucial to understanding photochemical properties.