The Story Behind My Most Popular Photo
Happy Bird
My most popular photo is Happy Bird. It gets the most attention and the most smiles from visitors to our gallery.
The bird in the photo just seems to make people happy. They relate to the confident strut, the unruly hair, and the exuberant attitude. Some people give him a name and hang the photo where it gives them a boost of confidence or a smile before they walk out the door.
The Story Behind the Photo
On a sunny morning a few years ago, I noticed four snowy egrets gallivanting along the shore at Fort Zachary Taylor Park in Key West. I was fairly close to them, but they were so attuned to each other that they paid me no mind. One of them started chasing the others, and I snapped a few photos as he swaggered toward them.
When I developed the photos on the computer, I focused on this one because it caught the bird in mid-stride. I loved the snowy egret’s attitude, but I didn’t love the color of the water in the background, so I opted for black and white. Since then, I’ve made peace with the background color and printed some photos in color. It seems that about half the people prefer black and white and the other half prefer color.
P.S. We’ll be closed during parts of the days on March 20-22, during Mark’s hip surgery and initial recovery.
