Sunday, August 11, 2013

Shot Through the Window

Last week when I just looked out of my window, waiting for some inspiration, I saw a young oriole at the hummingbird feeder in my photinia. Eager to take a few quick snapshots - I don't dare to use the term "take photos" here - before s/he flies off again, I grabbed my Canon PowerShot SX40 HS with its amazing super zoom and snapped through my window - the only way not to scare the heck out of this little bird. Of course the shots turned out crabby, I don't even care to post them here.

However, while standing at the window, hoping for the return of the little guy, I noticed my sunflower and how beautiful it looked in the late afternoon sun that was illuminating it from the back. Before thinking any further I took a photo of it through the window. When I looked at it on my computer I liked how it had turned out and posted it to flickr as my photo of the day - and forgot about it.

photo of the week

Can you imagine my surprise the following morning when I opened my email inbox and it was overflowing with flickr mail?

What had happened? Well, the photo had made it into the "explore" gallery, something I have to admit I was unaware about until that moment. Apparently there is an "explore" gallery on flickr every day, but I don't know how the photos are chosen for the gallery. What I do know is that the photos in this gallery are exceptional (I felt very small when I looked at them) and get tons of views. I can't tell you in words how much I feel honored that my photo made it into this gallery. I still don't understand how this happened and it still amazes and astonishes me.

As of today, my sunflower has had more than 5000 views and my flickr circle has grown significantly. I still get notifications about people who favorite this photo. Every time I kind of shake my head over it in disbelief - and I am super happy, especially since this happened at a time when I felt totally uncreative and had those infamous doubts of not being good enough. This was a wonderful boost for me!


13 comments:

Sally H said...

And very well deserved! This is a wonderful photo! The lighting is perfect and I love the composition, and so many other people agree too!

Lynn Cohen said...

How exciting to be discovered this way! Huge congrats! Yes, GREAT photos , as yours always are!

LONDONLULU said...

How wonderful, it's a fantastic photo and deserving of the wide audience! I love the color and the light!

Elephant's Child said...

A simply stunning photo - and the accolades are deserved.

Randy said...

I love that photograph. Excellent composition.

Kay L. Davies said...

It truly is an exceptional photo of a sunflower, Carola. I'm not surprised thousands of people liked it. The light behind the flower is superb with the plain background.
K

Cheri said...

I can totally see how it could happen. The photo is magnificent - you caught the light so beautifully!

Darla said...

The photo is fantastic. I don't belong to Flicker but I can understand the attention this shot generated.

Darla

La Vie Quotidienne said...

Congratulations a well deserved honor, this is a beautiful image...but then most of your photos are great and it is nice to see that recognized.

Anonymous said...

So beautiful! Congrats!!!

Magic Love Crow said...

Gorgeous photo!!

Friko said...

It really is a very good shot, you know. As if you had carefully positioned it.

Congratulations on your flickr success.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Congratulations!
It's a well deserved honor.
Rinda