This image captured one person’s eye on Flickr and it ended up in a few selected galleries, and from there the phenomenon began. As of this writing, the image has been viewed about 24,000 times, over 20,000 times in one day. I was on the boat with a very accomplished sailing photographer and he captured the same image. We were shooting from different vantage points, he was lower to the water, on the boat’s transom. Both images vividly capture the power of the wind, and the waves and of these beautiful S Boats. We approached the image and post processing with our own unique signatures. We were both reveling in the glory of the blustery day and the salt air and the boats.
On other web viewing sites, the image did not catch on much at all. It’s like a herd develops and follows the wave. I don’t place much stock in the process. And honestly, I’m not sure the process was started by a person. It could have been started by artificial intelligence, the new “being” among us.
It is satisfying to get the exposure, and the image is responsible for about 4,000 unrelated image views on my Flickr page. In the end, I keep things in perspective. I take photographs because I love doing so. It’s as simple as that.