Cute beats good every time.

Killdeer chick (left) and adult (right).  Photographed in Didsbury, Alberta.

I have enjoyed photography now for about 45 years and have taken hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of photographs.  Most are worthy of the dustbin, but some are good and a few are exceptional.  And then there are those that are "cute".  

Babies, of all sorts, it seems, are one of the things that tug at a person's heartstrings.  They elicit an emotional response that is centered in our very core.  With big eyes and head attached to a small and relatively helpless body, it only takes a glimpse for us to turn all mushy and utter the inevitable, "Awwwww."  The species doesn't matter much, although most of us would admit to not finding much endearment in a tadpole or caterpillar.  No, the ticket is a smaller version of an adult form we are familiar with.  Especially when it comes to anything fuzzy.

Hair or feathers, it doesn't matter.  We want to pick up the puppy, cuddle the chick, and gawk at the baby chimp, deer, or owl.  This goes for the real things, those tactile little forms that evoke the inner parent in all of us.  However, it even extends to simple images, visual forms that have no substance but still light up our brains like a wet and spongy Christmas tree.  

The photos and blogs that I post on Facebook receive a wide range likes, views, and comments.  Guess which ones produce the most of those parameters?  I'ts not the good, or even exceptional images.  No, it's the cute ones.  Every time.  It seems that cute beats good in photography.  Perhaps even in life.

Let's say it all together.  Awwwwwww.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen.     www.ericspix.com

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