As web administrator at Morrisville State College, one of my occasional duties was to take photos for various sections of the college's web environment. One morning on my rural drive into work, the falling snow looked exceptionally pretty, so upon arriving I grabbed the department camera and went on out campus to gather some winter imagery. For those not in the know, our grim winters in upstate New York are not always very attractive. This was an excellent opportunity to show off the snowy campus in an eye-catching way.
Winter Mustang was the best photo in the batch, and I used it in several places on the website. To my surprise, a number of other departments on campus started asking to use the photos as well. Before I knew it, this photo was blown up, framed, and hung in the dining hall. It became the cover of the college catalog. It was used as the basis for the campus parking sticker. It was cropping up everywhere! Obviously I was pleased, but I attribute the success of this image to good luck more than anything else. I took the photo on a beautiful, snowy day, and the subject was, of course, the school's mascot: the Morrisville Mustang.