GoKawiilDefault wallpaper of Windows XP
Bliss, originally titled Bucolic Green Hills, is the default wallpaper of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system. It is a photograph of green rolling hills and daytime sky with cirrus clouds. Charles O'Rear, a former National Geographic photographer, took the photo in January 1996 near the Napa–Sonoma county line, California, after a phylloxera infestation forced vineyards to be cleared from the hill years prior. He used a Mamiya RZ67 camera and Fujifilm's Velvia film to create the photograph; O'Rear remarked that he did not enhance or manipulate the photograph.
Initially a stock photo available through his photo agency Westlight that was acquired by Bill Gates' Corbis in 1998, Microsoft obtained full rights of the photograph in 2000 and then used it to promote Windows XP. Bliss received positive reception from reviewers, and has been speculated to be the most viewed photograph in history by Microsoft and journalists. Microsoft has reused the photograph in several promotions since the release of Windows XP. Photographers have attempted to re-create the iconic image, but the rolling hill has since become a vineyard again.
Overview [ edit ]
Charles O'Rear (pictured in 2007) is the photographer of Bliss.
The photograph depicts a lush green rolling hill with cirrus clouds during a daytime sky, with mountains far in the background.[1][2] It was taken by Charles O'Rear, a former National Geographic photographer and resident of St. Helena, California, in the Napa Valley region north of San Francisco, while on his way to visit his girlfriend in January 1996.[2][3] He drove along the Sonoma Highway, California State Route 121 intersecting 12, when he noticed the hill, which had been cleared of vineyards after a phylloxera infestation years prior.[4][5][6] O'Rear came to a stop in southern Sonoma County,[7] near the Napa–Sonoma county line and pulled off the road.[4][8]
O'Rear recalled that he was alert for a photo opportunity the day he took the photograph, considering that a storm had passed over and winter rains left the hills green.[1][9]: 1:10 "There it was! My God, the grass is perfect! It's green! The sun is out; there's some clouds," he remembered thinking.[9]: 1:24 He took four shots and got back into his truck.[8][9]: 2:10
O'Rear used a Mamiya RZ67 medium-format camera on a tripod and Fujifilm's Velvia color film that saturated green and blue colors.[6][9]: 2:29 He credited the combination and said that if he had shot with 35 mm film, it would not have had an identical result.[9]: 2:40 O'Rear later recollected that he had previously attempted to capture the Napa Valley hills with the Kodachrome 64 film, but was dissatisfied due to the unsaturated greens.[10] Despite being widely believed that the photograph was manipulated or created with software such as Adobe Photoshop, O'Rear said that he did not digitally enhance or manipulate the photograph in any way.[1][2][11]
History [ edit ]
After creating the photograph, O'Rear made it available as a stock photo through Westlight, a photo agency he co-founded.[4][12][13] Westlight was bought by Seattle-based Corbis (now BENlabs) in May 1998, who digitized its best-selling images.[14][15] By the time of its acquisition, Westlight was estimated to have been one of the largest stock photo companies in the United States.[14] He also submitted a vertical shot, which was available at the same time.[16] The photograph was originally titled Bucolic Green Hills.[17]
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