
Our Daily Create challenge for Jan. 24, 2012, was “Photograph something commonly considered ugly and make it heart-breakingly beautiful.”
I had a busy day, and I didn’t know what the challenge was until after dark, and I was on my way home. As I moved through the rush hour traffic, I started just shooting at random out the rain-streaked windshield. I was amazed at how well the photographs turned out!
These are all ugly stop lights, strip malls, 7-11s and here, the Red Apple Grocery, but somehow all made beautiful, transformed by the glaze of drenching rain and the reflection of lights in the windows, puddles, and wet pavement.

On Jan. 22, 2012, our Daily Create challenge was, “Take a photo of an something’s shadow in a way that makes it difficult to identify the object.” That day happened to be very overcast, and there weren’t any shadows anywhere.
However, this evening, I suddenly “saw” this shadow thrown on the tablecloth by the tulips Peter had just brought me.
I love the shot, and I love it that because of the daily habit of creating all sorts of different things, my eyes are starting to “see” odd angles of beauty like the shadows of tulips.