Thanks for the chance to host a Mini-Challenge. I know it's holiday time, but I'm going to derivate from the obvious and select as the topic something I've always found compelling: Pretty Pictures of Ugly Things. I challenge you to see beauty in ordinary or even ugly things. The subject of the photo should be something mundane or downright ugly, but the photo itself should be beautiful in composition, color, texture, etc. It's the kind of photo you are proud of, but other people (who can't see past the subject matter) would say, "Why did you take a picture of *that*?"

Some examples:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2414/1804281011_bdb6501a2d.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/trippyswell/1804281011/in/pool-prettyugly/

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1013/1216340342_1fde45ceeb.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/trippyswell/1216340342/in/pool-prettyugly/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/194/466303040_820a1e6f0b.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/trippyswell/466303040/in/pool-prettyugly/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/434361375_081b7917d0.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/trippyswell/434361375/in/pool-prettyugly/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/340050660_f3f99333ce.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/trippyswell/340050660/in/pool-prettyugly/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/53274165_bff3440e62.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/trippyswell/53274165/in/pool-prettyugly/

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/22/36593365_a29df94543.jpg
http://flickr.com/photos/trippyswell/36593365/in/pool-prettyugly/


More great examples can be seen here: http://flickr.com/groups/prettyugly/pool/88345903@N00/

Here is the flickr group I run on this topic: http://flickr.com/groups/prettyugly/


Challenge closes next Friday, 28th December at 9pm CET (Central European Time).



*RULES*

1. The host supplies a topic and you post 1-3 images. The host judges the winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd) and is not eligible to enter. The 1st place winner then chooses the next topic, judges the winner and passes on the baton to the new champion.
2. Any photo you’ve taken is eligible, regardless of when taken or camera used.

3. Any amount of post-processing is allowed. However, it is helpful if you list your camera and lens along with your photo. You may comment on other contestant's images. If you want someone to leave you some criticism, put an asterisk (*) next to the title of the image.
Guidelines:

1. When posting your picture, change the Subject of your post to display your picture title.

2. Either embed your image in the thread or, if you must, supply a link to it. Keep in mind, however, most people don't want to click to open photos hosted elsewhere (i.e. on your website).

3. Also try and resize your photos prior to posting so they're sized appropriately for viewing without having to scroll (~800 pixels on the longest side works best.)
To embed your photo in a post:

* With your photo on Pbase (or any other site) copy its URL from the URL box on your tool bar and paste it into your post. Add a .jpg extension to make the photo show up. Click on preview to make sure it's there.
Or

* Right click on the image in your host site, click on "Properties", highlight the link with the .jpg extension on it and paste it into your message text.

*. The winner has up to three days (72 hours) to begin a new mini-challenge, or the honor goes to the #2 finisher and so forth.

* As host, please add the name of your challenge to the bottom of the list and delete the top one, so the list doesn’t grow too long.

* Enter 1-3 photos and put them in a single post. Limit the size of photos to 250K each to conserve bandwidth.
* Please remove any photos from previous posts.


*** PREVIOUS 40 Challenges ****

101 Through the forest
102 Cars
103 Cute
104 Beauty
105 Fruit
106 Panning
107 Behavior
108 Sweet Tooth
109 Looking Up
110 Gothic
111 Mechanical
112 City Life
113 Only In
114 Clouds
115 Golden Hour
116 Floating
117 Cut Outs
118 Trains and Stations
119 The Beach
120 Countryside
121 Trees
122 Statues and Monuments
123 Mushrooms & Fungi
124 Powerful
125 Color
126 Down On The Farm
127 Doo Doo Doo, Lookin' out my back door
128 The Perfect Moment
129 Sayings Come to Life
130 Shadows
131 Eureka
132 Harvest
133 Tractors
134 Your Other Hobby
135 Musical instruments
136 Stuck
137 After Dark
138 The Streets
139 Religious Buildings ~ Interiors
140 Fall Colors
141 Pretty Pictures of Ugly Things


--
Angela
http://flickr.com/photos/trippyswell