Creative November Challenge Day #20: Making the best of things

The new Shannon Park Lookoff in the rain

I've been struggling with this challenge - partly because I'm so damned busy these days but mostly because it's November, which almost by definition means that it's grey and rainy in this part of the world. There have been a few breaks here and there but mostly the weather's been grim.

Despite a dreary forecast this morning, I threw my camera in my bag as I headed out the door, as I have every day this month, and stopped en route to the ferry long enough to take a few photos, though I knew without looking at them that they weren't worth keeping. Everything looked flat and uninteresting in the drab light seeping through the clouds.

Frustrated, I reminded myself to keep trying to find something to shoot. However bad the light, I wanted to make the best of the limited opportunity I had for photography this morning.

As I approached the ferry terminal, a few rays of watery sunlight broke through the clouds low on the horizon. I tried a couple of shots looking out towards the mouth of the harbour but there was too little light to make an interesting image. However, when I turned to head into the terminal, I noticed the windows reflecting an enhanced version of the view, and quickly grabbed a few photos on my way inside. I didn't get anything I really liked but this is my favourite of the bunch.

On the ferry, the options were equally limited. It was too cold to ride on the upper deck and the windows were spattered with rain and sea water so it was impossible to get a clear shot outside. The views were even less promising inside so I finally decided to try creating something a little more abstract.

From a distance, it seems to me it's easy to make out the subject of the image, but maybe it's less obvious close up. In any case, I liked the result when I tweaked the image on my iMac tonight.

I suppose there are a couple of nice life lessons there - that, even when life is most grim, unexpected slivers of light and opportunity can present themselves, and that sometimes even mundane objects have unexpected beauty when we take time to look at them in new ways. In any case, trying to make the best of things is nearly always a good idea.