Overcast Light

Overcast light can be dull. It can also be magical.

If the light has no direction then things are dull. If there is direct sun contrast tends to be very harsh. In between is a sweet spot where a bit of sun can give definition whilst the high bright clouds provide loads of magical clean "fill".

Learn to recognise it and then find a nice subject quickly!

Grain Does Not Equal Noise

This is a good example of how even in a colour photograph grain can be nice. The fundamental difference between digital sensor noise and grain is that sensor elements are arranged in a rectangular grid whereas silver clusters (or, in colour film, dye clouds) are randomly arranged and spaced. This gives a much more organic texture and can actually enhance some images.

This is a very fine grained film and normally would not show graininess but this particular image is a tight crop of a 35mm frame so it is greatly enlarged, making the grain visible.