I was once having a conversation with a friend about our favorite times of the day to take photos, and she told me about an interesting article she read. It was about a photographer based in the UK who made a personal mission out of turning the dreary, colorless light that he sees day in and day out into interesting photos.

Since I normally gravitate towards the light of the late evening when the shadows are strong and the colors are made vibrant by the harsh angle of the setting sun, I thought I would challenge myself and experiment with shooting on a cloudy, ultra-blah day. I went to a rooftop on a drizzly, cold, cloudy Sunday afternoon… a day where the light sucks the color and energy right out of everything. I shot until I felt that I had run out of ideas for composition, returned to the office, and uploaded my photos to the big screen.

As I was scrolling through my shots, feeling depressed because I wasn’t happy with any of them, the same friend happened to wander through the room and said “Wait, go back to that one.” Here’s how the rest of the conversation went…

• Me: “This one?”
• Friend: “Yes, that one. I love that one!”
• Me: “Really? Why?”
• Friend: “I don’t know. It’s just so __________ !” 

I took another look and realized that she was totally right.

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