To get rid of the grain I used the 'Orton' technique; a method developed by Michael Orton. Originally a fairly labour intensive technique used in film photography where 2-3 negatives were stacked to make a print, the photographer would make one image that was perfectly exposed and precisely focused. Then a second image of the exact same seen would be made slightly out of focus and a couple of stops over exposed. Then the two negatives would be sandwiched together in the printing process. To achieve this look with film one had to decide to employ the process at the time the photos were taken and you had to use a tripod so that the negatives could be exactly aligned for stacking together later. Knowledge of the technique and lots of advance planning and decision making was a requirement. And you'd probably have to do the printing yourself - most labs would not want to be bothered with the fussing around and all that negative handling. In the digital age, any single photo made with any digital camera (or phone) can be used to achieve much the same effect. The steps are simple and the result is a nice, soft, slightly ethereal image.
If you'd like to give this technique a try I recommend the instructions at:
http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0106/dw0106-1.html
