Must say I am drawn to sepia tones more so than B &W but I like the vintage / old style photos! I am constantly inspired by B & w pics but I feel they work really well on candid street photos. I agree with Liz though @4stories .... It definitely depends on the shot!!!
@michellina - sepia is awesome when trying to express a vintage or olden-look. But the photo you use it on must be appropriate. For example see my shot of Wall Street below:
I aim for the "vintage" look when I use it. But in the days when you didn't have the choice of anything else and no option of colour, except by hand-coloured photos, it could be quite a frustrating medium to work in.
Having said that I do like Ems Tuck's photos, I think they're good and they work. Sepia doesn't work for everything, but neither does black and white.
@raggleroo Aaaw! I've just read the whole post from beginning to end, now I'm blushing! What an honour, two mentions from you and @carmel ! Thank you so much
@michellina I like it and use it at times. Just slapping a sepia filter on in photoshop for no reason bugs me to no end. It needs to fit the photo and serve a purpose. I did use it on my recent Picnic at Pemberley photos since it improved the feel of the photo and worked for the subject matter as I mention in the discussion in this photo
(Original, unedited shot is linked in the discussion)
Do I think most people overdo it? Yes! Do I use it in most of my photos? Nope!
I did my first sepia photo in my project a couple of days ago, just for something different. I'm all up for any comments or criticism on it, please feel free.
Like anything (well, almost anything) it has its place.
I know that sometimes an image "happens" that just begs for a sepia toning, like this seemed to for me:
And this:
And other times, I have the whole process in mind before I even click the shutter, like in this:
But, as has been said, it isn't just a case of "wacking a Photoshop filter on it" and presto - a beautiful sepia. It has to make sense for the image - the mood, the subject, the styling... all go together, or else they don't and the image doesn't work.
This reminds me of when Lightroom first became popular, and every second person was using the selenium and cyanotype creative presets. I mean, truly, how often does one see a cyanotype in a gallery? It only works occasionally. Sepia certainly has more uses than cold-toned printing processes like those, and can be combined to great effect with some colour treatments (as @neda did above with her "hand-painted" old photo look) and in distressed, aged-look images like others have posted here.
@kiwichick I think sepia is not a bad choice for your shot. My crit wouldn't be in how you used sepia toning, but rather in that there is no light in the eyes - you need a good base image, no matter what treatment you're going to give it later. Other than the light, it is certainly a gorgeous capture.
Just remember - not every treatment will wok with every photograph. Or even most photographs. Except maybe textures. ;) Haha!
@jinximages Thanks for the comments, I appreciate them. You're right, I didn't capture much light in this shot. It was a side light on a gloomy day and I almost think I processed the light out of the eyes. I'll keep that in mind next time.
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Sorry I deleted it by mistake.
I aim for the "vintage" look when I use it. But in the days when you didn't have the choice of anything else and no option of colour, except by hand-coloured photos, it could be quite a frustrating medium to work in.
Having said that I do like Ems Tuck's photos, I think they're good and they work. Sepia doesn't work for everything, but neither does black and white.
I have been alternating between b&w and sepia since I started, but some of my November shots are definitely my favourites :)
(Original, unedited shot is linked in the discussion)
Do I think most people overdo it? Yes! Do I use it in most of my photos? Nope!
I know that sometimes an image "happens" that just begs for a sepia toning, like this seemed to for me:
And this:
And other times, I have the whole process in mind before I even click the shutter, like in this:
But, as has been said, it isn't just a case of "wacking a Photoshop filter on it" and presto - a beautiful sepia. It has to make sense for the image - the mood, the subject, the styling... all go together, or else they don't and the image doesn't work.
This reminds me of when Lightroom first became popular, and every second person was using the selenium and cyanotype creative presets. I mean, truly, how often does one see a cyanotype in a gallery? It only works occasionally. Sepia certainly has more uses than cold-toned printing processes like those, and can be combined to great effect with some colour treatments (as @neda did above with her "hand-painted" old photo look) and in distressed, aged-look images like others have posted here.
@kiwichick I think sepia is not a bad choice for your shot. My crit wouldn't be in how you used sepia toning, but rather in that there is no light in the eyes - you need a good base image, no matter what treatment you're going to give it later. Other than the light, it is certainly a gorgeous capture.
Just remember - not every treatment will wok with every photograph. Or even most photographs. Except maybe textures. ;) Haha!