B&W Challenge No. 73 - Sepia

[tonyw]

While wondering what to pick as a subject this month I ran across an article on sepia - What is Sepia Tone Photography  As an ex-chemist I found the history of it interesting and hadn't realised that longevity was one of the reasons for using it (and I have some old albums from the late 1800's that indeed show that sepia lasts longer than black and white).  As this Challenge is about monochrome and not specifically black and white I thought we'd see what the warmth and nostalgia that sepia typically adds to an image could bring this month.  And no chemistry is needed to do it!  

There are many ways to convert an image to sepia and there are also many variants of the colour sepia.  Any are welcome here!  In Elements a simple conversion is in Effects>Classic>Monotone Color and pick sepia.  Creative Effects Challenge No. 172 - Sepia by fotofrank showed how to use a solid color adjustment layer to sepia-tone an image (including an action you can use) and the article I mentioned above has a link to a Lightroom version.  If you have a method you like to use please tell us.

Here are a couple to get started - I just used that very simple Elements conversion but added a levels adjustment to increase the contrast.  The first was a sepia conversion of one I did for Creative Effects Challenge No. 205 - Painterly Image and the second was from an earlier weekly theme.



     


Looking forward to seeing your sepia tones!

Tony

[hmca]

 I am so happy to see this topic!

I had a favorite way of creating sepia toned images using split toning in LR.   However, LR has changed to color grading and I have not been able to figure out how to get the same results.  Seeing this topic I am hoping that someone may be able to help. I had shared these images previously and a member had asked me how I did my sepia toning.  When I was on before I searched my messages and found my reply:

I first create a black and white version using Silver Efex Pro. After that I use the sliders in LR to create a split tone effect.  I find that setting 40 for the hue and 10 for the saturation in both highlights and shadows is a good starting point.

So here are a couple of my sepia toned images that I especially like the tones. 

 

[billz]

Aug 3, 2023 22:21:30 GMT hmca said:

I first create a black and white version using Silver Efex Pro. After that I use the sliders in LR to create a split tone effect.  I find that setting 40 for the hue and 10 for the saturation in both highlights and shadows is a good starting point.

Nice results Helen,  Thanks for sharing the process!  

[hmca]

The problem billz is that I don't know how to get the same results since LR changed and no longer has a split toning section....unless I'm missing it.

But, thank you.  I'm glad you like the tone.

[tonyw]

Thanks for getting us started Helen. I thought color grading and split toning in Lightroom were much the same thing - have you tried using the global setting in the color grading panel? Here's a screenshot of what putting 40 and 10 in Hue and Saturation looked like as a global adjustment - you can also adjust the Luminosity slider.



Tony

[Jim]

Old Desoto

One quick method is in PSE 2023's "fun edits" > "old fashioned photo", which I used on this vintage car.

[blackmutt]

I used Lightroom. I converted this photo of a boat rail with waterdrops to black and white and then used a free preset on it. Not sure if it works
i.ibb.co/5L1PV9N/DSC-1421.jpg

[pontiac1940]

Thanks for the challenge tonyw . Also for the simple instructions fotofrank

I was going to do a bunch of old bldgs but only including one I took a few weeks ago. The plant photos were taken this evening in our backyard. Sepia overload. 

The perennial border 


An old house on a drizzly day. 


A barrel cactus 


Dead daisy flowers 

[kdcintx]

i.ibb.co/zSWjFFt/cannon.jpg

[hmca]

Solving my own mystery! When I saw that Judy said she had used a preset I checked to see if I may have created a preset for the toning I mentioned above (I rarely use presets and had forgotten all about it).....and I had! Checking the color grading it applies the 40/10 settings to the shadows and highlights. 

[cats4jan]

Try letting some color show through

To do a splash of color on your sepia page, you use two layers of the same photo
Original is first layer, sepia version is on top of it
Erase on sepia layer to let original color layer show through. Do as much or as little erasing as you wish

[billz]

Thanks for the excuse to go to the train station this morning Tony!



Other than a couple highlight/shadow enhancements in ACR. this was done in camera. Fuji has a "sepia" setting, but I don't like it very much so I made my own, using a black and white recipe as a starting point. This is the first time I've used it, and honestly I think the reds are a bit overcooked for what I wanted. I'll dial them back next time and see if I can get closer.

[tonyw]

Aug 4, 2023 18:28:58 GMT billz said:

Thanks for the excuse to go to the train station this morning Tony!

Other than a couple highlight/shadow enhancements in ACR. this was done in camera. Fuji has a "sepia" setting, but I don't like it very much so I made my own, using a black and white recipe as a starting point. This is the first time I've used it, and honestly I think the reds are a bit overcooked for what I wanted. I'll dial them back next time and see if I can get closer.

Glad to have given you an excuse to take the camera to the train station.  And for reminding me that Fuji has a sepia setting.  I'll have to give it a try as it's always good to have "what you see is what you get" in the viewfinder.  I've never ventured into creating film simulation recipes - the result looked good to me!

Yony

[tonyw]

Aug 4, 2023 0:51:24 GMT Jim said:

Old Desoto

One quick method is in PSE 2023's "fun edits" > "old fashioned photo", which I used on this vintage car.

Nicely done and thanks for the reminder about Old Fashioned Photo.  I was trying to remember if there was another way to sepia tone in Elements and that's one that's been in Elements for quite a while (I have PSE13 and it's there).  Vintage cars do make good sepia subjects!

Tony

[Jim]

Aug 4, 2023 3:20:26 GMT hmca said:

Checking the color grading it applies the 40/10 settings to the shadows and highlights. 

Great choice of tones, Helen!