Good evening 
Now here’s yet another tip for amateur photographers. There’s this little thing called sepia which can give a whole new appearance to your photos. A sepia tint is a slightly brownish-red tint which gives your photo an old appearance.
Old photos tend to tint into the sepia shade because of oxidation. But these sepia tinted photos look really good - sometimes. Some people go overboard on the mode, and keep clicking sepia, even when not necessary.
Why use sepia?
Photographers use sepia to impart an ‘old’ feeling to the photograph. It improves the photo in many cases. It also gives a feeling of "timelessness". Wouldn’t you want your love to be eternal?
So when should you use sepia?
Technically, it should be a very well lit object that your photographing in sepia. Or use your flashbulb. Aesthetically, the subjects should be "classical" in appearance. Remember - our aim in using sepia is not to make photos look brownish, but to make them look old! Typically, shoot more than one person/object. Give it a slightly crowded, animated look. Also, don’t use sepia in candid shots. Most often, people posed in old photographs.
Use your brains before you use sepia - do you want the photo to have a timeless/old appearance? I use sepia during parties, weddings, picnics and so on.
(good sepia - well lit, classic appearance)
(bad sepia - not well lit, and only one subject)
And HOW can sepia be used???!!!!!
Oops, should have said this first… Sepia is a mode which is available in most of the digital cameras today. Look under Modes in your digital camera’s menu, and it will be there along with Black and White, Vivid and so on…
In case of a film camera, you can use a filter.
If you’ve already taken the photo, don’t worry, we can always apply the effect in good old Adobe Photoshop. Open up the picture in Photoshop. Hit Ctrl + U (Command + U in Mac) to bring up the Hue/Saturation panel. Tick the Colorize option box. Set the Lightness to somewhere around -15 to -7. Set the Saturation to 50. And set the Hue to somewhere around 35 to 43. Adjust the Lightness and Hue until you get a sepia effect to your liking.
Thats it guys! Enjoy sepia!
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