There are several ways to create a sepia toned image, in both digital and film photography.
Film
There are a couple of different methods for creating sepia toned images from film.- Filters
Most camera lenses can accept a filter attachment. By attaching a sepia filter onto your lens, you can take images as usual and the negative will record the sepia toning. However, if you have these images printed at a lab, be sure to specify "do not color correct". If you do not make this specification the lab's machines will most likely try to "correct" the color and you will not achieve the desired look to your image.
- Alternative Printing
Although it is not a perfect sepia tone, you can achieve a version of sepia toning by taking images on black and white film but having them printed on color paper at the lab. However, this is not a guaranteed process. Depending on the film, chemicals, and paper combination used, the images may come back with a cyan or magenta tone instead of sepia.
- Darkroom
To achieve a sepia tone in a home darkroom you have to use both bleach and sepia tone chemical in addition to normal chemicals. Remember that bleach has very strong fumes and can be extremely hazardous if not used in a well-ventilated area. The steps can vary widely depending on what sepia tone chemical you buy. If you you chose to tone your own images in the darkroom, please follow the directions on your chemicals carefully.
Digital
Just as with film, there are several ways to accomplish sepia toning in a digital environment.- Filters
Filters work with most digital cameras as well as they do with film. Just remember to bracket your exposures until you adjust to the light changes the filter will cause.
- In-Camera
Many digital cameras now have internal digital filter settings. Simply take your image as normal, then use the camera menu to select a filter to apply to the image.
- Digital Darkroom
Editing images digitally to create traditional effects is becoming the standard way to process images. Even most labs' machines make the changes digitally before printing instead of changing the print process. Many photo editing software programs have built-in sepia filter effects. Most of these can be found under your program's "effects" menu. If your program does not have a built-in sepia filter, there is a simple work around.- Select your program's "adjust hue/saturation" control
- Click the "colorize" selection to apply the changes evenly over the image
- Move the hue to a reddish/brown color
- Desaturate the image until the reddish/brown tone is very faint
- Use your program's contrast control to make any necessary exposure changes
