Mastering Sepia Tone Photography: A How-To Guide

Ever noticed a photo with a warm reddish-brown tint, like an old magazine ad or album cover? What you're seeing is sepia tone, a photographic technique that gives a fresh image a vintage, weathered look.

Sometimes, the aim is to make a modern photo appear aged. Other times, it's to capture a nostalgic, dreamlike quality, evoking a distant memory [source: Blaker]. Though many modern apps can replicate this effect instantly, we'll guide you through creating sepia tone photography the traditional way and also with digital editing.

Understanding Sepia Tone

Sepia photography is a form of monochrome imaging where the pictures are tinted in varying shades of brown, unlike the typical black-and-white grayscale. This brownish hue imparts a nostalgic, vintage vibe to sepia-toned photos.

A sepia-toned photo can produce an almost painterly effect, offering a more distinctive impression to the viewer compared to conventional black-and-white images.

The Chemical Process Behind the Sepia Tone Filter

The technique of color toning photographic images has a long history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a new artistic movement called Tonalism emerged in England and the United States. Artists from this movement embraced blurred imagery, subdued colors, and a melancholic mood. Photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen sought to capture this same somber tone in their work.

Back in the day, photographers relied on chemical baths to develop their photos, using special dyes known as chemical toners to change the colors of their images. Solutions like Berg's Brown/Copper Toning Solution and Kodak Poly-Toner could produce a variety of brown, sepia, and even metallic copper tones, depending on the application. These toners affected the chemical emulsion that held the image on the photographic paper, not the paper itself [source: Blaker].

Sepia toning is a valuable tool for photographers. It can bring out the beauty of vintage architectural shots or rustic landscapes, for instance. It's also ideal for portraits of people with aged features, showcasing wrinkles and lines. If you're still working with traditional film and developing your own prints in a darkroom, learning the art of sepia toning is an essential skill. Not only does it expand your creative options, but sepia prints also tend to preserve their tonal range over time better than untoned ones [source: Frost].

For those using digital photography, adding a sepia tone is much easier and doesn't require messy or costly chemicals. All you need is a good photo-editing software like Photoshop and some creativity. In the next section, we'll show you how to create sepia-toned images, whether you're working in a darkroom or using your computer.

Tips for Using Sepia Toner in Photography

Since sepia toning softens the light in an image, you'll achieve the best results with a photo that's properly exposed, with good contrast and a wide range of whites, grays, and blacks. (This is generally the kind of image you want, even if you're not planning to apply any effects.) Historically, black-and-white images have benefited most from this technique.

In a traditional darkroom, sepia toning is a multi-step process, unlike other toning methods like selenium. The toner changes the chemical makeup of the photograph, replacing the standard metallic silver with a silver sulfide compound. While some people prefer to mix their own toner, using a ready-made commercial version is often easier [source: Frost].

Using Bleach to Create the Sepia Effect

Start by rinsing the print in water for a couple of minutes to ensure the chemicals spread evenly. Then, place the print into a tray of diluted bleach solution to fade the image and lighten the highlights. Photographer and author Lee Frost suggests using a bleach-to-water ratio of no more than 1:20 to slow the process and allow for better control [source: Frost].

After the bleaching step, wash the print again in cold water for 20 to 25 minutes to remove the bleach. While this is happening, prepare the toner solution in a tray. Although most toners recommend a 1:9 toner-to-water ratio, Frost advises making the mixture even more diluted for better results.

Next, add 10 to 15 milliliters of sodium hydrochloride, which will control the depth of the sepia tone. The more sodium hydrochloride you add, the darker the tone becomes. Soak the print in this solution and remove it when the desired effect is achieved. The final step is to wash and dry the print [source: Frost].

How to Use Photoshop for Sepia Toning

Many photographers, understandably, may not have access to a darkroom or the necessary equipment to create sepia-toned images. Thankfully, it has never been easier to produce sepia-toned photographs — without the need for the traditional toning process or environmental concerns!

Applying sepia toning to a digital image using Photoshop or another editing tool is much more straightforward. Begin by converting your photos to black and white if they aren’t already. This can be done by converting to grayscale via the Layer menu, then choosing New Adjustment Layer followed by Photo Filter. From here, you can follow guidelines to add a solid color adjustment layer and adjust the background layer accordingly. If the image is too dark, tweak the curves adjustment layer to lighten it up.

When the New Layer dialog appears, set the values to Color-none, Mode-normal, and Opacity-100%. In the Photo Filter dialog box, enter these settings: Filter-Sepia, Density-50%, and Preserve Luminosity-checked. You can experiment by adjusting the density to change the image's appearance [source: Apple]. With these simple steps, your sepia-toned image will be ready!