It is fairly common these days to present photos in sepia form in order to create an antique look and feel. For instance, selected wedding photos are digitally given a sepia tint and placed in a setting of older farm buildings or scenes contrasting with the fresh newness of bride and groom. Many people these days are interested in genealogy and copy photos of ancestors. These are quite often in faded black and white, so it is an enhancement to digitally select sepia after one has scanned and downloaded to their computer.
Another creative presentation in the digital realm is to select sepia for instance, a photograph of a child and then to add on a color item, say a flower on a hat, a ribbon or toy.. looks inventive and very impressive! Or, alternatively, you may have a scene which you wish to make look more dramatic. You could choose to change it to sepia and then add to the contrast, thereby creating the desired effect.

Most digital cameras these days have a built in setting which allows you to select a digital function. However, it is often easier to down-load to your computer and digitally create this effect with a fairly easy to use editing program. One such program which we enjoy using is Picasa, provided by Google. If you choose to change an image to sepia, you simply need to double click on the image to bring it into edit mode (this function is also available at the top bar of the program) and then after this, simply click on the effects tab and then the sepia icon. Sometimes it helps to sharpen the photo a little after which, voila, you have created the desired effect. Such is the beauty of digital photography and digital editing programs which all computer users have access to. As always, experiment and enjoy this wonderful hobby!

Taken in beautiful Bright at a friend's home using a Pentax K10

Personally, I love using a digital SLR as it just enables those few extra options which enhance the subject and add to the fact that digitial photography is such a wonderful hobby. The setting used in this photograph was using moderate aperture which in turn creates a shallow depth of field and an out of focus effect in the foreground and background. Experiment yourself using the different settings mentioned in the last post, and you create a great professional looking digital photograph.

If you’re feeling creative, then you can experiment and try some special effects. Most people are aware that this can be done quite easily within a wide range of editing software. As well, there is generally an option to create these different effects on your camera, in particular with digital SLR’s . You can select a mode for black and white or sepia or even for special filter effects. For instance, you can have color-toned pictures in green, yellow, purple or red. One tip is to take the photo you want as is, and then one of the filtered shots as one can’t re-create the original picture once the color information has been removed. This is how the effects work on a digital camera. All the color information from the photo is removed and you’re left with the color effect that you wanted.

In the days of 35mm cameras, the keen photographer would use filters. Today, this is all built-in to your digital camera or you can be very inventive with your editing software program.

As always, I suggest that you experiment with your digital camera. There is definitely no better teacher than failure and success. In the meanwhile just enjoy!