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Friday, June 25, 2010

A study in sepia


It's been one of those lazy, crazy days of summer. I awoke early this morning (7 a.m. is early to me!) to a cat shrieking in my ear; why, I do not know. After he settled down, Tippi started to cry. I gave up and got up. This calmed the cat down and after Tippi dashed outside, she came back in and started to snore. Of course, I was wide awake.

What to do? Sitting outside right now activates the itchy eyes and stuffiness of my seasonal allergies, so I watched some television, blog-hopped and, of course, messed around in Photoshop. I am currently taking the Digital Magic course taught by Marie Otero and have learned so much in just two weeks. And there are still four weeks to go!

Two weeks ago, I could have showed you several methods to add a sepia look to your photographs. Thanks to Marie, I now know two more. And they're both wonderful! Above, the same photo with these two different sepia treatments.

At the top, what we learned in Week One. A gradient map is applied to a photograph and using blending modes, a sepia effect is achieved. Textures are then added, which contribute to the sepia tones of the image. Finally, a little color burn around the edges. I really like this look.

Next, on to Week Two and a totally different approach. Same original image (you can see this Chicago photo in colour, HERE, on my Flickr site). This time the sepia effect is added in the Camera Raw interface, using the split toning feature. This gives you so much control in changing a black and white image to your own preferred sepia tones. I really like this look too.

Which one do you prefer? I keep changing my mind.

4 comments:

Kate said...

I can't decide which one I like either. Both of them make the grimy el station steps look pretty nice! I'm glad you're enjoying the class.

Leslie Jane Moran said...

Both are really neat. Can't decide. Very nice work. I think my Verification word: "mortinge" is totally appropriate!

Lost Aussie said...

They both turned out very well if you ask me! Glad you are enjoying the class :-)

Diane O. said...

I like them both and agree there are MANY ways to achieve a sepia look.

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