Tips To Sepia-Tone Your Photos Beautifully

Sepia photography never loses its coolness, drama, and creative appeal. Sepia toning photographs used to take so much effort and skill in the darkroom, but these days it can be done using Photoshop or Gimp software. Here are some quick tips to do it.

Image source: Pixabay.com 

In a conventional darkroom setting, sepia toning takes on multiple steps, with the toner altering the photography’s chemical composition and replacing the metallic silver in the image with compounds like silver sulfide. Some mix their own toner. To do this traditional process, one needs a sepia toner, an actual photograph printed on black and white paper, plastic trays, a well-ventilated area, containers for mixing the chemicals, tongs, and a squeegee.

Sepia toning using digital software such as Photoshop is much simpler than this conventional technique. If the image, for instance, isn’t black and white already, it can be converted to grayscale and settings can be tweaked further. One can experiment with changing the density to change the image.

Image source: photoshopessentials.com

There’s much that sepia does to improve the atmosphere of a given photograph. It softens the light in the photo, offering the best results with images that are exposed well, with nice contrast, and a full range of whites, grays, and blacks. In summary, there’s plenty of resources out there available to sepia-tone photos the old-school way, or in the darkroom. For the digital way, master photo editing tools properly and get ideal results.

Daniel D. Purjes is a nature and urban photographer. After he graduated from college in New York, he made the big shift to Vermont, where he’s currently pursuing nature photography and he basking in the beauty of the landscapes. Learn more on this page.

Essential Gear For The Nature Photographer

If you’re serious about taking awesome photos of sweeping vistas, looming mountains, and other sceneries in nature, then you’ve to start investing in equipment. A lot of beginning photographers tend to get overwhelmed by this because of the assumption that nature photography gear equates to expensive and heavy load. But, unless you’re planning on an expedition to Antarctica, this often isn’t the case.

Image source: medium.com

In fact, the working premise of nature photography is to pack light and pack right. It’s often the small equipment that are of huge value. Begin with the standard ways to not get lost: a compass, a map, and a GPS dongle. Then pack some gaffer tape for holding shots and a hot-shoe flash for lighting in macro shots, paired with a 1:1 lens.

For panoramic shots, make sure that you have an ultrawide-angle lens. You’ve to bring a remote camera shutter trigger alongside a light but full-movement tripod to ensure that there’s no shake in your shots. Make sure as well that you’ve sufficient batteries and portable memory storage for backing up images.

Image source: gizmodo.com.au

Other necessities simply complement photography but are staples nonetheless. One is an umbrella to protect your camera from any drizzle while likewise softening the light on your subject. Another is a tickler, a water-resistant notebook where you can jot down key information on prime locations or even your thoughts and musings. Don’t forget to carry a Swiss knife and an insect repellent, too.

My name is Daniel D. Purjes. At the moment I’m based in Vermont, pursuing a career in nature photography. But I was born and raised in New York. More tips and reads on photography on this blog.

Gone Street: Beginner’s Guide To Street Photography

Shooting in the streets entails having careful consideration of the camera and equipment to use, as well as camera settings to look for. But it’s also about knowing how to approach the scene and strangers and overcome any fear or difficulty interacting with different elements of the environment. Here are three tips for beginners.

Image source: Petapixel.com

Take advantage of the accessibility

Think of street photography as the most public, accessible form of the art: you can do it wherever you are, without needing sophisticated camera gear, and without a need for professional studios or attractive models. Put a premium on the content found out there, and frame it uniquely with the right timing.

Shoot at night and from the hip

The general rule is to get the shot with the camera to your eye, and so during those times when it’s impossible to raise the camera to your eye then shoot from the hip to capture a great moment. Uniqueness also emerges during nighttime but be careful as it’s not as easy as shooting during the day. Beware low shutter speeds to avoid blur and use your ISO and aperture to make up for low light.

Practice good etiquette

When asked, be honest that you’re doing street photography, and when the subject expresses discomfort and want the images deleted, do it for them and for your conscience. It’s often best to start somewhere busy, such as the marketplace, where you can be less noticed, and you can be more at ease in shooting.

Image source: Digital-Photography-School.com

Daniel D. Purjes is a nature and urban photographer who grew up in New York City and moved to Vermont soon after graduating from college to pursue photography. More on Daniel here.

What Should Be Inside Your Camera Bag?

Not all camera bags have the same contents.  It depends on the photography discipline one is pursuing and how advance their kit is.  For this post, we’re going to stick with the things that should be inside a newbie photographer’s bag.  Here they are.

Camera

Photography’s core is a camera or its sensor.  The battle between two different kinds of cameras—mirrorless and DSLR—is still ongoing.  While both have their own strong qualities, if you’re a beginner photographer who’s on a tight budget, it would be best to set your eyes on a DSLR.  A Nikon 700D or a Canon 5D will do the perfect job for you, as these cameras are known for giving one the space to grow and explore with simple maneuvers. 

Image source: photographylife.com

Lenses

Now that you have the sensor to record the light that it receives, you need a lens to help the light get to the sensor in the first place.  Lenses may come for free when you buy a kit, while some can be extremely expensive.  As a newbie, the included lens will do you good, but once you realize you need a better one, it wouldn’t come cheap.  It would be best to upgrade to prime lenses or third-party lenses as you buy your first kit. 

Accessories

The best tripod nowadays is the Gorillapod; it would fit right in your not-so-tiny bag just right.  Remember to bring extra batteries, and never ever forget your camera’s SD card—it’s your memory bank.  Your bag shouldn’t be that heavy, considering you only have about 6 to 7 items inside.

Image source: hackingphotography.com

Hello! My name is Daniel D. Purjes, and I’m a nature and urban photographer based in New York. I love everything photography. For more posts regarding photography, visit my blog.

Real Photography Talk: So You Want To Go Pro?

One of my childhood buddies from New York, Mctague, visited me this past weekend and he showed me he was still into photography. He still had many pictures of our fave places in NYC, including Wall Street, Rockwood bar, and even the Barron’s HQ. Although his life now is all about NYC assets, asset investment, and fund investment reports, he still manages to shoot stuff from time to time, although not New York Times main story material. 

Image source: BBC.com

Anyway, we got to talking about how I eventually became a professional photographer. He told me it was on his final list of things to do in the next few years. So I told him that going pro with photography is not as simple as it looks. 

Photography as a passion and photography as a job are completely different. Hobbyists, even the most serious and passionate ones, will find being a professional photographer daunting. 

Being a pro photographer entails always being on the move, seeking out jobs wherever you can find it. It means you may need to shoot stuff you’d otherwise never shoot just to keep the income flowing and the portfolio growing. Even when the inspiration to shoot is waning, and the conditions are way lower than optimal, pro photographers have to find it in themselves to keep shooting. 

Not a lot of amateur photographers who make the transition into professional photography stay a professional photographer for long, and that’s completely understandable. It’s not for everyone. 

Image source: Youtube.com

My name is Daniel D. Purjes. I was born and raised in New York and later moved to Vermont to pursue photography. For more about the stuff I love, check out this page.