Hi. My name is Michael. I'm wondering if you could help me I'm trying to find out as much as possible about a photographic process called sepia. I'm not very well versed in the world of photography! In fact I'm a writer/ computer security specialist. So you could imagine I know very little about the process involved in photography. If you were to assume I know nothing you'd more or less be totally informed as to my knowledge regarding this subject? I did do a little playing with pinhole cameras when I was a kid. Other than that and working with graphic recognition software and the R&D of such software I really have very little idea. So therefore if you might be able and interested enough to try and point me in the right direction it would be most helpful. Anything you might think would help me would be greatly appreciated!! Thankyou for taking the time to consider my bumbling request.

Yours uninformed and thankful (well not thankfully uninformed now that would be silly!!)

M J E QuietlyThinking

-- Michael j QuietlyThinking (quietlythinking@hotmail.com), November 03, 2000

Answers

Sepia is a two-step toning process for photographic prints. The first step is reduction using a ferricyanide bleach, and the second step is redevelopment using a standard developer or a special thiourea or sodium sulfide redeveloper solution. Kodak, Ilford, and a number of smaller manufacturers (Tetenal, Berg, and others) make both kinds (thiourea or sulfide) of sepia toners. You can also buy kits from Photographer's Formulary.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edbuffaloe@unblinkingeye.com), November 03, 2000.

You could use Agfa Viradon which is a one pass polysulfide toner. Gives very beautiful sepia/brown tones on FB papers. Stinks however terribily.

-- Marc Leest (mmm@n2photography.com), November 06, 2000.

The polysulphide version do smell of rotten eggs. Try the thiocarbamide versions (I think there is a formula in Tim Rudman's book - I'm sure there are commercial versions available as well). You can also experiment with split toning - When you start the bleaching process in the the first bath of ferricyanide, you will lose the highlights first (with very little perceptible difference in the shadows), then the midtones and so on. You can stop the process at any time and proceed to the sepia tone, which can give you interesting warm highlights and cooler shadows etc. Cheers, DJ.

-- N Dhananjay (ndhanu@Umich.edu), November 07, 2000.