I took a photo of shrimp boats at Tarpon springs, using a Canon 10D and a Canon 17-40mm "L" lens. The color image is a rather trite subject. So I decided to make a high contrast sepia tone.

Here's the oringinal:

http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/samples/TarponSprings_0008_Web1000.jpg

Here's the sepia tone:

http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/samples/TarponSprings_0008_Sepia_Framed_Web1000t.jpg

I was testing the Mystical Tint, Tone, Color plug-in from Auto FX software. I used four of their effects: sepia, deepen tones, enriched black, and warmth. I also used the PS Filter | Noise | Add Noise with a settoing of 1.85.

I was pleased with the high contrast.

Comments are welcome!

Cheers,

Mitch

Captain Nathan has a very nicely toned image. It looks like it belongs in a richly appointed study, beautifully framed and hanging over a black walnut table on which sits some old time mariner's tool.

Hi Mitch,

I love the contrast, the warmth, but, I'm not so sure about the intensity of and the colour .... a bit too yellow and a bit too much .... but this is only my taste... :happy:

:wavey:

I have to admit that my first reaction to the toned version of this image was, "Yikes!". It's not trite by any stretch of the imagination, but I found it a bit harsh to my eye.

Just as an experiment, I whipped a quick sepia/blue tone on it and tweaked the contrast just a bit with levels. Then I hit it with some smart sharpening for good measure.

It could still use some work with contrast and I'm not entirely sure I used the right brown for the sepia, but there it is.

Hope you don't mind. :-)

It's a nice interpretation, Mark. I certainly do not mind people trying different approaches. I'm pleased if my images stimulate some good-natured discussion. :)

Cheers,

Mitch

Hi Mitch,

I love the contrast, the warmth, but, I'm not so sure about the intensity of and the colour .... a bit too yellow and a bit too much .... but this is only my taste... :happy:

:wavey:

Oh, I understand. Some people find the tone is a bit "over the top" and others like it because of the contrast.

We're doing art, so subjective impressions are going to differ. :)

Cheers,

Mitch

Hi Mitch, great job on the sepia toning. My trouble is not with the sepia job, but with the framing of the original. Too much water. If the water were still, there would be reflections to break up large empty space, but as it is, it adds nothing to the picture. I attach a cropped version of your original, I think it looks better, but this is of course just an opinion.

Hi Mitch, great job on the sepia toning. My trouble is not with the sepia job, but with the framing of the original. Too much water. If the water were still, there would be reflections to break up large empty space, but as it is, it adds nothing to the picture. I attach a cropped version of your original, I think it looks better, but this is of course just an opinion.

Thanks, Gary. I had not considered an alternative composition.

Cheers,

Mitch

Hello All,

I'm in agreeance with the feedback. My question was. Why sepia? Using Gary's suggestion of cropping out the sky and water, I took this nice picture and converted it to a b/w, added borders and a tag line. I find it puts more emphasis on the boats and all of the names on the boats.

Brad :ditsy:

Hello All,

I'm in agreeance with the feedback. My question was. Why sepia? Using Gary's suggestion of cropping out the sky and water, I took this nice picture and converted it to a b/w, added borders and a tag line. I find it puts more emphasis on the boats and all of the names on the boats.

Brad :ditsy:

Thanks, Brandon.

I like the name! Nice.

I'll consider B&W. I'm still inclined toward the bronze or a more customary sepia, but that's a personal preference.

I am liking Gary's crop more and more. :)

Cheers,

Mitch

I think the crop really makes this pic. It's a horizontal composition and needs to be cropped into a beautiful, linear image as was done by Gary. Brad's take on it is finished and refined looking. I can see that hanging as a commercial image in fine seafood restaurants (or a nice seaside hotel) on any of the three coasts. The white "matting" around the B/W image works very well. It's sophisticated. A sepia might work as well with black matting, but I'd have to see it.

Unfortunately, that kind of crop leaves little room for ad copy. :-)

But seriously....

I was looking for an inspirational message for this graphic and I thought of the Psalm that begins "They that go down to the sea in ships..." Not being a religious person or Biblical scholar, I had to look it up.

I found it at the link below where I stumbled onto some TERRIFIC old snapshots. Check this site out. I think it's terrific, whatever it is.

They that go down to the sea in ships (http://www.evanizer.com/sailors/)

Oh yea, the picture. How's this?