What's your opinion of Sepia?

I didn't post this in the post processing section because it's not a question of how to do it, more should I (or you, or anyone) do it? I know it used to be popular, but now with the popularity of programs like Instagram, does it come off as cheesy? Is there no room for sepia, anymore? Has photography gone strictly to color and B&W?

What's your opinion?

I will add a picture edited in all three styles below for reference:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/pQzR​MN

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/q5Q5​UJ

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/pbbg​XR

I think Sepia effect is popular between image software developers, from very beginning.
Not among photogs and clients.

Not sure what to tell you as someone who shoots and develop in BW films and occasionally dabbles with BW digitial conversion...hehehe...​.

I like sepia a lot in certain shots, I think it works for this one, though I like it in plain B&W as well.

Ultimately just remember that if you like it, then other people are bound to as well

Like every other style available, sepia has it's place. I am more into B&W but I have used sepia where I felt it added to the overall appeal of the photograph.

If I'm right, I think you are asking whether or not there is a place for converting images to sepia in todays place of photography. I guess my opinion is this….Processing of an image has come a long way with software and digital photography. There are many people that are very very good at subtle but very appealing adjustments with both color and B&W images in the post process. Simply converting an image to sepia, in my opinion, looks like a photog is trying for something a little different but either isn't willing to put much effort into the final product or simply lacks the skills/experience to create a standout image. FWIW, I like the B&W the best.

I recently took some pictures of my sister's daughter for her to print and frame on the wall. She wanted them converting to sepia. In her opinion it made them look flattering, arty, a bit different from normal snapshots and therefore wall-worthy.

Nothing wrong with that, there's room for all tastes, even HDR, some people just like it!

I like it in your example, it works really well but the pure B&W would be my preference.

I myself would save sepia processing for photos that have parts of it that are from the era when sepia was common. For example, a wedding photo with a 1940's or 50's model car transporting the bride is just asking to be done in sepia tone.

The photo above would be more appropriate for that style if the guy was wearing trousers and a button up shirt and with the young lady in an evening dress.

Unless you are looking for a vintage effect it looks a bit hokey. It had a purpose back when prints were toned by soaking them in a toning bath. Now its just another color treatment.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I personally like the above image best in b&w but I think it looks ok in sepia too. I agree with the posts about it adding to an already "vintage" style photo. I think it would work best in that arena.

Sepia has its history as an archival process for prints, and it was therefore used frequently during the early stages of photography. Consequently, sepia is understandably associated with antiquity, in which case the current use of sepia for this effect in particular can come off as gimmicky.

This is somewhat unfortunate, for in B&W photography, sepia today serves as a useful warming agent, whether produced chemically or digitally. Other toning effects include gold, platinum, palladium, and van dyke, among others. These give monochrome photos a warmer presence and sometimes a greater sense of depth.

Likewise, a bluish tone will give a B&W photo a colder feel. Even paper for inkjet prints can be found in warm-tone, neutral, and cool; all of these serving as useful aesthetic tools, particularly given the importance tonality plays in B&W photography.

Split toning is also a popular process in B&W photography, and one particular effect I enjoy, where appropriate, is a goldish-brown in the mid tones and highlights with a bluish tone in the shadows.

Ultimately, you have to decide what you like with the understanding that most any brownish toning effect will invariably evoke, in the eyes of others, an “old fashion” look irrespective of your intent. Personally, I choose to ignore this, since I have the luxury of being only a hobbyist free from client demand.

I don't necessarily care for the shade of sepia that the software provides. Often I work up something with Photoshop Photo filters that suits my intention better.

advaitin wrote in post #17287066
I don't necessarily care for the shade of sepia that the software provides. Often I work up something with Photoshop Photo filters that suits my intention better.

I agree. Usually when I do a sepia tone, I do a B&W with a color cast to my liking. Not the stock sepia from the editing program.

^^^ the same here. It's more like Warm B&W instead of Sepia. This is what I get usually do.