Sepia, I think, is probably the most underrated of all the toners. Often there is a ‘snob’ attitude to it- possibly because it is the first toner beginners try, but it is an extremely versatile toner, and can combine with many other toners to create dual or triple split-toning effects.
Please read my notes on general toning tips. It is extremely important that your prints are exposed, developed, fixed and washed properly before toning. (It is important anyway, whether you tone or not.)
The bleach you receive with a sepia toning kit will always be too strong if diluted as per the instructions. Too strong a bleach gives very little, if any, control over bleaching times. You should further dilute the bleach 1:1 with water, and test on a print. Keep diluting and testing until you achieve a complete toning time of about five minutes - that is five minutes from the print entering the bleach to just a pale biscuit coloured image remaining.
Complete bleaching and toning will yield a print that is a pale, khaki brown that is not particularly pleasing. By far the best method is to ‘split-bleach’. That is, bleach just long enough for the highlights to fade. Toning now will produce a print with black shadow, black to brown midtones, and brownish/sepia highlights, depending on the tonal range of the print and the amount of bleaching. Experiment to find your preferred ‘look’. Wash after bleaching, but not to excess - usually until the yellow colour has gone.
The toner is supplied in two parts; a toner and an activator. The colour of the finished tone can be altered by varying the proportions of the two bottles. Less toner (eg. a quarter of the bottle) and more activator (eg. all the bottle) will produce darker tones and vice versa. The colour of the tone will affect any subsequent toning.
Sepia and selenium.
As you bleach a print you will notice that the highlights bleach first. A toned print will only tone in those highlights. Selenium works in the opposite way. There is no bleach stage with selenium, but it starts to work first in the darker areas, in contrast to sepia, and therein lies it’s appeal. A lightly-bleached and sepia-tones print, washed and then selenium toned will show a shift in the shadows to a darker, plum-colour, and usually a slight increase in contrast - quite a striking effect.
Sepia and Gold.
Unlike selenium, gold works on the already-tones parts of the print. A split sepia-tones print, washed and placed in a tray of gold toner will star to change colour, in the tones areas, to yellow, orange, or red, depending on the intensity of the sepia toner. As always, different papers tone in different ways, so always experiment with alternative papers.
Sepia and Blue.
A split-toned sepia print, washed and placed in blue toner will turn blue in the shadows, the colour lightening as it reaches the mid-point of the sepia toning. The sepia tone, being archival, is unaffected by the blue toner, which tones only the shadows and areas of the midtones which were left in the bleaching stage, leaving an attractive print with blue shadows, sepia highlights and green/blue midtones at the crossover point.
The computations with sepia are endless. Explore it. You won’t be disappointed!
We care able to offer toning workshops; one to one or for small groups, and ‘bespoke’. That is, we will cover what you wish to learn!. Please mail us if you are interested.