Sepia

So I took some self portraits on campus...I probably looked silly but I couldn't resist this tree. it was so lovely. Unfortunately my shirt is kinda distracting- too bold a color. And the sun is kindof harsh. So I played around with Photoshop Elements and low and behold, I discovered some filters that weren't on earlier versions of Photoshop.


I went to Filters> Adjustments> Photo Filters and selected Sepia. I then adjusted the density and got this vintage look:

I like how it looks like an old postcard photo- it looks hand colored and the shirt is toned down. Those filters are made to alter your photo as if you had put that filter on your camera when taking the shot. I like the sepia filter alot- I remember creating "old" photos years ago in Photoshop and it was more difficult. It also didn't look as good- too brassy. I think I will be using this filter more on my photos!

You have the option of other color filter and you can use pink, blue or green to make your photo look like an aged color photo. Gotta love the retro look.

It also works well on B&W images- I converted this one to B&W but it was too harsh. Adding the sepia filter softened it and made it look old-timey without being too yellow. It really looks like the old photos that my grandma has. I love the tones in this image:

P.S. I get a big kick out of instances where technology is used to make something look or sound old school- it's such an oxymoron. Like the examples above, or when Photoshop is used to make "Polaroids" or add scratches, etc. Or when I hear people's ringtones- that are of an old timey phone that actually rings! "BRIIING! BRIING!!!" Stuff like that cracks me up.