Capturing the Warmth of a Moment in Sepia Tone

My daughter's been on an indefinite hiatus from piano lessons, yet just recently she expressed an interest in making music again to her teacher/grandmother. "I'm going to play in the recital!" she announced one morning after returning home from a sleepover at Mama Sue's house just a couple of weeks ago. And from that point forward (with no prompting from me), she practiced her "Christmas Waltz" each day to prepare for her moment in the spotlight.

It's a familiar cycle. The entrance, exit, and return of inspiration. The birth of a vision. And the decision to make it real. Acknowledging the need to practice and prepare for the moment when we're meant to stand in the spotlight. Assuming that courage will sustain us despite the presence of fear. I was so proud of her at this moment, I almost forgot to click.

Most of my favorite documentary moments are captured with my super wide 14-24mm lens because it gives me the ability to capture more than less of an experience. This image was shot at 14mm with an aperture setting of f/8 and ISO setting of 200. I used my Nikon Speedlight 900 and fired the flash to bounce off the wall behind me to balance the harsh light streaming in through the windows in the back of the room. Then, in Aperture, I applied a subtle amount of Sepia Tone (something I don't normally do) to soften the bright red Christmas dresses in the audience, and put more visual emphasis on the warmth and gestures of the moment.

Spread some warmth with your sepia tone experiments and discoveries in the comments.

Comments

[Jo]

Lovely shot. Lovely blog.

The moment often distracts me from my photography too. Sometimes I just wish to immerse myself and forget about the camera!

[angharad]

i love the hands at the front of this shot. and the reflection in the mirror. in fact all of it...

[Marcie]

What a special image - this one of your daughter..proudly taking her bow. As for sepia toning - I used a bit of it here myself:
http://marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=1404

[Jennifée]

Aw, that is one heartwarming image!

I don't think I ever thought of sepia tones as either cold or warm, but if asked, I would probably have said they were cold. For instance, sepia tones seemed to fit perfectly for this image of a cold winter's night in the city:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85057042@N00/5270947669/

Going to try and use sepia tones for warm images now - thanks for the change in perspective!

[Jen at Cabin Fever]

I am not a huge fan of Sepia, but that is sepia done tastefully!

http://www.nekphotography.blogspot.com

http://www.cabinfeververmont.com

[Katrina Kennedy]

Isn't funny how sometimes we just need a little sepia. Love my wide angle lens as well.

http://ianck.blogspot.com/2010/12/go-back-later-to-find-photos-you-love.html

[Becky Sue]

Your photo is so nicely done in sepia. I haven't experimented much in sepia and I don't think of just adding a small amount to enhance a photo as you have done so beautifully above.

My dog inspired this sepia image, her coloring is sepia (that would have been a great name!) so I had the rest of the image join her.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rslaflam/5285707058/

[Puna]

This is my very favorite sepia toned photo.

http://lifesignatures.org/wordpress/2010/11/iheartfaces-scenic-black-white/

[Texan Mama]

I don't have a photo to post, but just wanted to comment that this is a gorgeous photo and more of what I hope to do.

[traceyclark]

this is priceless steph!

[christine]

my favorite is the second shot down: http://just-travelin-through.blogspot.com/2010/11/st-pauls-cathedral-and-millenium-bridge.html I think Sepia makes it beautiful what do you think?

[Jamie Solorio]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49026977@N05/5279298357/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49026977@N05/5279904054/in/photostream/

These are two of my most recent sepia toned photos. I use sepia a lot and think that it can really give a photo such a timeless look about it. Thanks for looking! :)

[stephanie]

Great image! It's one of those that tells the full story.

Here are some from christmas weekend. The first has hints of sepia tones: http://bigmariolife.blogspot.com/2010/12/playing-hooky.html

[Brenda]

I love the way your daughter curtsied for the audience and that you captured that proud moment.

Winter color schemes seem to naturally gravitate toward sepia. This one was taken at the Canton (Ohio) Garden Center - I added just a touch of sepia toning:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gottgraphicsdesign/5296904605/

[Dotti]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48337138@N04/5297106545/

I like to use sepia to give photos a nostalgic feel. It's not for every photo but used wisely, I think it can create a classic photo. This is from last summer but is one of my favorites.

[cjaxon]

I recognize that room. On the road, but I will share something deposited later. Beautiful shot.

[Jennifer]

I love using sepia, but it definitely requires a light hand. I love how well you executed it here. My favorite places to use sepia are when I having too many bright colors going on in the image, just like you did to temper the bright red dresses.

I personally have not messed much with wide angle lens, probably because I've not had much use for them. in previous shoots, but I may need to create some reasons to experiment.

Beautioful

[Mishelle Lane / Secret Agent Mama]

I love how you shot that and ultimately how you edited it! What a wonderful shot.

Here's my most recent sepia tone: http://www.flickr.com/photos/secretagentmama/5261531300/

[Cindy Brown]

Love this image. I've just started playing with sepia a bit myself, too.
Here are a few photos of my brother with his bull terrier Tuki.
http://cbrownphoto.com/blog/?p=806

[Patti]

Love this shot. the warmth of toned down christmas and the wisdom of kind hands. thanks for sharing.
here's my warmed up christmas afternoon walk.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stakos/5296275629/in/set-72157625378178657/

[Heather]

Beautiful! Here's my attempt today -- also experimenting (with a huge learning curve!) with my brand new speedlight. Anyone got good tips or resources? :)

http://mamamutterings.com/

[Lyn]

This is so lovely. I almost never shoot wide... I almost always default into closep mode. This inspires me to try something new. Thank you!