In a recent "Outside" magazine Gallery section, they published 2 photographs by Henry Horenstein. The pictures were of a ray taken at an aquarium. The rich dark brown tones were absolutely fabulous. In the caption, it says that Horenstein used black and white positive film to achieve the rich sepia tones. Can any one describe what film and how it is developed and printed to achieve this effect? Thanks in advance!

-- Mortimer Alzona (alzonam@baxter.com), November 10, 1997

Answers

There are many ways to get brown tones; but "sepia" refers to a particular toning process, which produces a yellowish brown by bleaching and redeveloping the print. Kodak Brown Toner, Kodak Poly Toner, Kodak Sepia Toner, Nelson Gold Toner (available from Photographer's Formulary) are all formulas I can recommend. Also, you can get rich warm brown tones using selenium toner on warmtone papers such as Ilford MC Warmtone or Agfa 111. Some toners, such as Nelson Gold and sepia, are easily mixed from scratch; others you'll have to buy mixed.

-- Peter Hughes (leonine@redshift.com), September 20, 1998.