Sunday 11 December 2016

Sepia Saturday 348 : Christmas & New Year 2016/17



Above is the Sepia Saturday theme image for the Christmas and New Year period. Feel free to interpret it in whichever way you want to in order to share an old image. Once you have posted your post, add a link to the Linky List below. The normal weekly Sepia Saturday image will return on Saturday 7th January 2016. Here is a quick preview of the next two theme images:-


7 JANUARY 2017

14 JANUARY 2017



Monday 5 December 2016

Sepia Saturday 347 : 10th December 2016



Above is the Sepia Saturday theme image for Saturday 10th December 2016. Feel free to interpret it in whichever way you want to in order to share an old image. Once you have posted your post, add a link to the Linky List below. Here is a quick preview of the next two theme images:-




Monday 28 November 2016

Sepia Saturday 346 : 3 December 2016

Im Lande des Christkind by Richard Ernst Kepler

Above is the Sepia Saturday theme image for Saturday 3 December 2016. Feel free to interpret it in whichever way you want to in order to share an old image. Once you have posted your post, add a link to the Linky List below. Here is a quick preview of the next two theme images:-

Saturday 10 December 2016

Saturday 17 December 2016


The Return Of Sepia Saturday Weekly


Here are a few words of introduction to the return of the weekly Sepia Saturday prompt. In order to make things a little easier for me, I have moved away from the hand-crafted prompt banner to a more easily produced prompt image with a superimposed Sepia Saturday week number. I will post the weekly image each week (hopefully on a Monday) along with a look ahead at the two weekly prompts after the current one. 

Sepia Saturday is all about images and their interpretation and therefore it is only right and proper that the weekly prompt should be an image and you should be free to interpret it in whatever way you want.  You don't really need suggestions from me, it is far more fun to search within the image for a thread you want to follow or a theme you want to explore (the connection can be as convoluted and esoteric as you like).

Each week you will be provided with the theme image for that week, a preview of the next two theme images, and the usual Linky List to sign up to.  Good luck.

Friday 18 November 2016

Sepia Saturday : December 2016

We have listened to your views. We have thought long and hard. We have travelled halfway around the world to meet up and decide the future of Sepia Saturday: and we drank a few beers along the way. And these are our suggestions for the next phase of Sepia Saturday:

- From the beginning of December 2016, Sepia Saturday will return to a weekly theme image.
- Each week there will be an image - taken from the collection of old images on Flickr Commons - and it will be up to Sepians to interpret it in their own way. There will be no suggestions, no given subjects - you will be free to interpret the image in whatever way you want to.
- The first of the new calls will go up on Monday 28th November and, as usual, will be accompanied by a Linky List.
- Marilyn has chosen the images for the first four months. Here is a preview of the ones for December:

3 December 2016

 10 December 2016

 17 December 2016


Alan & Marilyn

Monday 31 October 2016

Sepia Saturday 345 (November 2016) : War And Peace


Our Sepia Saturday theme image for November features some war-weary troops from World War I and it illustrates our November couplet - War and Peace. You can be as imaginative as you like with this theme and choose to remember - via your old photographs - times of conflict or times of blessed peace. Just post your posts and link theme to the list below.

By the time you read this I will be on the high seas, heading down for a Sepia Summit with Marilyn. If you have any suggestions for the future of Sepia Saturday, let us have theme a.s.a.p. I look forward to catching up with all your submissions on my return.



Monday 26 September 2016

Sepia Saturday 344 : October 2016 - From Here To There


Our Sepia Saturday theme for October is "From Here To There" and as the title suggests it is all about movement. Whatever the era, whatever the technology: so much of our lives is taken up with getting from here to there - whether it be the daily commute to work or uprooting ourselves and our families and moving half way around the world. And we go from here to there by foot, by car, by railway engine, by aeroplane and - like the ladies in our theme image - by bicycle. The theme opens up an Aladdin's cave of photographic subjects: there can be few of us who doesn't have a car or ferry, train or bike or a set of walking feet somewhere in their collection.

So look out those old photographs and post them throughout October in this Sepia Saturday travel and transport month. Add a link to your various contributions to the list below. Keep your feedback coming - we need to make a decision about the longer term future of Sepia Saturday soon, so your ideas and views are important.  I will give you advanced notice of the November call in a week or so. In the meantime, I need to go from here (Yorkshire) to there (Sunny Spain). See you all soon.

And as Alan goes, I return, for a short while at least, then I’ll be going again. I’m very excited because, all being well, I’ll be meeting up with fellow blogger Brett Payne, known to you all as Photo Sleuth. Brett will once more be walking the Camino; this time Camino Norte, and we’ll be going over to do some joint sightseeing with him in Bilbao. A few weeks after that we’ll be meeting Alan and his Good Lady Wife when they make a brief stopover on our island. Isn’t Sepia Saturday wonderful? Three people who I never would have met without this meme, but who I now count as my good friends. I hope to be joining in a bit more this month and meeting more of my Sepian friends on here. Meanwhile, there is always the Facebook group - ask to join, if you are a blogger who contributes to this meme. The more the merrier.

I am making a brief return to give you advance warning of the November theme. Here it is - 


That's all for now - cases to unpack .... and then pack again. See you soon, Alan




Wednesday 31 August 2016

Sepia Saturday 343 : September 2016


So here we go with the second of our experimental monthly Sepia Saturday prompts - and this month it is work and play. Our theme image features a young mill girl turning her back on the loom she is supposed to be minding and gazing out of the mill window and, perhaps, thinking of the fields or the river where she should be playing. Our August brace of themes - love and marriage - were said by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn to "go together like a horse and carriage", but you might challenge the assertion that work and play have such a symbiotic relationship. This is a Sepia Saturday theme, however,  rather than a philosophical discourse and therefore all you need to do is to provide us with an old image and a few words that is some convoluted way relates to either work or play or any combination of the two.

In line with our new experimental rules you can post as many times as you like throughout the month - simply link the posts to the list below and number them 1/2/3 or whatever. Keep your feedback coming in terms of how you like this new approach: all I can say is that it makes things a lot easier for me. If we decide to continue the monthly approach I will post an advanced call for October in a couple of weeks time. In the meantime, if you have any theme suggestions (it doesn't have to be a couplet "x and y" but that might be a useful approach until we get used to things) then let me know.

Here is a quick preview of our call for October (thank you Sue for the suggestion)







Tuesday 2 August 2016

Sepia Saturday 342 : August 2016 - Love And Marriage


As Cyril and Madge walk down the stone steps of their wedding venue they launch themselves into a new phase of their lives. In the same way, we here at Sepia Saturday launch ourselves into a new phase of our lives with our experimental Sepia Saturday monthly call. The theme for August 2016 is "Love And Marriage" and what we would like you to do is to share your old photographs which fit in one convoluted way or another with that theme. You can post once, or twice or as many times as you want. You can post on Thursday morning, Tuesday afternoon or even on a Saturday. You can do more or less whatever you want - after all this is Sepia Saturday. All we ask is that - if you are posting more than one post in the month - you make this clear in your Linky Link heading.

We will try this approach for a couple of months and see how it goes. As always we value you feedback. Here is a sneak preview of our September prompt.


You will need to excuse any bumps and inconsistencies in the normal smooth running of the Sepia Saturday machine whilst we try this new format out. But let us hope the new direction we are launching ourselves in is just as happy and successful as the marriage of Madge and Cyril.



Wednesday 27 July 2016

Sepia Saturday 341 : 30 July 2016


We are down in the gloomy deeps this week on Sepia Saturday. Cold water is dripping from above and it is dark and cold. Yes, its the British summer in Blackpool! No, stop being silly, it's not Blackpool, it is the Speedwell Caverns in Castleton, Derbyshire and there is a fragile looking boat full of happy holiday makers in the cave. There are all sorts of places you can go with this prompt - caves, boats, parties, dark, damp - you can even go to Speedwell Caverns in Castleton if you want. Wherever you go, go there on or around Saturday 30th July 2016 and once you've posted your post, add a link to the list below.

Marilyn and I have been having a chat and we thought we might try an experiment for August. Things are getting a little quiet in Sepia land and - for us in the north - it is the middle of summer, so we thought we might try a single prompt covering ALL of August. This doesn't mean that you can only post one sepia contribution during the month - the themes will be wide enough for you to post as many as you want over the four week period. 

I will tell you more about it when I post the call early next week, but here is a preview of the August Sepia Saturday call.


Such exciting developments are for the future. For the moment, get back there in your dark dripping rowing boat and give us your contributions for Sepia Saturday 341.





Tuesday 19 July 2016

PLEASE IGNORE : This is A Test : Call For Sepia Saturday 340 Is Below



Sepia Saturday 340 : 23 July 2016


I don't know about you but I am feeling tired. It's time to take to my bed. Time to soak up that 1930s style. Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week is an old picture postcard. The description on the Sepia Saturday Flickr Group page reads as follows:

"A picture postcard dating probably from the 1930s of a bedroom at the Hotel Imperial in Ostend, Belgium. Perhaps the date can be pinned down by an example of the then rates: "Pension a parter de fr 110". The decor does seem to be the kind of style popular in the 1930s. The flowered wallpaper is particularly notable".

Just decide which theme you want to follow - or follow none at all - and post your posts on or around Saturday 23 July 2016. Here is a reminder of the next couple of theme images:


You may have noticed that the number of participants in Sepia Saturday has fallen recently. Marilyn and I will put our heads together and post something on the blog in terms of the future. If you have any ideas or suggestions, let us know.





Wednesday 13 July 2016

Sepia Saturday 339 ; 16th July 2016


Pictures, palaces, and bingo numbers are amongst your possible themes this week for Sepia Saturday 339 (post your posts on or around Saturday 16th July 2016). The theme photograph, I must confess, is one of my own (how sad to be old enough to have taken a Sepia Saturday theme image!). The description on the Sepia Saturday Flickr Group page is as follows:

The Picture Palace was a small local cinema situated in Dudley Hill - between Bradford and Leeds. It was built by Walter Goodall - who already owned cinemas in nearby Cleckheaton and Heckmondwyke - in 1912. Even though it was a local cinema rather than a town centre establishment, it still had seating for up to 600 people. The first film to be shown at the cinema was an American silent film called "How's Your Father". It continued to operate as a cinema until 1967 when it eventually closed down - the last film to be shown was "Thunderbirds Are Go". Later it became a bingo hall - when my photograph was taken - and later still a carpet and furniture showroom (which it remains to this day).

Before you decide what to go with, take a look at what awaits you in the weeks ahead.


All that remains is for me to wish you the best of luck with your Sepia Saturday submissions. May all your pictures be fit to hang in a Sepia Palace.




Wednesday 6 July 2016

Sepia Saturday 338 : 9th July 2016


Our theme image this week features a picture of a walking man which is taken from the collection of the Sepia Saturday Flickr Group. The description is as follows:

"A man walks down a street in Dunfermline, Scotland. We know from the written notation of the reverse of the photograph that the date was the 3rd May 1949. This is not a typical "walking snap" - walking snap photographers plied their trade in seaside resorts and concentrated on happy holidaymakers. The slightly skewed angle of the print suggests that this is an amateur photograph".

As usual, you can go anywhere you want to with the prompt - flat caps, crooked photos, walking men .... whatever. Just post your post on or around Saturday 9th July and link it to the list below. (And take note Alan Burnett, don't forget to link your post this week!). And whilst we are at it, let us take a look ahead and see what is around the Sepia corner.


Looking back at our theme image, there is a certain look of determination in the eyes of the man in the theme photograph. Let us have the same sense of determination in our sepia efforts this week, let us stride forward into a new sepia world, let us throw our flat caps into the sepia air ......







Tuesday 28 June 2016

Sepia Saturday 337 : 2 July 2016


Marilyn and I take it in turns to choose the Sepia Saturday theme images - each of us doing a three month shift in turn. Sepia Saturday 337 marks the change of watch - and it also marks the end of our theme within an alphabet theme. For the next three months I will be taking the theme images from the images submitted to the Sepia Saturday Flickr Group - and my thanks to those Sepians who have added images to that Group. If you haven't added any and would like to do so, there is still time - I will wait another week before deciding on the theme images for September. If you add images you will need to allow the images to be used in the public domain and also it will help if you add a few words of description or explanation.

The first theme image in this set is one from my own collection and more information can be found in its Flickr Group entry. As always you can take the theme image in any direction you like - by now you all know what to do - all you need is to submit a post on or around Saturday 2 July and add a link to the list below. And here is a quick preview of the next two Sepia Saturday theme images.


One further change - which is in the way of an experiment - is that rather than a separate small header, I have provided a smaller version of the main header. This makes things easier on the production side, but if it causes you any significant problems or heartache, just let me know and I will change things back again. All I want is for you all to be merry, just like Mr Ashwood and his group of players.







Tuesday 21 June 2016

Sepia Saturday 336 : 25 June 2016


Well, here I am, back again and just in time to see the end of our theme within a theme and Marilyn's pick of the second half on the alphabet. Our theme image is entitled "Woman Reads As Baby Sleeps" and was produced as a stock advertising image by a company called Photographic Advertising Ltd and now forms part of the collection of the National Media Museum which is available on Flickr Commons. It might seem like a "nice" bland and uncomplicated image but, believe me, there is a lot to discuss. Let's just see where Sepians go with it! Wherever you go, go there on or around Saturday 25th June 2016 and add a link to your post to the list below.

This image brings to an end the first part of the year and the end of our "theme within a theme" series (yes, we've got to the end of the ALPHABET). For the next three months our theme images will be based on images submitted to the Sepia Saturday Flickr Group. We are still a few images short, so there is still some time to add images to the pool from which our theme images will be chosen. Our next two theme images are the following.




Let us say farewell to our Sepia alphabet in style. Let us search through our archives and open all our box files and old suitcases. Let us sort through our old postcards. Let us not rest until we have found the perfect image to submit for Sepia Saturday 336. ..... well maybe after we have had a little snooze first. Just forty winks. Just a little ..... rest ....... zzzzzzzzzz



Monday 13 June 2016

Sepia Saturday 335 : 18 June 2016


Well here we are again - yawnnnnn - it's Sepia Saturday time and when you read this I will either be on my way back from the Baltic Sea or perhaps lying at the bottom of it. It's all been very strenuous, and if truth be told I am feeling a bit tired. As I stand here, looking over the side of the boat, leaning against the rail, gazing down into the cold blue waters - yawnnnnnn - I might just doze off. But before I do so let me ask you to prepare your submissions for Sepia Saturday 335. Just post your posts on or around Saturday 18 June 2016 and add a link to the list below.

If you can stay awake long enough you might want to see what awaits you in the next couple of Sepia weeks.


But that is for the future, for the moment - yawwwwn - it is time to put your contributions together for Sepia Saturday 335. As for me, I think I will just enjoy a little snooze. Yawn ---- splash!