Photography is one of the best ways to preserve the memories, to cherish the long gone moments. Whether it is the class of the black and white photography or the glamour of coloured photography or the romance of the sepia photography, it is the very tone, hue and lustre of each type of photography that evokes curiosity and interest among the onlookers. Photography can be classified into four major types, i.e. Black and White photography, Colour photography, Digital photography and Sepia photography.

Black and White photography: Black and White photography is the oldest one amongst the four genres. It is also called `Monochrome` photography. Even after colour film was readily available, black and white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower costs and its `classic` photographic look. It is however important to note here that some monochromatic pictures are not always blacks and whites, but also contain other hues depending on the process. The Cyanotype process produces an image of blue and white for instance. The albumen process, which was used more than 150 years ago, had brown tones. Many photographers today continue to produce some monochrome images.

Coloured photography: Coloured photography evolved around the mid 1880s. Early experiments in colour could not fix the photograph and prevent the colour from fading. The first permanent colour photo was taken in 1861 by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell. In the beginning, colour photographs were taken with the help of three cameras. Each of the cameras had a colour filter, which gave the photographer the three basic channels required to develop a coloured image. Later, groundbreaking innovations eliminated this inapt method and the photographers started to capture coloured images with the help of a single camera only. Coloured photography is expensive when compared to monochrome photography. It required purchasing more advanced photography equipment. Thus, in the early days coloured was not welcomed by everyone.

Digital photography: Both coloured and monochrome photography needed film and used chemicals to develop the photographs. So, it was very difficult to process the captured image afterwards. Also, a lot of time was spent on the image processing in the labs. So, a fast and more efficient method of photography was developed and became enormously popular with the name of Digital photography. Digital photography records the image as electronic data, which gives the photographer freedom to control the image easily. The time taken to process a photograph was also reduced. This was a remarkable achievement and soon the digital photography was accepted with arms wide open.

Sepia photography: Sepia is a reddish brown pigment obtained from cuttlefish, once commonly used in watercolour painting and so on. Sepia tone in photography is a sort of simulated sepia effect. It refers to the dark-brown colour of a specially prepared photographic print. According to most people`s misconception, many people are of the view that when aging photos fade, and emit a reddish-brown colour, this makes the images Sepia toned. This is highly incorrect. The term `sepia tone` happens when a photograph is printed in brownscale, rather than in greyscale. The resulting image is considered a monotone in shades of brown. Most digital photo editing programs offer a sepia tone option, along with a greyscale conversion and other photo filters to enhance the look and feel of the image. It is often associated with images from the late 19th century.