A great way to use graduated filters for spectacular horizons

Pierre — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:29:59 +0000

When you’re out taking photos of horizons (oceans, beaches and landscapes etc) you really have to think twice before you take the shot. With an incorrect measurement in the camera it’s hard to get the right exposure on both sides of the horizon. Sometimes you don’t even have the time to adjust your camera to get the perfect exposure. Lightroom is just the tool for you when it comes to horizons and exposure problems.I’ve made a preset for you all to play around with to get more familiar with how “Graduated filters” work in Lightroom. I call it “PH Graduated Horisont”.

In my example photo, the lower part of the photo is very dark. Almost to dark to see the details at all. I could lighten it up using brightness and contrast in Lightroom, but that would affect the whole image and result in a very bright sky instead.

To fix this issue I use graduated filters which can be found under the “Develop” tab in Lightroom.

See the preset in action:

SOOC/ORIGINAL:

PH Graduated Horisont:

Graduated filters can be used with the same effects as the “Adjustmen Brush“. With this in mind I have added a blue color tone on the filter for the sky to make it more dramatic.

Play around
Your horizon might be on a different position in the photo. Luckily you can replace the graduated filters to fit your own horizon.

If you would like to change the brightness or contrast (or any other effect) you can easily do that too.

Finally you might want to change the color of the sky…

Presets Heaven » Horizon

A great way to use graduated filters for spectacular horizons