In an excerpt from one of Larry Jordan's fantastic webinars, he shares some tips for using gradients and blend modes to add some punch to images that otherwise look flat and uninspired. Check out the excerpt below:
This, of course, is basically a digital version of a graduated neutral density filter, something that has been used extensively throughout photographic history for this exact purpose (as well as a few others). While graduated ND filters are a good addition to any filter kit, especially if you shoot outdoors a lot, sometimes you don't have access to one when you need it, or you didn't realize that you needed one until your footage was already shot. In those cases, there's no need to worry because the post production version of this effect looks great, and is infinitely more customizable than shooting with a glass filter.
