Here is a pretty easy Photoshop trick for creating a graduated filter effect using layers and the eraser tool. You can only do this if you shoot RAW files. Though similar techniques can be used on JPGs.

The first thing you need to do is process two versions of your RAW file using whatever software you use for RAW processing.

In the first version you want to process the file so the sky looks how you want it to look. Don’t worry about the ground, just get the sky looking good.

For the second file you are going to get the foreground looking how you want it. In this one don’t worry about how the sky looks. It’s the ground that’s important.

You may want to name the files something like sky.jpg and ground.jpg just to make things a little easier.

Now load both files into Photoshop.

Create a new document that’s the same size as your images. Name it what you want. I will call mine Final Image.
Copy the sky image and paste it into Final Image. Name that layer sky.
Copy the ground image and paste it into Final Image. Name that layer ground.
Close the original images if you want to get them out of the way.

So now we have one doc with three layers; the background layer, the sky layer on top of that, and the ground layer on top of the sky layer. They need to be in that order.

Now you want to select the ground layer. Then choose the Eraser Tool

Start erasing the sky on the ground layer. I use a large brush with a hardness setting of %100 and an opacity of %100 for the top of the sky. As you get closer to the ground though you want to make your brush smaller and soften it. And when you get to where the sky and ground merge you may want to lessen the opacity too. That way you get a nice smooth transition from sky to ground.

Erase your sky until you get the image looking the way you want it. Once you get what you want, flatten the layers and save.

That’s about it. You now have the image you would have had if you’d used your grad. filter in the first place

Another cool thing about this technique is that you can adjust the two different layers independently. So you can get a little more color or contrast out of the sky without changing the foreground.

You can also use the eraser tool to darken areas of the foreground. Like in the sample pic I used, I could have darkened the reflection in the water to give it a little more pop.

There are Photoshop filters out there that create grad effects, but you don’t have the same control that you have using this technique.

Hope this tutorial was helpful to you. Please feel free to comment on it. All comments, good and bad, are welcome. And if you have ideas to make this technique better, then please tell us.