Photoshop: How I Use Gradient Maps and Blending Modes for Color Work

Adobe Photoshop is a visual cacophony of tools, tools, and more tools. There is seldom just one way to accomplish the look you are after, and beginners endlessly scour YouTube seeking the end-all answers to their questions only to find 27 different ways to, say, "add contrast." It can all be a bit confusing until you remember one key thing: There is no right and wrong. If you get the result you like, and those viewing your work seem to like it, then you've succeeded. To that end, I wanted to review one (of the dozens of possible) ways I utilize Gradient Maps for my color work in Photoshop.

Let's be clear though, I use Capture One Pro for most all of my color correction and what I call my "pre-color work." That is, I play with my images in Capture One until I feel the color is as close to my final vision as possible without going to Photoshop yet. I know certain looks I can easily achieve in Capture One, but other approaches I like to do require Photoshop. Depending on the project, the vision, and the images themselves, my color work approach can vary quite a bit. That said, lately I have been really embracing Gradient Maps in Photoshop because of the richness in both color and contrast that they can add.

As I stated above, you can achieve the same look (or darn close) with other approaches or combination of approaches. However, the results I get with Gradient Maps and Blending Modes in recent months are a "phase" I'm likely to be staying in for some time. I love it so much, I wanted to discuss it a bit and show what I have been doing with Gradient Maps in Photoshop, so I recorded the video tutorial seen above. It runs a little long, so I apologize for that, but you may be able to tell how giddy I am about my Gradient Map noodling this year.

Some of my work from this year where Gradient Maps and Blending Modes were used for the final color work and palette enhancement:

A light-handed use of Gradient Maps to add a little richness to an initially very hazy image on a San Francisco rooftop.

A fairly heavy handed use of Gradient Maps to enhance the existing palette of the shot, but also to increase contrast and color richness on a hazy, overcast shot of Kathrine I did on a humid, south Texas afternoon.

Marrying together all the warm tones of the shot with a Gradient Map and Soft Light Blending Mode (reduced opacity) got me the richness I wanted, sure, but in this particular shot of Rebecca in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, I masked out the blue sky to preserve the contrast the complementary colors created (and not wash the sky in warm tones).

Even when I try for "true color," like this shot of Cindie in Jean, Nevada, I occasionally add a Gradient Map (usually using the main colors found on the image, or close to) that helps give everything a pop in richness in a smooth manner. Tweaking your Gradients while you are working on your shot can help you take it in a direction you may not have thought of in terms of highlights, shadows, and even specularity.