Radial gradients are a versatile tool for adding localized adjustments to your photos in Lightroom. They can be used to create a variety of effects, including adding vignetting, highlighting specific areas, and creating dreamlike blurs. In this tutorial, we will show you how to use radial gradients to highlight parts of a photo.

What are radial gradients?

Radial gradients are circular masks that allow you to apply adjustments to a specific area of your photo. The adjustments will be strongest at the center of the gradient and will fade out towards the edges. This makes radial gradients ideal for highlighting specific areas of a photo, such as a person’s face or a subject in a landscape.

How to use radial gradients to highlight parts of a photo

1. Select the Radial Gradient tool: In the Lightroom Develop module, select the Radial Gradient tool from the toolbar on the right side of the screen. You can also press the R key on your keyboard to select the tool.
2. Position the gradient: Click and drag on the photo to create a radial gradient. The point where you click will be the center of the gradient. The size of the gradient can be adjusted by dragging the control points around the edge of the circle.
3. Adjust the gradient’s feathering: Feathering controls how quickly the adjustments fade out from the center of the gradient. To increase the feathering, drag the feathering slider to the right. To decrease the feathering, drag the slider to the left.
4. Adjust the gradient’s opacity: Opacity controls how much the adjustments affect the photo. To increase the opacity, drag the opacity slider to the right. To decrease the opacity, drag the slider to the left.
5. Apply adjustments to the gradient: Once you have positioned and feathered the gradient, you can apply adjustments to it. The adjustments you apply will affect the area of the photo that is covered by the gradient.

Examples of how to use radial gradients

Here are a few examples of how to use radial gradients to highlight parts of a photo:

• Highlight a person’s face: Place a radial gradient over the person’s face and increase the exposure and contrast to make them stand out from the background.
• Create a vignette: Place a radial gradient over the entire photo and decrease the exposure and contrast around the edges to create a dark vignette effect.
• Create a dreamlike blur: Place a radial gradient over a specific area of the photo and apply a strong radial blur to create a dreamy effect.

Additional tips

Here are a few additional tips for using radial gradients:

• You can use multiple radial gradients on a single photo.
• You can use the Invert checkbox to control whether the adjustments inside or outside the radial gradient are affected.
• You can use the Link checkbox to link multiple radial gradients so that they move together when you adjust one of them.

Conclusion

Radial gradients are a powerful tool for adding localized adjustments to your photos. By following the tips in this tutorial, you can learn how to use radial gradients to highlight parts of a photo and create a variety of creative effects.

I hope this tutorial has helped you learn how to use radial gradients in Lightroom.