NicholasSKF: Applying Graduated Filter with Adobe Lightroom

Alright, here's a hint to get rid of the over-exposed areas on your landscape pictures. This often happen to me when I'm taking cloudy pictures. See the example below (A random picture I took during the drift battle at Barbagello Raceway):

Cloud area over-exposed

Why did my picture turned out like this? Well, basically it is because I wanted things on the ground to look bright enough. In order to do that however, I will have to sacrifice the brightness of the clouds. There was no way for me to control the brightness of the clouds and then create a well-balanced overall picture, unless if i had a graduated filter with me.

So how do I fix this? Not a problem at all. Firstly, I had to make sure that I set the file format to RAW before taking this picture. Why RAW? RAW files are undeveloped pictures unlike JPEGs. Using the right software, you'll have absolute control over the raw files. This means that you'll get to make all the necessary adjustments to make well-balanced pictures with raw files. Ever since I've started using RAW files, I've never turned back to JPEG formats unless I'm very confident that I'll get good compositions.

Now, the simplest steps to fix this picture.
1. Transfer the RAW file into your computer.
2. Open up Adobe Lightroom 3.
3. Import the RAW file into Lightroom.
4. Click on the Develop tab (Figure - Highlighted in orange) to start editing the RAW file.
5. Then click on the Graduated Filter icon (Figure - Highlighted in red).
6. Use your mouse cursor to drag a point on your picture from top to bottom. You'll see the graduated filter coming in (The three lines on the left of the Figure below).
7. Finally, make necessary adjustments (Figure - Highlighted in blue) until you are satisfied with the overall results.
8. If you wish to make adjustments on the overall picture, click on the Graduated Filter icon again to see more controls.