Header Hero section of Essence Pro has a dark gradient on top of the image so that text is readable.
Before:
![](https://i0.wp.com/sridharkatakam.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/essence-pro-hero-background-before.jpg?fit=1024%2C516&ssl=1)
If you are looking to remove this gradient possibly because you want to use your own “dark” background image simply edit /wp-content/themes/essence-pro/lib/header-functions.php
and change
$output = '<style type="text/css">.header-hero { background-image: linear-gradient(0deg, rgba(0,0,0,0.5) 50%, rgba(0,0,0,0.85) 100%), url(' . esc_url( $bg_image ) . '); }</style>';
to
$output = '<style type="text/css">.header-hero { background-image: url(' . esc_url( $bg_image ) . '); }</style>';
After:
![](https://i1.wp.com/sridharkatakam.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/essence-pro-hero-background-after.jpg?fit=1024%2C516&ssl=1)