Friday, March 29, 2024

How to Fix Overexposure in Photos Effectively

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Overexposure is a very common problem in photos, and it is caused by the camera sensor being exposed to too much light. That results in a photo that is excessively bright to the point where details are obscured and it looks washed out.

The best way to check whether or not a photo is overexposed is by using the histogram in your editor. It will show you a chart that depicts the tonal range of the photo separated into its dark tones (on the left), mid tones (in the middle) and light tones (on the right).

Ideally the histogram should be spread out over the three areas, and but if it is concentrated on the right then it is a sure sign that your photo is overexposed.

Easy Ways to Fix Overexposed Photos

While there are lots of techniques that can be used to fix overexposed photos and improve them, there are three easy ways in particular that you should start with:

  • Adjust the exposure setting to adjust the overall brightness of your photo, and in this case decrease it. Be sure to adjust it carefully so that the areas that are already dark don’t’ get too dark.
  • Adjust the whites setting to adjust the mid tones in your photo, making them darker or brighter as required. It won’t affect the dark areas as much, and you can use it to fine tune the brightness of overexposed photos.
  • Adjust the highlights setting to adjust the light tones, i.e. the brightest parts of your photo and can be used to make them slightly darker. Just like the whites setting it is an effective way to fine tune overexposed photos.

As you edit your photos in the ways described above, you should be able to see the histogram start to spread out more – and your photo’s brightness will look more balanced.

Fixing Overexposed Photos in PhotoWorks

By using PhotoWorks you can easily fix your overexposed photos. In fact in the main tab of its ‘Enhancement’ section you will find an auto correction tool that you can use to fix the lighting and balance out the tonal range automatically.

On top of that PhotoWorks will let you adjust the exposure, whites and highlights settings as described above. It will display the histogram as you make changes, so you can observe not only the affect that your adjustments have on the photo – but also on the tonal range in the histogram.

Another way that you can fix overexposed photos in PhotoWorks is with its graduated filter that can be found in the ‘Retouch’ section. It will apply a tone gradient over an area that you select, and is the best way to fix overexposed photos of landscapes with washed out sky. For more details just click here to see how it works.

Aside from directly fixing overexposed photos, PhotoWorks will let you improve them in various other ways too. It can help you to make the colors more vivid, sharpen your photos, apply various artistic filters, professionally retouch photos, remove unwanted objects, and more.

All the features in PhotoWorks are designed to be user-friendly, so you shouldn’t have any trouble applying them. By the time you’re done your photo will undoubtedly look closer to what you had in mind when you snapped it.

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