Fixing an overexposed photo means bringing the too-bright parts back down so the detail still in the file shows again, and restoring the color the light washed out. In this example, a friend took a phone photo at a 30th birthday party with the flash on from about a metre away. The flash turned the guest's face chalky and flat, with a shiny spot on her forehead and nose, while the room behind her fell into darkness.
What changed in this photo, and what stayed the same?
- Toned down: the brightest parts of her face, neck and chest, so her eyes, brows, nose and cheeks have shape again.
- Added back: a natural warm skin tone where the flash left almost no color. The tone is the editor's choice, matched to the less exposed edges of her face, not a color the file recorded. Her lips and teeth keep their own color.
- Kept: her face is not redrawn, and the hair, the blouse, the string lights and the friends in the background are as shot.
What can and cannot be recovered
As long as a bright area is only very light, the detail is still in the file and the editor can bring it back, as here. Where the flash burned an area to pure white, nothing is left: the shiny spot on her forehead becomes a soft highlight, not new skin. A face lost to pure white can only be rebuilt from other photos of the same person, and that is a reconstruction, not a recovery. We tell you before starting if your photo is like that.
What to send us
The highest-resolution version you have: the original phone or camera file rather than a screenshot or a photo sent through a chat app, which throws away the faint detail in bright areas. For scratched or torn prints rather than overexposure, see restore damaged photos.
Photos
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birthday.jpg
1 credit ($8)
1 photo to edit
Instructions
The flash made my face way too white. Can you tone it down?
Private: recreated on our own images, not customer photos
The before/after shown here is recreated on images created or licensed for this site — never a real customer's photo. Your upload is seen only by the editor working on it, and the edit comes with free revisions within 14 days of delivery if anything needs adjusting.
