If you shoot outdoors in natural light, you've probably ended up with a photo where the sky looks great but your subject is far too dark. It happens all the time in harsh midday sun and when your subject is backlit. The first instinct is to push the Exposure slider up, but that brightens everything, including the parts of the photo that were already bright enough.
In this tutorial I show you how to brighten dark photos in Lightroom without blowing out the background, using the Shadows, Highlights, Whites and Blacks sliders instead of relying on Exposure. It's a quick, simple technique I use all the time, and I share the exact settings I used on the example photo below.
Why your photos come out too dark
I took this photo at around 1:30pm, when the sun is at its harshest, and my model was backlit. To keep the bright sky and ocean from blowing out, I exposed for the background while shooting, so the model came out much darker than I wanted. This is a really common problem with backlit portraits and high-contrast scenes: your camera can't hold detail in both the bright background and the darker subject at once, so you have to choose and fix the rest in editing.
The unedited photo: the background is well exposed, but the model is too dark.
Why you shouldn't just raise the exposure
The obvious fix is to drag the Exposure slider up. In this photo, raising Exposure to +1.50 brightens the model nicely, but it brightens everything else too, so the sky and the water are completely blown out. You can try pulling the Highlights back down afterwards, but it doesn't rescue the background as well as the method below.
Exposure +1.50 only: the model is brighter, but the background is blown out.
Exposure changes the brightness of the whole image. The tone sliders let you choose where to add light and where to take it away, which is exactly what a high-contrast photo needs.
How to brighten dark photos in Lightroom, step by step
All of these sliders are in the Basic panel in Lightroom Classic (in Lightroom and Lightroom Mobile they're in the Light panel). The numbers below are what I used on this photo, so treat them as a starting point and adjust for your own image. Shooting in RAW gives you much more room to recover shadows and highlights than a JPEG.
1. Raise the Shadows
Start by bringing up Shadows. This lifts the darker parts of the photo, including your subject, without touching the bright sky. I went up to +84 on this photo. You can already see the difference compared to raising Exposure.
After raising Shadows: the model is brighter and the sky is still intact.
2. Lower the Highlights
Next, bring Highlights down to recover detail and colour in the brightest areas, like the sky and the water. I used -69 here, which brings back colour and reduces the blown-out patches in the background.
After lowering Highlights: more colour and detail in the sky and ocean.
3. Lower the Blacks to bring back contrast
Raising the shadows and lowering the highlights flattens the image, so it can look a little washed out. To fix it, bring Blacks down. I went to -37, which brings back the contrast we lost without darkening the model again.
After lowering Blacks: the contrast is back.
4. Fine-tune Exposure and Contrast
Now that the tones are balanced, a small Exposure boost is all you need to brighten the subject a little more. I used just +0.55, much less than the +1.50 from before, plus a touch of Contrast (+11).
5. Lower the Whites
Finally, check the brightest parts of the sky. I brought Whites down to -18 so that area of the sky kept its colour, and nudged Highlights to -68.
My settings for this photo
| Slider | Value |
|---|---|
| Exposure | +0.55 |
| Contrast | +11 |
| Highlights | -68 |
| Shadows | +84 |
| Whites | -18 |
| Blacks | -37 |
My final tone settings in the Lightroom Basic panel.
The photo was shot at ISO 100, 35mm, f/2 and 1/4000s. The low ISO kept the shadows clean, so there was plenty of detail to recover.
Before and after
Unedited
Edited in Lightroom
Unedited (left) and edited in Lightroom with the tone sliders (right).
The model is brighter, the sky and water keep their colour, and the photo still has contrast, all without a single local adjustment.
Tips for brightening dark photos
- Shoot in RAW. RAW files hold far more shadow and highlight detail, so you can lift shadows a lot further before you see noise or banding.
- Expose for the highlights. It's much easier to recover dark shadows than blown-out highlights, so protect the sky when you shoot and brighten the subject later.
- Watch for noise. Heavily lifted shadows can show noise, especially on high ISO files. Add a little noise reduction if you need to.
- Use Exposure last, and lightly. Balance the tones with Shadows, Highlights, Whites and Blacks first, then use Exposure for a final small adjustment.
- Go further with masking. If your subject still needs more light, use a subject or brush mask to brighten just them.
- Sync your settings. If you shot a whole set in the same light, copy these settings across and fine-tune each photo.
Brightening dark photos with presets
Presets are great for adding a consistent colour and style, but they can't know how bright or dark each of your photos is. I recommend balancing your tones first with the steps above, or applying your preset and then adjusting Exposure, Shadows and Highlights photo by photo. Packs like The Essentials Kit and Sea Spray are built for natural light portraits and beach shoots, and you can browse all of them in the Lightroom Presets for Portraits collection.
Brighten dark photos in Lightroom: FAQ
How do I brighten a dark photo in Lightroom without overexposing it?
Instead of raising Exposure, raise the Shadows slider to brighten the darker areas, lower Highlights to protect the sky, lower Blacks to restore contrast, then add a small Exposure boost if needed.
Should I use Exposure or Shadows to brighten a photo?
Use Shadows first when only part of the photo is too dark, such as a backlit subject. Exposure brightens the whole image, including areas that are already bright, so save it for a small final adjustment.
Why does my photo look flat after raising the shadows?
Raising shadows and lowering highlights reduces contrast. Lower the Blacks slider and add a little Contrast to bring depth back into the photo.
Can I brighten dark photos in Lightroom Mobile?
Yes. The Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites and Blacks sliders are in the Light panel in Lightroom Mobile, so you can use the same steps on your phone.
Can you brighten a dark JPEG in Lightroom?
Yes, but JPEGs hold much less shadow and highlight detail than RAW files, so you'll see noise and lose detail sooner. Shoot in RAW if you often photograph in harsh or backlit light.
What settings should I use to brighten a backlit photo?
Every photo is different, but on my example I used Exposure +0.55, Contrast +11, Highlights -68, Shadows +84, Whites -18 and Blacks -37.
Once your tones are balanced, add your favourite look in one click. Browse all my packs in the Lightroom Presets for Portraits collection, and if you're stuck between a few, you can buy any 3 presets and save 10%.
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