How to Expose for the Highlights

Are you a landscape photographer looking to create compelling photos? Here’s a simple trick to balance light across your scene: expose for the highlights, and let post-processing handle the rest.

Why Expose for the Highlights?

Exposing for the highlights means parts of your photo may be underexposed, but you’ll retain detail in the brightest areas. With today’s camera sensors and RAW shooting, you can recover shadows in post-processing more effectively than trying to recover blown highlights.

This approach is similar to HDR or digital blending, but you can achieve balanced exposure from a single frame — no need to bracket multiple shots.

What’s Dynamic Range?

Dynamic range describes the range between the darkest and brightest parts of an image. Cameras capture a single dynamic range, but our eyes naturally adjust across multiple ranges, making real-life scenes appear more balanced than photos.

To manage this limitation, you can use:

• Graduated ND filters to balance light
• Bracketing to blend multiple exposures
• Post-processing with RAW to recover shadows

How Is It Different From HDR?

HDR blends multiple frames. Exposing for the highlights lets you achieve a similar outcome using just one photo, especially when combined with filters. This saves time and reduces complications with moving subjects.

Why Not Expose for the Shadows?

If you expose for shadows, you risk blowing out the highlights — which cannot be recovered. Shadows, however, can often be brought back in post. That’s why exposing for highlights is the safer choice.

How to Expose for the Highlights

Method 1: Lock the Exposure

• Set your camera to spot metering.
• Aim at the brightest area (usually the sky).
• Half-press the shutter to lock focus and exposure.
• Recompose your shot and fully press to capture.

Method 2: Manually Underexpose

Lower the exposure value (EV) in aperture or shutter priority mode. In manual mode, narrow your aperture or increase your shutter speed until the highlights are protected.

Processing Your Image

Once captured, bring back the shadows using your editing software:

• Lighten shadows with sliders or curves.
• Apply local adjustments using brushes.
• Use luminosity masking for precise control.

Conclusion

Exposing for the highlights is a reliable way to retain detail in your images. Combined with RAW shooting and thoughtful post-processing, it helps you create photos that capture the full beauty of a scene.

How do you expose your shots — do you prioritise highlights, shadows, or a different method? Share your thoughts and images in the comments below.