How to Fix Exposure Issues in Your Photos with Lightroom

Because we've all taken a photo that looked perfect… until we saw it on our screen.

Let me guess—you snapped what felt like the perfect shot. The composition? Spot on. The moment? Magical. But when you got home and uploaded it to Lightroom… ouch. Blown-out highlights, murky shadows, or just a weirdly flat vibe. Don’t worry—you’re not alone. Exposure issues happen to everyone, especially when you’re learning.

The good news? Lightroom makes it surprisingly easy to fix most of these problems. In this post, we’ll walk through how to correct common exposure issues using the Basic panel, improve your image’s dynamic range, and know when it’s time to say, “OK, this one’s not salvageable” (it happens!).

Whether you're brand new to editing or just trying to get a handle on the sliders, this guide will help you confidently bring your images to life—without overthinking it. Let's get stuck in.

First Things First: What Is Exposure, Really?

Exposure simply refers to how light or dark your photo appears. It’s affected by three settings in-camera—aperture, shutter speed, and ISO—but thankfully, Lightroom gives you a second chance to get it right if your original settings weren’t perfect.

The main signs of exposure issues are:

• Washed-out highlights.

• Dark, detail-less shadows.

• A photo that looks flat or dull, with no contrast or pop.

Sound familiar? Let’s fix that.

Start with the Basics Panel: Your New Best Friend

Lightroom’s Basic panel is where the exposure magic happens. You’ll find it on the right-hand side in the Develop module (if you’re on Lightroom Classic) or at the bottom of your editing screen in Lightroom for mobile.

Here’s how each slider helps:

Exposure

• Think of this as your overall brightness dial.

• Drag right to brighten the whole image, left to darken it.

• Tip: A little goes a long way! Don’t crank this unless the entire image is under- or overexposed.

Highlights

• This one helps you rescue blown-out areas like skies or shiny skin.

• Slide left to recover detail in bright spots.

Shadows

• Bring back detail in dark areas without making the whole image brighter.

• Slide right to open up those shadows.

Whites & Blacks

• Fine-tune the brightest and darkest points in your photo.

• Hold down the Alt key (or Option on Mac) while sliding to see clipping—areas that are totally black or white.

• Aim for balance, not extremes.

Contrast

• Adds punch to your image by increasing the difference between light and dark.

• Be gentle here—you can always add contrast later with other tools (like the Tone Curve).

Bonus: Use the Histogram

Not just a bunch of weird peaks and valleys! The histogram tells you how your exposure is spread out across the image. Ideally, you want a nice balance—no big spikes on either end.

What Exposure Issues Can’t Be Fixed?

Now for the hard truth: not everything can be rescued. (And that’s okay!)

Here are a few situations where Lightroom can’t work miracles:

• Totally blown highlights (pure white with no detail).

• Pure black shadows (nothing there to recover).

• Severely underexposed RAW files shot at low ISO—sometimes there’s just not enough information.

• Heavily compressed JPEGs—you can still edit these, but you’ll have less flexibility.

Practical Tips for Nailing Exposure in Lightroom

Here’s a little cheat sheet you can bookmark or screenshot:

Quick Fix Workflow:

1. Adjust Exposure 

2. Tame Highlights

3. Lift Shadows

4. Set Whites and Blacks

5. Add Contrast sparingly

6. Use the Histogram to avoid clipping

7. Zoom in and check the details before moving on

Bonus Tips:

• Shoot in RAW when possible—it gives you way more flexibility in Lightroom.

• If your photo still looks off, try Auto Settings and then tweak from there.

• Be patient! Learning to read your image takes time (and a bit of trial and error).

Ready to Dive Deeper?

If you’re enjoying the process of editing and want to really get the hang of Lightroom, you might love my Lightroom Books. They’re written in the same casual, no-jargon tone as this blog, and walk you through editing step-by-step—perfect if you like having something to refer back to while you’re learning.

Don’t Stress, Just Start

Exposure issues can feel intimidating at first—but honestly? They’re one of the easiest things to fix in Lightroom once you know where to look. With just a few tweaks in the Basics panel, you’ll be amazed at how much life you can bring back into your photos.

Remember, editing is part science, part art, and mostly just practice. The more you experiment, the better your eye will get. And if you ever get stuck—pop back here or check out the rest of my Editing Tips blog series for more friendly advice.