Mick 53 Loc: Minneapolis

Hello Friends,
Is there a way I can correct the sun on the guys face in this photo in lightroom. First Thanksgiving wishbone moment. The first photo I worked with in Lightroom. The second was the original photo. Not raw.
Thanks
Mick

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

The guy's face is completely "blown out." Once JPEG highlights are at 255, 255, 255, (pure white in an 8-bit image) there is absolutely zero detail to recover. If the raw image had been saved, there MIGHT have been a chance to recover that face, but it looks like it's beyond two f/stops of overexposure. When that's the case, results are poor.

This is an example of "scene failure". The dynamic range of the lighting is too great.

Saving JPEGs at the camera is like using slide film. There's no real exposure latitude (+1/3 and -2/3 stop). Much as with color negative films, with raw files, you have ALL the sensor data the camera could save. There's about +/- two stops of exposure latitude. You can compress the dynamic range in post-processing software to recover some or all of it. Lightroom has very powerful sliders for Whites, Blacks, Highlights, Shadows, and Exposure. But they aren't a lot of help with JPEGs unless you nail the exposure dead-on normal.

CanonShot Loc: Lancaster County, PA

GREAT explanation, burkphoto! That info helps more than just the OP.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Even if you used the radial filter shaped to match his face, Burk is correct, it is too blown out to salvage.

Mick 53 Loc: Minneapolis

Thanks for the informative reply. It was a quick moment had to use my wife's point and shoot. Should have moved them out of the sun and grabbed the big gun and shot raw.

ozmerelda Loc: Osprey, FL