Fix Backlit Photos?

To open up those shadows to be more like what our eyes saw when we took the photo, go to the Basic panel and click-and-drag the Shadows slider to the right. This backlit problem happens a lot because our eyes are so amazing that they can correct for a huge range of tones, tremendously more than even the most expensive camera sensor. So, while we’re standing there in front of our subject, they don’t look like a silhouette—we see them properly exposed. When we look through our DSLR camera’s viewfinder, they still look properly exposed. But, when we press the shutter, and it passes the image to our sensor—which captures a much narrower tonal range—the result is your subject winds up looking like a silhouette. Luckily, that Shadows slider works wonders—just drag it to the right and watch the magic happen. If you have to drag really far to the right to bring your subject out of the shadows, you run the risk of having the image look a bit washed out. So, if you see that happen, just increase the contrast (drag the Contrast slider to the right) until it doesn’t look washed out.