Blown highlights are areas of a photograph where the brightness has exceeded the sensor’s maximum recording capacity, resulting in pure white pixels with no recoverable detail. Also known as “clipped highlights” or “burned-out highlights,” they represent a permanent loss of image information that cannot be restored in post-processing.
What Causes Blown Highlights
Every camera sensor has a limited dynamic range, the span between the darkest shadows and brightest highlights it can record simultaneously. When part of a scene exceeds this range on the bright end, those pixels clip to maximum white. Common causes include direct sunlight on bright surfaces, shooting into the light source, reflections on water or glass, and overexposing a scene.
How to Identify Blown Highlights
Most cameras offer two ways to spot blown highlights during review. The histogram shows a spike pushed against the right edge when highlights are clipped. Many cameras also offer a “highlight alert” or “blinkies” mode that flashes the overexposed areas on the LCD preview. Both tools are more reliable than judging exposure visually on the screen.
Prevention Techniques
- Check your histogram after important shots, especially in high-contrast conditions
- Use exposure compensation to dial down brightness (-0.3 to -1 stop) in tricky lighting
- Shoot in RAW format for an extra 1-2 stops of highlight recovery potential compared to JPEG
- Use a graduated ND filter to balance bright skies with darker foregrounds in landscape photography
- Bracket your exposures in extreme contrast situations and combine them in post-processing
Recovery in Post-Processing
RAW files contain more highlight data than what appears on the camera LCD. A RAW processor can often recover 1-2 stops of highlight detail by pulling the highlights slider down. However, if the pixel data is truly clipped at the sensor level (all three color channels maxed out), no amount of processing will bring back the lost detail. Slightly overexposed areas where at least one color channel retained data have the best recovery chances.
In some creative contexts, small blown highlights are acceptable or even intentional. Specular reflections on jewelry, the sun itself in a landscape, or the gleam on wet surfaces naturally clip to white. The key is ensuring that blown highlights occur only where you intend them, not across important subject detail.