Recover blown-out highlights

This prompt brings back detail in overexposed areas of your photo, such as a sky, white clothing or a face, and reduces the harsh look.

photo-fix-blown-highlights — gemini — 45 words

Recover the blown-out highlights in this photo. Bring back detail in the [SKY / WHITE CLOTHING / FACE] and reduce the harsh glare.

Balance the exposure evenly, keep natural colour and contrast, do not make it look HDR, and keep every person and object unchanged.

Edit in the builder Copy & open Gemini ↗Copy & open ChatGPT ↗

Tell the AI where the problem is. It works much better than a general fix.

Your photo goes to the AI app you choose, never to PromptUp.

Get a better result

What you will get

Your photo with the washed-out area, whether sky, white clothing or a face, recovered with visible detail, balanced exposure and natural colour, not an HDR look.

Why it works

Blown highlights are areas where the photo lost detail, so a general fix often brightens or darkens the wrong part. The prompt names where the problem is, the sky, white clothing or a face, and asks to bring detail back there while balancing the rest. Banning an HDR look and keeping every person and object unchanged stops the repair from turning into a heavy filter.

Common mistake

The highlight area turns grey and muddy.

Fix: Ask for “bring back detail but keep it bright and clean”. A small recovery reads better than turning white into mid-grey.

Also watch for

The AI invents clouds or folds that were never there. Say “recover only what was in the scene, do not add new clouds, patterns or objects”. Truly empty white pixels can only be guessed.
The edit makes the photo look over-processed. Keep “do not make it look HDR” and add “keep natural contrast”. Try recovering one area at a time.

Try a variation: just the face

Choose the face and add “restore skin detail on the forehead and nose without making the skin look smoothed”. Describe the lighting too, such as harsh noon sun.

Still not right? Reply with this

Keep every person from the original photo, each with their exact face and age. Do not remove, add or merge anyone.