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Learn how to restore hidden details in areas such as overcast skies. This final outcome is natural with no halos or other defects.

How to Restore Hidden Highlights with Photoshop

Step 1

Open any image that you would like. In the image below, the sky is lacking details but not overexposed. This technique will not work with overexposed areas that are 100% white (#FFFFFF) because there is no data for it to restore from.

Step 2

In the Layers palette, click on the New Adjustment Layer button and then click Levels.

In the Levels tool, move the black input slider towards the right until you start to see the highlights being revealed. In the image used for this tutorial, you can now see the clouds in the overcast sky. Your image should have a silhouette effect.

Step 3

Now go to the Image menu and select Apply Image. We will use the Apply Image tool to paste the image into the layer mask. Leave the default settings in the Apply Image tool and click OK. What you should have now is a layer mask with the overexposed areas as the visible area and everything else as the invisible area.

Final Results

Here is the before and after image. Notice that in the after image on the right, you can see the cloud details in the sky. It is a subtle effect, but one that is natural and effective.