Restore Contrast

To re-introduce contrast, hold down the ‘Alt’ key and move the ‘Blacks’ slider to the left. In this Mask view, you’ll see the point at which true black is restored. This will fill in the bottom end of the tonal range, and add bite to the image.

On the example image, we’ve used a setting of -73, but on your own images, stop once you see black start to appear on the Mask. These black areas are pure black and have no detail, so don’t let them overpower the image. Now hold down ‘Alt’ again and move the ‘Whites’ slider to the right until you see the brightest areas start to clip. On our example image, a ‘Whites setting’ of +28 has been used.