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Step 9 of 14 · Phone Photography That Looks Intentional

Pull exposure to match what your eye saw

Pull exposure to match what your eye saw — step 9 of 14 in Phone Photography That Looks Intentional. Your phone exposes for the average brightness of the frame, which often means the subject is slightly too dark or the sky is blown.

Pull exposure to match what your eye saw — step 9 photo from Phone Photography That Looks Intentional

Free photography tip: Pull exposure to match what your eye saw (step 9 of 14 from "Phone Photography That Looks Intentional").

Your phone exposes for the average brightness of the frame, which often means the subject is slightly too dark or the sky is blown. In the editor, adjust exposure until the subject looks right to you — not until the histogram is 'correct'.

If highlights are clipped (pure white with no detail), pull highlights down before pushing exposure up. This recovers sky and window detail that looked lost.

Pro tip: On Snapseed: Tune Image → Brightness for global, then Highlights and Shadows separately.

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Phone Photography That Looks Intentional

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