After [URL="http://dpnow.com/forum2/blog.php?b=308"]yesterday's exploration of recovering from a grossly under-exposed image[/URL], how about an over-exposed one?

During a trip to the Isle of Skye in June 2011 I had a great opportunity to photograph sea eagles picking up fish on the wing. Unfortunately, I over-cooked the back-light compensation and this was the result:

[URL="http://dpnow.com/galleries/showphoto.php/photo/25810"][IMG]http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/547/P6121737-2.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I was using an Olympus E-5, a fine camera in many ways but not a class-leader for dynamic range. But I had a hunch that this shot was not entirely wasted. First, I cropped to the main subject:

[URL="http://dpnow.com/galleries/showphoto.php/photo/25811"][IMG]http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/547/P6121737-3.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Next, manipulating the RAW file in Lightroom 4 I was able to, eventually, get this result:

[URL="http://dpnow.com/galleries/showphoto.php/photo/25812"][IMG]http://dpnow.com/galleries/data/547/P6121737.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Here is the adjustment panel from Lightroom 4 to show you what settings I used:

[IMG]http://dpnow.com/files/blog/Capture.PNG[/IMG]

While there are some areas that remain bleached out, like the top of the eagle behind its neck, and in the tail, there is a surprising amount of recovered detail. One positive thing about recovering from over-exposure is that noise is generally not a problem. I applied no noise reduction to this image at all. This supports the '[URL="http://dpnow.com/forum2/blog.php?b=70"]expose to the right[/URL]' theory I have covered in the past.