How to Fix a Dark Photo

Why Photos Turn Out Too Dark

Dark photos happen when the camera doesn't capture enough light. Indoor shots without flash, backlit subjects, and evening scenes are the most common culprits. Your phone's auto-exposure often gets fooled by bright backgrounds, leaving the subject in shadow. The good news: if the photo looks dark on screen, there's usually detail hiding in those shadows that AI can bring back.

How AI Brightening Differs from Simple Exposure Sliders

Dragging an exposure slider brightens everything equally — shadows, midtones, and highlights all shift up. This washes out the bright areas and makes the whole image look flat. AI brightening is selective: it identifies the dark regions that need the most help and lifts them while protecting areas that are already properly exposed. The result looks like the photo was taken with better lighting, not just cranked up in an editor.

Common Dark Photo Problems AI Can Solve

• Backlit subjects where faces are in shadow
• Indoor photos without enough ambient light
• Evening and night shots that came out too dark
• Photos where flash didn't fire or didn't reach
• Underexposed areas from tricky metering situations

Recovering Shadow Detail

Modern phone cameras capture more data than what you see on screen. Even in areas that appear completely black, there's often color and detail buried in the shadows. AI can pull this data out and present it naturally. The amount of recoverable detail depends on the original file — photos shot in good cameras or RAW format have more room to work with, but even compressed JPEGs often surprise with how much is hidden.

Tips for Natural-Looking Results

For subtle brightening, try 'lighten the shadows slightly' instead of 'make it brighter.' For backlit portraits, 'brighten the face' targets exactly what matters. If the brightened result reveals noise in the shadow areas, follow up with 'reduce the noise' as a second edit. Avoid asking to make night photos look like daylight — realistic improvements always look better than dramatic overcorrection.