HOW TO... BRING BACK 'LOST' DETAIL

James Paterson shows you how to recover detail from shadows and highlights for perfectly balanced landscapes

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Have you ever shot a landscape Hunder glorious conditions and rushed home to look at the results, only to find they're slightly underwhelming? This doesn't necessarily mean you did something wrong; it might simply be that the image needs a little coaxing into life.

Often the challenge with landscapes is recording detail in both the brightest and darkest parts of the scene. When the sun is low in the sky this can be doubly difficult, as the highlights will be strong and the shadows may be very deep. As such, on initial inspection the scene can be a disappointment, with detail-less dark areas or blown-out skies.