How to Fix a Blown Out Sky in Luminar Neo
How to Fix a Blown-Out Sky in Luminar Neo
I recently shared an article here about how to fix a dark photo in Luminar Neo, and it only made sense to come back and write up the opposite problem: how to fix an overly bright one.
While it's easy enough to simply lower the exposure, there are quite a few tricks that I use to make sure the light looks exactly how I want it to look.
In this article I'm primarily focused on fixing a blown-out sky, or managing the light in the sky to my satisfaction. For me, that's one of the most common challenges I encounter when editing landscape and cityscape photos.
When shooting at sunrise or sunset, it's common to expose for the shadows so you can retain detail in the darker areas of the image. The downside is that the sky can become overly bright, and sometimes even blow out completely.
Fortunately, Luminar Neo offers several ways to recover those highlights and bring balance back to the scene.
Quick Answer
If you're looking for the fastest solution, start by lowering Exposure and Highlights in Develop RAW. If that isn't enough, use Supercontrast to target the highlights, then refine the sky with a Linear Gradient mask.
If the sky is completely blown out, try HDR Merge or Sky AI as a last resort.
Now let's look at each option in more detail.
Before You Get Started
First, always shoot in RAW format. You simply have much more data to work with, and that becomes incredibly important when trying to recover highlight detail in a bright sky.
Second, press the J key to enable highlight and shadow clipping indicators. These show you exactly which areas of your image are blown out or pure black.
I tend to leave these indicators turned on while working on the sky because they provide instant feedback as I make my adjustments.
My Workflow for Recovering a Blown-Out Sky
Step 1: Lower Exposure First
Most people immediately reach for the Highlights slider, and that's certainly a good place to start.
However, my preferred first move is usually lowering the Exposure slider.
Why?
Because exposure adjustments affect every pixel in the image equally, including those bright areas in the sky. You may be surprised how much detail can come back with a relatively small exposure adjustment.
Once I have the overall brightness in a better place, I can use other tools to refine the image.
Step 2: Refine with Highlights
After adjusting Exposure, I typically move to the Highlights slider.
This is where you can specifically target the brightest areas of the image and often recover additional detail in the sky.
Keep an eye on those clipping indicators while you work. They make it easy to see whether you're actually recovering highlights or simply making the image darker.
Step 3: Be Careful with Whites
I often see people reach for the Whites slider next.
While it can help in some situations, I tend to use it sparingly. Pulling the Whites slider down too far can make bright areas look dull and lifeless.
A small adjustment can be useful, but I rarely rely on it as my primary solution.
Step 4: Use Supercontrast
Once I'm happy with Develop RAW, I usually move into Supercontrast.
This is one of my favorite tools in Luminar Neo because it allows you to target highlights, midtones, and shadows independently.
Since the brightest areas of the image are often located in the sky, the Highlights section of Supercontrast can be extremely effective for refining the light and adding depth back into the scene.
Step 5: Continue the Edit
At this point, I've usually regained control of the light and can continue editing as normal.
As you've heard me say before, my workflow focuses on:
Light → Detail → Color
Getting the light right is always my first priority.
How to Refine the Sky Even Further
If you've worked through Develop RAW and Supercontrast and still need more control over the sky, here are some additional techniques I use.
Option 1: Use a Linear Gradient
This is usually my preferred approach.
Open Develop (this is after using Develop RAW and Supercontrast), create a Linear Gradient mask, and apply it across the sky with a generous feather.
Now you can adjust Exposure, Highlights, Contrast, or whatever else is needed.
The beauty of a Linear Gradient is that you control both the angle and the feathering, allowing the adjustment to blend naturally into the rest of the image.
Option 2: Use Mask AI
Another option is to use Mask AI to isolate the sky automatically.
Once the sky is selected, you can make whatever adjustments you need.
The one thing to remember is that this mask applies evenly across the entire sky. Sometimes that's exactly what you want, but other times it can create an unnatural look because every part of the sky receives the same adjustment.
For that reason, I tend to prefer Linear Gradients, but Mask AI can certainly be effective.
Option 3: Adjust Sky Brightness with HSL
One trick that often gets overlooked is using the HSL controls in the Color tool.
If your sky contains blue tones, try lowering the luminance of the blues. This can add depth and contrast without affecting the rest of the image.
Likewise, if you're working with a colorful sunrise or sunset, you can adjust the luminance of oranges, yellows, and reds.
Just remember to mask the sky first. Otherwise, those color adjustments will affect the entire image.
What to Do When Nothing Is Working
Sometimes a sky is simply too far gone.
If there is little or no recoverable data in the file, you'll need a different approach.
Try HDR Merge
One of my favorite tricks is to drag a single image into HDR Merge and let the tone mapping work its magic.
It sounds strange, but it works surprisingly often.
HDR Merge redistributes the light throughout the image and can sometimes recover highlight detail that seemed impossible to recover through normal editing.
After HDR Merge creates the TIFF file, I usually continue with my normal light workflow: Develop, Supercontrast, and sometimes Light Depth before moving on to detail and color adjustments.
It's a simple trick, but one that has saved quite a few images for me over the years.
When Recovery Isn’t Enough: Sky Replacement
My final Hail Mary is Sky AI.
If I've exhausted all the other options and still can't get the sky looking the way I want, I'll simply replace it.
Sky AI is fast, accurate, and remarkably easy to use.
And if I end up replacing the sky, I’ll often spend a little extra time finding a sky that matches the mood and lighting of the image. My Sunset Sky Mega Pack was created specifically for this — it includes a collection of sunset skies that you can use with Luminar Neo’s Sky AI tool to add more drama and impact to your photos.
Final Thoughts
So that's it, my friends!
These are the tools, masks, and techniques that I rely on when a sky is simply too bright for my liking.
Most of the time, a combination of Exposure, Highlights, and Supercontrast will get the job done. When they don't, I lean on masks, HDR Merge, and sometimes even Sky AI to help rescue an image that might otherwise be headed for the trash bin.
The key takeaway is this: don't assume a bright sky is a lost cause. RAW files often contain more recoverable detail than you think, and Luminar Neo gives you several powerful ways to bring that detail back.
Try some of these techniques on your next challenging edit and see what happens.
Thanks for following along, and be sure to check out the companion video below where I walk through the entire process step-by-step on a real image.
P.S. If you photograph sunrises, sunsets, or any scene where the sky is the star of the image, take a look at my Sunset Sky Mega Pack. It includes a collection of my favorite sunset skies that you can use with Luminar Neo’s Sky AI tool when the original sky just isn’t giving you the result you want.
I did a video covering this topic as well, which you can see below. Hope it helps and enjoy!
