This is the best and most straightforward video on this specific technique. I'm currently trying recover some blown highlight areas in an extremely high contrast indoor shot and following this gave me a decent image I could actually use, thank you so much man.
when shooting on film the latitude is different where highlights hold more information and shadows. Same with shooting log video on modern cameras. Underexposing raw log footage is pretty catastrophic for grain when you try and lift everything
Glad you found it helpful, Melody! Check out the free download I made available in the description section, in there I share a lot more tips for better editing in Lightroom.
While this works, my first tip is to avoid clipped highlights at the time of capture (ie. turn on highlight warnings or "blinkies") and check your histograms. Of course sometimes people forget and that's why we have programs like LIghtroom. But one caveat of doing -100 on highlights (to bring back a blown-out sky) is that in some situations, if you push the highlights too far (towards -100) highlights can start to take on a grey tint. This is not usually a problem for things like overcast skies as the sky has a hint of gray anyway, but for things like tungsten lightsources, for example, this can give an odd grayish look to them if you push them too far. LIkewise, if you push the shadows too far to the right (towards +100) your shadows can start to look flat and mushy). Of course the key with all of this is in moderation. But the best way is to take your time and avoid clipping in the first place by checking your exposure at the time of capture and re-shooting if you can.
