Fix an underexposed face on iPhone with a face mask

27 September 2026

You photograph someone against a bright sky or a window. The background looks right and their face is in shadow. A face mask selects only the face, so you can brighten it without brightening the background too.

It works better than you might expect because Chobial always shoots RAW. A face that looks muddy on screen still has plenty of detail in the file. A HEIF has already thrown most of it away.

1 · Select the face

1. Open the photo, tap edit, and choose the Masks tool.
2. Tap + New. Chobial looks for the subject, sky and people. Each face it finds is listed as Face 1, Face 2 and so on.
3. Tap the face you want. It shows in red.

The face mask is a soft oval from forehead to chin, trimmed to the person's outline. It stops at the edge of the face, so the wall or sky behind them isn't brightened.

2 · Lift it from the RAW

• Exposure first. Raise it until the eyes read clearly. Go past that and the face starts to glow.
• Shadows opens up the eye sockets and under the chin without making the brighter parts of the face shiny.
• A little less Contrast keeps the skin soft. Shade on a sunny day is blue, so warming the face slightly with Temperature helps it match the rest of the photo.

3 · More than one person

• Group photo: make the first face mask, then tap Add and choose Face 2, Face 3 and so on. One set of sliders lifts them all.
• Body in shadow too: use Subject or People instead of Face for a gentle lift on the whole person. Then add a Face mask on top for the last half stop.
• Face not found: use a Radial Gradient. Drag an oval over the face and raise the feather.

The backlit sky is often too bright as well. Add a sky mask with Highlights down, so both ends of the photo are fixed.

Questions