Overexposed Photos

A photo has been overexposed when too much light comes in through the lens because the camera settings have not been correct.  Often only certain areas of the photo have been overexposed.  Once an area becomes white (refered to as blown out) there is no longer any contrast detail left to bring back in the digital darkroom.  Up to this white point it is possible to recover detail and there may be important areas of the photo which are worth recovering.  Like underexposure, some areas of the photo may be beyond recovery and will remain white.  This can look strange if the rest of the photo which has detail has been brought up to the correct exposure.