Reading Time: 8 minutesWhat is What are Crushed Shadows & Blown Highlights in film and photography? Definition & Meaning Crushed shadows (crushed blacks, blocked blacks, etc.) and blown highlights are two terms that describe exposure issues. Crushing the shadows/blacks describes underexposing the shot, resulting in large areas of pure black in the picture. Blowing the highlights is overexposed… Continue reading What are Crushed Shadows & Blown Highlights?