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Category: New Questions

Photography Question 

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Red Eyes


 
 
Well,

photographing is all very new to me, but I do love it!What really bothers me though is red eyes. I don't know what to do, since I have no clue of what causes the problem. Is it me or the camera? (which has a "red eye"-function, but it doesn't really make any difference.

Please help me- I know this is a silly question but it's quite discouraging.


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April 04, 2002

 

John A. Lind 		  Zara,
The retina at the back of the human eye (inside it) has a very high concentration of capillaries very close to the surface of the retina. Red-eye is the reflection of the flash from the blood in these capillaries at the back of the eye. Several conditions contribute to red-eye:
(a) Subjects pupils are wide open due to low light. Alcohol consumption also dilates (widens) the pupils. Parties with very low lighting and drinking, such as wedding receptions, often create the widest pupils. Babies and toddlers also tend to have their pupils open wider than adults do.
(b) Subject looking directly at the camera lens.
(c) Flash is mounted very close to the camera lens.

Not all of these *must* be present, but each one of these increases the risk of red-eye. The "red-eye reduction" feature on many cameras fires pre-flashes to close the subject pupils before the shutter opens and main flash occurs. Unfortunately, this often does not work very well. The pupils usually do not react and constrict fast enough, nor do they get small enough to eliminate it.

Solutions:
(a) Turn on lamps and overhead lights indoors to increase ambient light. This is not always possible or practical. It's almost always impossible outdoors.
(b) Move flash farther from the lens. To get red-eye, the light must travel from the flash through the pupil to the back of the eye, reflect off of the small retinal area, and travel back through the pupil to the camera lens. Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection. By moving the flash farther from the lens, it moves the red-eye reflection out of view of the lens (usually below it). This is one of the reasons why many photojournalists and wedding photographers use "potato masher" handle flashes or flash brackets. They move the flash well away from the lens; by about ten inches or so. You need not spend this much money. They get *paid* to *never* have *any* red-eye and often work under high risk conditions. If your camera has a hot shoe, get an external flash that mounts to it. Most often simply moving the flash to at least six inches from the lens will work, and a hot shoe mounted flash will do this.

-- John


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April 04, 2002

 
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