BetterPhoto Member |
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Red Eyes
After we have taken our pictures, the eyes are red in all of them.
December 14, 2000
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John A. Lind |
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Randy,
The cause of red-eye:
Light from your flash is traveling through the pupil to the back of the eye. It is reflecting off of the retina and traveling back out through the pupil to your camera lens. The retina has a very high density of capillaries carrying blood to it. The red color is is from the the blood in the capillaries. Red-eye has become much more common with small Point & Shoot's and SLR's that have a built-in flash that flips up and is very close to the lens.The following are the general causes of red-eye, typically by one or both of the following:
1. The flash is too close to the lens; the risk of red-eye is much greater with cameras that have a built-in flash only a couple inches or less above the lens.
2. The photograph was made in very low light which dilate subject's pupils. The following can contribute to the problem:
1. The pupils in small children tend to open wider than those of adults under the same lighting conditions.
2. Alcohol consumption by the subject(s) will dilate pupils wider than they would be otherwise. This is a very real problem for wedding photographers after the reception has been underway for a while. It is made worse by the lights often being turned down low for dancing. How to prevent or at least greatly reduce the risk of it:
1. Move the flash farther above the lens. This will cause any red reflection from the back of the subject's eye to land below the camera lens. If it doesn't get to the camera lens, it can't end up on the film. This means using an external flash that mounts in the camera hot shoe if you have an SLR that has one. These are typically several inches taller than a built-in one. This is the reason professional wedding photographers use flash brackets to get the flash about 8-10 inches above the camera lens (along with controlling shadows). It eliminates nearly all risk of it.
2. Turn up the ambient lighting level. Indoors, this means turning on more lights. This will cause the pupils to constrict more and increase the probability of the retinal reflection being blocked by the pupil. It is about the only effective option if you cannot put an external flash on the camera.
3. The "red-eye reduction" feature some cameras have may help a little. My experience is it is marginal. Some subjects find the multiple flashes annoying, and it delays the shutter firing meaning you can miss a shot in a fast moving situation. Using a faster film to reduce the amount of flash won't help. You will still get red-eye if all the other conditions stay the same. It just may not be as bright. Hope this helps you out. -- John
December 14, 2000
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