[thechat] Photography: Red Eyes

[Martin Burns]

On Sunday, February 16, 2003, at 06:50  pm, Syed Zeeshan Haider wrote:

> What is this "red eyes" problem technically?
> Why does it occur?

It's a reflection of the flash from the back of the retina - red because
of all the blood vessels back there.

You get it when the camera lens and flash are close together - as on
many point and shoot cameras.

> Any remedy?

In decreasing order of effectiveness:

1) Invest in off-camera flash
2) Get your subjects to look a bit away from the lens (the other side of
the flash is good).
3) Have a camera which does a pre-flash, or a pre-photo bright light,
which constricts the iris - less light gets through in each direction so
less red-eye
4) Remove in Photoshop

Cheers
Martin
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