Reducing Red Eye © Wendy Folse Apr 29, 2001
Understanding redeye "Red‐eye" is caused by bright light from the flash being reflected off the retina of the eye. This happens when the flash is too close to the camera lens. The light travels in a straight line through the subject's pupil and bounces back to the camera lens. The blood vessels are illuminated causing the bright red eye you see in the photo. The darker the environment, the greater the chance of red‐eye occurring. This is because the pupil is dilated and lets in more light from the flash. One solution is to add more light to the scene by other means in addition to the flash. Turn on room lights for example. If possible, move the subject to a well‐lit area of the room.
How to avoid them Get the flash off the camera as much as possible. The higher the flash sits up above the lens the better. Many professionals use a handle mount type of flash that connects to one side of the camera instead of on the hot‐shoe. Many of the newer cameras have a red‐eye reduction feature on the flash, which works by emitting a small burst of light called a preflash before the actual flash goes off. The preflash causes the subject's pupils to contract, reducing the chance of red eye. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If you have a point and shoot type camera with a small pop‐up flash then repositioning the subject is the best way to reduce the chance of red‐eye. Turn the subject at a 45degree angle to the camera; have them turn their head slightly away from camera but their eyes looking at you. This avoids the direct line of the flash from entering the eyes and bouncing straight back which is what causes red‐eye in the first place. Turning the direction of the camera also works well. Instead of pointing the camera directly at the subject, stand off to one side at an angle to the subject.
How to fix them Red eye removal pens are great to use on photos to remove the unsightly red blobs. A black permanent marker works just as well. The problem with using these pens is that it just replaces a red blob with a black blob and much of the eye detail is lost. Without the white reflections on the eye, called specular highlights, the subject looks deceased. One trick is to let the black area dry, then use a white‐colored gel pen to add in small white highlights to the eyes. This method is far from perfect but it works. If you have photos ruined by red‐eye, scan them into the computer and use an image‐editing program such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Photo Paint, and Paint Shop Pro, etc. Various web sites go into great length about how to fix red‐eye with an image‐editing program. The methods depend on which type and version of program you are using. The copyright of the article Reducing Red Eye in Photography is owned by Wendy Folse. Permission to republish Reducing Red Eye in print or online must be granted by the author in writing. Page 1