Why do people have red eyes in my pictures?
March 29th, 2012 | Posted by in All posts | Photography tipsDo you ever wonder why people in your pictures have red eyes when you use a flash?
Well, it is the flash reflecting your blood vessels in your eyes.
So what can you do to avoid it?
It’s easier if you have DSLR with an external flash, but You have a compact camera with built-in flash. Don’t worry!
1. Most compact cameras nowadays have a feature called red eye reduction. What it does is to flash twice. First just before you take a picture, then when you take a picture. First flash causes people’s pupils to contract, reducing red eye dramatically.
2. Ask people to look away slightly. You can ask people to look at each other, so it does’t look awkward that everybody is looking toward the same direction. You can be creative with poses!
3. Use a flash diffuser, which looks something like this.
Is there something you always wonder about when you take pictures?
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Great tip on how to reduce “red eye” in your pics. Thank you! I didn’t realize that it is caused by the blood vessels in your eye. Fascinating! I love taking photos and I hope to learn more from your blog postss and tips!
Thank you, Phyllis!
I will try to include photography tips in my blog more often.
This is a very useful explanation of how to avoid red eye when using a digital camera.I knew about the blood vessels, but did not know about how to position the subject. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Taru, I am glad you found it useful. I found a fun fact about flash and dog’s eyes, so I will post that, too.
This is a great tip. I hate red eye, so good to know ways to fix or reduce it from happening.
Candace, thanks! If anybody has a full-version of photoshop, you can fix it easily, too… But if you can prevent it, that would be better.
I like your second tip, about not always looking directly at the camera. I think that creates more visual interest and more candid shots with the added benefit of preventing those possessed looking red eyes.
I look forward to learning more information from you and will also share your site with my husband.
Hello, Gloria.
Yes, I like the idea, too. I also like how you call those red eyes “possessed”! They sure look like that sometimes.