Get the Red Out

My customers frequently need help with red-eye removal. Let's talk about what causes red-eye, how to get rid of it, and most importantly, how to keep it from happening in the first place.

The Cause

Red-eye is caused by the flash going into the eye, reflecting off the back of the eye, and bouncing straight back into the camera. The larger the pupil, the bigger the red-eye.

To Get Rid of It

Once you have it in your picture, there are a couple ways to remove it. If your picture is digital, you can remove it with digital editing software, like Photoshop. If you don't have a computer, you can take your memory card to a camera store and use their lobby machine to remove the red-eye. One draw back to doing this on some Picture Magic lobby machine is that the changes are only stored in the kiosk's temporary storage, not on your media. So each time you want a copy of that picture you would have to make the change again. So if you've got a home computer do it there.

If you have prints but no digital image or editing software, you can use a red-eye pen (available at camera stores), to physically remove the red-eye from each picture. These pens turn the red to black. They won't make a blue eye blue, but then neither do Picture Magic machines. For the most part that is ok because it is primarily the pupil you are changing. Black still looks better than red even if the red was over the iris also. But be very, very careful using these pens. You dab them with tiny bits at a time because if you go out of the eye area you can have a blob that ruins the picture. The other drawback to the pens is that the original negative still has red-eye.

Another way to remove red-eye is to scan the picture or negative into a computer (some camera stores offer this service), create a digital image of the picture, and edit it digitally as we discussed above.

Avoiding Red-eye to begin with

The best way to deal with red-eye is to avoid it when you take the picture to begin with. There are several approaches to this, use them all for the best effect.

First, remember that we said red-eye is caused when the FLASH bounces directly back to the camera. Lots of cameras are capable of compensating for low-light conditions and brightening up the shot without a flash. Especially some good digital cameras. I don't mean real low light conditions, but in regular room light. Try taking the picture without the flash and see how it turns out.

Second, note that I said it is caused when the flash bounces STRAIGHT back to the camera. If you need to use a flash, use it at an angle to avoid the light coming straight back into the camera. If your camera can use an add-on flash rather than the built in flash, the add-on is higher on the camera, or can be put off to the side using a flash chord or bracket, so it is worth the investment. Especially if you take a lot of indoor portraits.

Finally, many cameras have a red-eye reduction mode. This works better on some cameras than others, but is definitely worth using. In most cameras, Red-eye reduction mode is set by tapping on your flash button until you see the eyeball icon. Read your camera's instruction manual if you are having trouble finding how to set it. Tip: If you lost your camera's instruction manual, go to the manufacturers web site. Most of them have manuals on-line that you can print.

Also remember that when you are in red-eye reduction mode on your camera two things happen. One, the camera sends out a pre-flash flash. So be sure to tell your subjects not to close their eyes after the first flash. Second, it slows down your pictures. Cameras (whether they are digital or film) have to wait for the flash to warm up, so now in addition to the warm-up time there is extra time added with the pre-flash. It's still worth doing, just test it so you know what to expect and tell your subjects what to expect so they won't get impatient and get up and leave. Tip: Fresh batteries can speed up the flash warm-up time.

I hope you don't mind that I won't be posting any pics tonight. I don't get red-eye in my pics, and I'm sure you all know what it looks like anyway. Don't feel bad if you get it though, not all cameras are created equal and you do get what you pay for.

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