It has happened to us all before… You’re trying to snap a frame-worthy picture using your less than professional camera and someone always seems to have red eyes. The red-eye effect ruins perfect photos and, let’s be honest, looks a little creepy. Red eye in photos occurs when a camera flash reflects off the retina, which is rich in blood vessels. It typically happens in low light conditions when the pupils are dilated, allowing more light to enter the eye. The phenomenon is common in flash photography and can be minimized by using red-eye reduction features on cameras or by adjusting the lighting. Luckily there are ways to prevent the red-eye effect. We’ll discuss five of them.
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- Turn off the flash and use natural light. The quickness of a camera flash does not give your pupil enough time to narrow in order to reduce the amount of light entering your eyes. When a sudden burst of light reaches your retina and reflects back, eyes look red in photos due to the reflection of the rich blood supply of the choroid.
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- Brighten up the room. If natural light is not an option, turn on a few lights or lamps. Pupils dilate (or become bigger) in darkness. If you throw a quick flash into the mix, your already large pupils won’t have time to narrow to deflect the light from the flash.
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- Don’t look directly at the camera. Looking [slightly] away from the camera’s flash allows the flash to hit your eyes at a not-so-direct angle.
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- Take your photos prior to consuming alcohol. Alcohol reduces response times and it affects your eyes in the same way. The red-eye effect is most common in those who have been consuming alcohol.
- Use a photo editing app. Another way to get rid of red eye in pictures, is to use photo editing software or apps with a red-eye correction tool, such as Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, or free apps like Pixlr and GIMP. Most smartphones also have built-in red-eye removal features in their photo editing tools. Select the red-eye tool, click on the affected eyes, and the software will correct the red-eye effect. Additionally, you can prevent red-eye by using the red-eye reduction feature on your camera, increasing ambient lighting, or having subjects avoid looking directly at the camera flash.
If you have questions or concerns about your eye or vision health, please contact us to speak with one of our friendly, experienced optometrists. Click here to view our locations.
