Red Eye

photoman

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I was wondering if their was anything i could to to reduce the amount of red eye in some pictures that i have taken. I used a bracket mount flash with a diffuser over the flash head and had it more than six inches away (measured from the center of the lens). I was using a zoom lens 28-105mm (does the focal lenght have an effect on the amout of red eye in a picture?).

The pictures that i got back did not have that much red eye as if i were to use an instamatic camer but its that few number of people that still have red eye.

Is this something i have to live with or do i need to us one of my other brackets to move the flash even further away from the lens (i dont like to use it because it is very heavy and cumbersom to use and move around with :? ). I think that one will move the flash head about 16 inches away from the lens.


Is their different positions for the flash (like on the side or top) of the camera that reduce the amount of red eye in a picture.

I'm sorry if this sounds like a dumb question but i need some more input from other people
 
You have the right idea. Moving the flash away from the axis of the lens is the way to reduce red-eye. Using a flash bracket like a Stroboframe will help. If you can get one that mounts the flash above and to the side...it will be better.

I don't think that the focal length of the lens matters but the distance to the subject does matter. The farther away you are...the smaller the reflection angle becomes. If you are 20-30 feet away, essentially the flash and lens are in the same spot. If you are 5-10 feet away, there may be enough of an angle that the light will not directly reflect off of the person's eyes.

Also, if you are in a suitable location, you could use a bounce flash.

Also, you could completely remove the flash from the camera and fire it remotely.
 
Thanks for the information, ill be sure to try some of these ideas.

Another question is, would a diffuser on the flash reduce red eye?
 
A diffuser might help. It reduces the light intensity directly in front of the flash and spreads it out. There would be less light going directly from the flash to the eyes and back to the lens.

I don't think that a diffuser would work as well a moving the flash however.
 
thanks for the info, ill make sure i move closer to the people farther away insead of zooming on them.


thanks for all the information :)
 
While we are on the subject of red eye. is it just me or does it seem the problem is worse when shooting people with blue eyes?
 

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