Photo help. What is it with me and red eye?

[Marty]

It's getting way to embarrassing to keep asking for everyone to come to my rescue and help me fix my pictures.

My two biggest problems are that

1. I just can't get the hang of removing background to transparent so I can change backgrounds. I've been trying to learn that one since summer. (sigh)

2. Getting red eye or white eye

I have a red eye fixer in two of my programs and they do not work well. The white eye turns pink and the red eye, well, it just doesn't seem to work.

Common sense is telling me it's the flash on my Kodak easyshare but it's automatic and can't be turned off so I keep getting these problems.

Any ideas or advice or help would be so much appreciated. I am trying desperately to do my Christmas cards and just banging my head up against the wall. It's not fun like it's supposed to be!

 

[Farmhand]

http://search.microsoft.com/search/results...taking+pictures

You can also get Picasa, free from Google, it has a "red eye feature"

 

[nootka]

The camera does not have a red eye reduction feature?

Anyway, it helps if you can take photos in a well lit environment. It will reduce the amt. of red eye.

Wish I could help with the photo touch ups, I use a different program and it wouldn't help you for me to tell you how I do it.

Liz M.

 

[JO~*]

Sometimes I just get the eye dropper tool and pick a color that matches the eye color I want then I use the air brush tool set real small and do it that way.

I have only done that when the picture is small don't know how it would look if you had a big area to do.

I'm not real good with the background thing but can you use a selection tool and cut it out then paste/copy it to the clip board then do what you want with the background and then paste the picture back on? I find that if I make the picture real big I can cut it out nicer. I'm sure there are many better ways to do it but whenever I do one the right way I forget how I did it

Are you sure your camera has no red eye setting??

 

[Marty]

Well.....here's what I found out so far. Ateast now I know I'm not the only one in the world that has these problems.

Question:

What causes red eye, and how can it be reduced?

<<Prev Next>>

Answer: Answer last updated:05-16-05

The "red eye" phenomenon is caused by the reflection of light off the blood vessels of the retina of the subject’s eyes. Red eye occurs most often when the flash is located close to the picture-taking lens of the camera. It tends to be more evident when the subject is young and has blue or gray eyes, which reflect more light than darker eyes. Children have larger pupils and less pigmentation than adults, and their eyes transmit more light back to the camera lens.

Red eye was not as common with older, bulkier cameras having separate flash units. These units were attached to a handle or flash bracket several inches away from the lens, or the flash could be detached and held away from the camera. With today’s smaller cameras with built-in flash, the flash is closer to the lens.

Techniques to Help Reduce Red Eye

If the camera has the red-eye feature, set the flash mode to Red Eye.

Increase the level of light in the room by turning on all the room lights. The added light will cause the subject’s pupils to contract, reducing the reflective surface that causes red reflections.

Have the subject look at a bright light (for example, a room lamp or a ceiling light) just before you take the flash picture. The bright light will reduce the size of the subject’s pupils.

Red eye is more extreme when the subject’s eyes are off-center in the picture. If possible, center your subject and have the subject look directly at the camera.

If your camera has detachable flash capabilities, move the flash away from the camera lens. If the camera has these capabilities, you can also attach the flash to the camera with a flash cord, and handhold it or clamp it to a nearby object.