red eye

[Rizzella Bella]

A question........
How do I keep my blue eyed Siamese from having red eye?
He is not cooperative most of the time but when I can get him to sit for a picture I get red eye.
I have tried taking pictures in various types of lights and at various angles with no luck.
Suggestions please!
Thanks!

[lscottpht]

Don't shoot with a flash that is on the camera. Hold one off to the side or use a diffused flash, or, don't use flash at all. Use nice window light or bounce window light off of a white poster board. If that's not enough light, bounce your flash off of a white card or the wall or ceiling.

[lscottpht]

Oh, as far as my last comment, keep in mind that I am someone who very rarely uses flash unless it is absolutely necessary (which to me is hardly ever).

[Hogleg 44]

Hi Shelley,

I see from your website that you are using an 828...I have one too...

As lscottpht said, it is the flash being on nearly the same plane as the lens that causes Red eye or green eye in some pets. It can help to eliminate it using the built in flash if you can keep your subject from looking directly at the camera, and using the Red Eye Reduction feature of the flash will help.
Best though is not to use the built in flash. Get as much light as you can in the room. On the 828 you can set the ISO up as high as 800 and that will help greatly. The downside of that is that on the 828, ISO's above 100 will be noisy. If you are only going to use the picture on the computer at 640X480 or even 600x800, the noise might not be that noticeable. If you intend to print it at larger sizes you would probably need a program like Neat Image to smooth the noise.
Probably your best bet though would be to go ahead and take the picture normally and remove the red eye in an image processing program like Photoshop Elements, or whatever you have. Most of those image programs have a simple means of removing the red eye. Just do it and redo it until you get it right. Once you learn how it will be easy.
Hope this helps.

[Steelsun]

Another option is to put a diffuser in front of the flash to cut down on direct glare: A pringles lid or coffee filter works good.