aka...science room
red eye
Do you look tend to look like a red-eyed monster in photos?
Don’t worry, you’re not a close relative of the devil, your eyes are just responding naturally to the amount of light available – and getting a bit of a shock when a flash goes off!
Pupil control
To control the amount of light that reaches the retina at the back of the eye, your pupils open and close. In low light conditions, the pupils are wide open, or dilated, to allow as much light as possible to hit the retina. In bright light conditions they contract, becoming little more than pinholes, to protect the retina from too much light.
Red-eyed monster
Red eye occurs when a camera flash is used inside or in low light conditions. Since the amount of light available in these situations is low, your pupils tend to be fully dilated.
So when a flash goes off, the retina gets swamped with light. Much of this light gets reflected back out of the eye by the blood vessels in the retina causing the red-eyed monster look on your photos.
Prevention
So what can you do to prevent you and your loved ones looking evil?
Increase the amount of light in the room so that your pupils contract – open the curtains or switch on the light.
Reduce the amount of flash light reaching the retina by standing further away and not using a zoom lens.
Ask people to look away from the camera rather than gazing lovingly into the lens.
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