Cause of Red Eye

Shawn,

I finished listening to YML in the car on the way home tonight and feel it is my duty as the YML optometrist to make a slight correction to your interpretation of the cause of red-eye when a flash picture is taken.

Technically, the red is a reflection off of the retina itself which in a healthy person is very reflective. The red color comes from the orange-brown pigment layer that lies beneath the retina and in front of a dense layer of blood vessels. Blood in the retina would actually create a shadow instead of a reflection.

I have never understood the flashing effect that red-eye reduction modes produce. A more effective reducer would be a constant light that would switch to a flash when the shutter is tripped. That would cause the pupil to constrict fully. I agree with you when you said to turn it off and use software to get rid of the red-eye.

I like your segments on beginning photography. I'll get a digital SLR someday, but I am using your tips with my point and shoot. I even turned on the grid view in the viewfinder to use the rule of thirds more effectively.

Michael

(Shawn's Comment: Michael is YML's official "Doctor of Optometry" :) )