Red eye has long been the bane of photographers. How many times have we photographed our friends and family in a variety of social scenarios, and the flash photography leaves our pictures of people looking like demons!

Red-eye occurs when your camera uses a burst of flash to capture a decent exposure. In low-light conditions our pupils open wide so that we can see more clearly. This means that a sudden influx of light from the camera will illuminate the eyes’ interior, bouncing off the blood vessels on our retinas – and adding a sinister red glow to our subject’s eyes.

In the days before digital cameras, red-eye related prints that were sent back from the printers were often covered in Quality Control stickers, absolving the film processors of any responsibility for our flash-induced failings. In these digital days, however, red eye doesn’t have to mean wasted pictures. Red eye removal techniques abound.

Of course, for those of you wondering how to remove red eye from pictures, the best way is to use your camera’s Red-eye On/Off command. This reduces the occurrence of red eye by zapping the subject with a pre-flash before the main flash fires to capture the shot. This pre-flash cause the subject’s pupils to shrink, minimising the amount of light that enters the eye when the main flash fires.

Be aware though that the subject may think that the first flash means your photo was taken, causing them to stop posing before being caught by the main burst of flash.

But being realistic, we don’t always remember to use our Red-eye command. In which case it’s best to turn to your computer and remove red eye in Photoshop. Below we’ve shown you how to remove red eye in Photoshop Elements in 4 easy steps.

Red eye removal in Photoshop Elements

Step 1: Auto red eye removal
In theory, the quickest way to remove red-eye is to let Elements do it for you automatically. Go to the Organizer. Choose File>GetPhotosAndVideos and pick From Files and Folders. Browse to redeye_start.jpg. Tick the Automatically Fix Red Eyes box and click Get Media. In theory, Elements should be able to analyse the shot and remove any red-eye while importing it.

Step 2: Try again!
In the case of our image, our subject’s pupils are too small for Elements to identify, so despite trying it fails to remove the red-eye while importing the shot. You can try to automatically fix red-eye from within the Organizer by choosing Edit>AutoRedEyeFix – but here you’ll get a message saying ‘No red eyes were found in the selected photo’. We’ll need to give Elements a hand!

Step 3: Quick fix
Click on the little fly out icon to the right of the Organizer’s Fix tab and choose Quick Photo Edit to go to the Quick Editor suite of common photo fixing tools, including a Red Eye Removal tool. Select this from the mini Tools palette on the left. As our subject’s pupils are small, head to the Options bar and set Pupil Size to 30%. Pop Darken Amount to 60% for solid black pupils.

Step 4: In a click
Move the cursor so the Red Eye Removal tool’s crosshair floats over the first red pupil. Click to sample the red colour and the tool will alter it to black. Do the same thing to the second pupil and you’ll have manually banished the red-eye (and succeeded where Elements’ Auto features have failed!). You’ll also find the Red Eye Removal tool in the full Photoshop Elements editor.

For many people, flash is that horrid burst of light that ruins indoor photographs, stripping scenes of all atmosphere whenever it goes off. However, when it’s used correctly, flash can be the saviour of many an image, and shouldn’t be confined to being used in darkness. For example, a subtle burst of flash can be used to fill in shadows when shooting portraits of people with their backs to the sun. This means no more squinting, or dark shadows where the eyes should be. Instead, the flash turns what might otherwise be a silhouette into an evenly lit image. Here’s a quick guide to what you need to know…

Flash sync

Traditionally, the flash operates at 1/60 sec. This means that when you’re using flash, the shutter speed is set to 1/60 sec and the flash is synchronised to fire while the shutter is open. However, modern cameras take advantage of the fact that the flash duration is extremely short, and offer higher ‘sync’ speeds of around 1/200 sec or 1/250 sec.

Naturally, there’s nothing to stop you using slower shutter speeds, and this can be particularly useful for balancing the illumination of the flash with ambient lighting for a more natural look. This is often referred to as ‘slow-sync’ flash.

Rear curtain sync

Most flashes work in what’s known as ‘front curtain’ mode. The term itself is a hangover from film days, but it basically means that the flash fires just after the shutter opens. Rear curtain sync is a flash menu option that will fire the flash at the end of the exposure, just before the shutter closes. To understand what this means in practical terms, imagine shooting a car coming towards you at night using a long shutter speed of, say, three seconds. Front curtain flash would illuminate the car for an instant at the beginning of the exposure, after which only the light trails would register as the car moved across the frame; the result would be an image with a stream of lights stretching out in front of the car. Rear curtain flash, on the other hand, would illuminate the car for an instant at the very end of the exposure, after the car and its lights had moved across the frame. The result would be a much more natural-looking image, with the light trails stretching out behind the car.

Red-eye reduction

Red-eye is caused by light from the flash reflecting off the red blood vessels at the back of a person’s eyes and into the lens. Red-Eye flash mode reduces the problem by firing pulses of light just before the main flash, to narrow the pupils of the subject’s eyes and reduce the amount of light reflected back. In practice, however, it works poorly, if at all, and the pre-flash pulses usually make for unnatural expressions in your subjects. It’s easier to get rid of red-eye in Photoshop Elements or CS.

Flash metering

Through the Lens (TTL) flash metering takes much of the complexity out of calculating flash exposures. In this mode, the camera registers the amount of light falling onto the sensor during the exposure and adjusts the power of the flash accordingly. Some cameras have a flash value (FV) or flash exposure lock (FEL) button. This is useful for getting a good overall exposure in a complex scene, as you can zoom in on the object you want to expose correctly, fire off a test flash, and the camera will remember the correct flash level.

Built-in flash

In fully-automatic mode, the pop-up flash fitted to most SLRs activates when light levels are low. However, in the more creative modes you can pop the flash up manually whenever you like, and use it for adding a little extra illumination. Bear in mind that you’ll be limited to shutter speeds that are the same as or lower than the flash’s maximum flash sync speed – usually 1/200 sec or 1/250 sec. Other limitations of built-in flash units include the risk of red-eye and the fact that the flash won’t fire in certain scene modes. Also, you might have to remove the hood from your lens to prevent it from casting a shadow across the image.

Off-camera flash

Having a flash fixed just above your camera is limiting, not least because it tends to create harsh shadows. Taking a hotshoe flashgun off-camera means it can be directed with more control, and if required can produce more even and flattering light. Some cameras feature wireless flash connectivity, enabling you to trigger multiple flashes wirelessly, but all SLR cameras can be fitted with an off-camera cord. These enable you to connect the flashgun to the hotshoe and fire it remotely.

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