My brother used to call it “The Curse of the Cat Eye.” He was referring to the redness that appears in a photo when the flash bounces off a subject’s retinas. When we were growing up (decades ago) “red eye” was a frequent occurrence in family shots. These days most cameras come equipped with a “red-eye reducer.” However, if your camera does not feature this convenience there are other ways you can reduce “The Curse of the Cat Eye” from ruining your shots.
First, increase the light in the room you are shooting in. For example, open the blinds or turn on additional overhead lights or lamps to fully illuminate the room. Then, have your subjects look away from the camera—just slightly. Another option is to use an external flash.
If you are shooting with a digital camera most photo editing programs include a red-eye removal tool, which allows you to erase the red image on the spot. You simply highlight the area where the redness appears and click to apply the changes.
THE POWER OF ZOOM
I love the zoom feature on my camera. It allows me to get in closer to subjects even when I’m in a situation where I can’t move more than a few inches in any direction. However, there are times when I don’t zoom in enough and try to compensate for it while using an online photo-finishing program. Some times I’m successful, but other times I get an alert that warns me that my image quality is poor and my photo won’t print well. This tends to happen more when I’m trying to zoom in on a picture that was somewhat tight to begin with. When you zoom in on a photo, the number of pixels is reduced and the resolution deteriorates.
If you are someone who prefers to fiddle with your shots using your photo editing software then I would advise you to refrain from using your camera’s built-in digital zoom. I have found it’s better to choose one or the other (either get a close up via the camera’s zoom or the editing software’s zoom) employing both will only lead to a blurry shot.
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