As I discussed before, the easiest way to try and avoid or eliminate the red eye effect in your photos is to use the red eye reduction flash mode that most newer cameras will have. However, there are other ways to avoid getting that annoying red eye effect in your photos.
With a point and shoot camera, your options are somewhat limited. The reason for this is because the flash is very close to the lens, and the light comes right back to the lens and shows up on the final picture. First of all, obviously, if you do not NEED the flash, do not use it! Ok, aside from that tip, let’s explore a couple of others. If you are taking pictures indoors, turn on all the available lights in the room. This means more light in the room, and when our eyes sense more light, our pupils will contract. This will lessen the chance that the flash will reflect off of your subject’s retinas.
You can also place a small piece of a sheer paper, like vellum, over the flash itself. This will make the effect of the flash less harsh. If you’re feeling creative, you can use a piece of bright white cardstock, and “bounce” the flash from another direction, instead of straight at your subject. Do you remember the last time you went to a portrait studio, and rather than being pointed straight AT the subject, the flashes were pointed into what looked like umbrellas? It is the same concept.
Basically, if you can avoid it, you don’t want the flash from your camera pointed straight at the subject. You can also try moving yourself, or your subject. Try not to “square off” with them, so that your camera’s flash is not pointed right at them. If you can take the picture from a different angle, even a slightly higher angle, you have less of a chance of getting red eye in your photos, and as an added bonus, these are usually more visually pleasing effects than a photo where the photographer is squared off with the subject.