White eye and red eye

JSPhotographyJSPhotography Registered Users Posts: 552 Major grins
edited February 22, 2011 in Finishing School
I'm using Elements 7, how do I fix this shot? The steer wrestlers eyes are red and a bunch of others are white. The red eye tool says there is no problem. I hate it when I am forced to use flash becouse this is one adjustment that I really struggle with. I have a handfull of images to put up in sports that all have this problem.

1193135833_A5jXg-L.jpg

Comments

  • JSPhotographyJSPhotography Registered Users Posts: 552 Major grins
    edited February 21, 2011
    OK, so no help here so far. I fixed up the handfull of shots I wanted to post the best I could. I think I got better as I did them. Each of the shots I posted in Sports was this bad or worse. Let me know how I should have done them differently.
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,127 moderator
    edited February 21, 2011
    The best way is to avoid the problem in the first case. Try to get the flash farther away from the lens. A couple of "off-camera" cords should do the job. Considering that many of your subjects (the human subjects anyway) will be wearing hats, you might consider using a flash from under the camera.

    Take a look at this post:

    http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=1464963&postcount=2
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • JSPhotographyJSPhotography Registered Users Posts: 552 Major grins
    edited February 21, 2011
    ziggy53 wrote: »
    The best way is to avoid the problem in the first case. Try to get the flash farther away from the lens. A couple of "off-camera" cords should do the job. Considering that many of your subjects (the human subjects anyway) will be wearing hats, you might consider using a flash from under the camera.

    Take a look at this post:

    http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=1464963&postcount=2


    Thanks Ziggy, yes I have seen this setup before, probably works great when your feet are on the ground(sidelines for football). I was in the first row along the ring.

    I saw a set up that I had not seen before that I did not understand. The rodeo pro had a 4" sq mirror mounted on a 45 angle about 4"-6" above is flash. The flash was pointed straight up at it. What would that do for him?
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited February 21, 2011
    Like Ziggy said, there is no real easy way to fix this so it looks ideal. The pupils are widely dilated, and you can select the areas of the pupil with the Quick Select tool and then paint them black, but they will still not look real. And you will be missing a light reflex from the corneal surface that should be visualized as well.

    s this was indoors, could you have bounced a couple of flashes off the ceiling, perhaps?
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • JSPhotographyJSPhotography Registered Users Posts: 552 Major grins
    edited February 22, 2011
    pathfinder wrote: »
    Like Ziggy said, there is no real easy way to fix this so it looks ideal. The pupils are widely dilated, and you can select the areas of the pupil with the Quick Select tool and then paint them black, but they will still not look real. And you will be missing a light reflex from the corneal surface that should be visualized as well.

    s this was indoors, could you have bounced a couple of flashes off the ceiling, perhaps?

    I didn't have enough power. I only have a 430EX and the ceiling was very high, painted flat black, with a lot of round ductwork. Of the 4 photogs I saw nobody was bouncing off the ceiling.
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,127 moderator
    edited February 22, 2011
    JSPhotography wrote: »
    Thanks Ziggy, yes I have seen this setup before, probably works great when your feet are on the ground(sidelines for football). I was in the first row along the ring.

    I saw a set up that I had not seen before that I did not understand. The rodeo pro had a 4" sq mirror mounted on a 45 angle about 4"-6" above is flash. The flash was pointed straight up at it. What would that do for him?

    4" - 6" above the flash is probably not enough to do much at all if the camera is at much distance from the subject. The pro is just trying to get the light from the flash away from the lens. If the pro is shooting from a closer distance it might help.

    You might try an inexpensive "auto" flash and a radio slave to fire it, and have a helper hold the flash for you to the side. Anything to gain a couple of "feet" from the camera lens. This would not be optimal but probably an improvement.

    Alternately, you could try shooting in continuous mode and that should force the flash to take the first exposure and then, if the subjects haven't moved too much, the second exposure would be without flash and you might be able to copy the eyes from the second exposure onto the first in post-processing. I suspect that the action is too fast for this to work with most cameras however.
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • JSPhotographyJSPhotography Registered Users Posts: 552 Major grins
    edited February 22, 2011
    ziggy53 wrote: »
    4" - 6" above the flash is probably not enough to do much at all if the camera is at much distance from the subject. The pro is just trying to get the light from the flash away from the lens. If the pro is shooting from a closer distance it might help.

    Thanks Ziggy, I'll check some shots and see if I can combine.

    In hindsight I should have talked to him or taken a picture for referance of his set-up. I tried searching the net last night for his set up but to no avail. He was actually further away than I. I'm wondering if the mirror was convex and it's purpose was to reach out further? Seen anything like that?
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