How to Light Eyes in Photography

Getting the right light on your photo subjects can be a daunting task. The retinas in the eyes pick up light sources that you aren’t even aware of, and too much light can give the eyes a harsh glowing red eye look that is very unappealing. There are several tricks of the trade that will help you avoid this situation, leaving your subject’s eyes bright and natural.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Large umbrella
• A room with lots of windows
• Bounce flash (optional)

1. Make sure there is plenty of natural light in the room for the eyes to pick up. You can do this by opening curtains and shades. Also have the lights in the room on, but make sure none of them shine directly into your subject's eyes.

2. Purchase a flash attachment for your camera that has a tilt base. You can adjust the direction of the flash and point it above eye level, below eye level, or bounce the flash off of an adjacent wall

3. Set up a large umbrella and point its underneath side at a 45-degree angle to the subject. Shine a light directly into the umbrella; the light will deflect back to your subject and highlight the eyes naturally.

4. Ask the person you are photographing to look slightly off to the side of the camera if you are using an on-camera flash. This will avoid the flash going off directly into their eyes and will avoid the red eye look.

5. Positioning your subject close to a window will highlight the eyes and will give quite an appealing natural look to your photographs. Just make sure the sun is not shining in so bright that it makes your subject squint.

Tips & Warnings

• If all else fails, a good photo program on your computer will remove red eye problems.