Red eyes

If you have ever wondered why your snapshots have red eyes, I'll try to explain it. The red spots are caused when the flash is too close to the lens on your camera. The light from the flash goes straight from the flash to the eyes and straight back. When your subject is looking off camera there is normally no red eye problem. Some cameras have red eye reduction which helps with the problem. If you can turn on more lights in the room this will help by make the pupils get smaller. It may sound harsh, but shining a strong flashlight toward the eyes right before taking your picture will help. (Use common sense and don't hit anyone with one of the powerful spot lights, often call deer lights.) The best way to avoid red eyes is to have a camera that has a hotshoe on top. Slide your flash into the hotshoe and you will be in good shape. If you have a camera that you can plug your flash into, buy a flash bracket and put the flash on the bracket and then just plug the flash in to the camera. Most flashes that fit in a hotshoe have flash heads that can be aimed at the ceiling or a wall. While this won't provide perfect lighting, I think you will see a big improvement over the flash aimed straight at the person. The quality of the light is much better and your subjects don't pay as much attention to the camera. To bounce light off the ceiling will require a stronger flash. Also bouncing the light off the ceiling may add some light behind your subject so that they aren't the only part of you picture that has light on it.

So remember that you are shooting digital so don't be afraid to experiment. You may have to read the manual that came with your camera to get things sorted out if you have problems. These are just some tips for your everyday taking pictures. I hope that this helps!