Any solution for removing white eye (aka glow eye) caused by LED flash? (Not red eye)

[teacher4blind]

Just got my first iPhone (5) a week ago, and am very disappointed that the LED flash caused a glowing white circle over the eyes of the subjects. I've scoured the Web and haven't found a solution. There are plenty of red eye fixes in apps and programs, online and offline. Nothing, though, to fix white eye. I called Apple technical support today and they said there was no real solution, but said to try 1) changing my angle slightly or 2) shading the phone with an open hand over top, similar to when I shade my eyes from the sun. I tried the latter tonight indoors and it made no difference--white spots still in the center of subjects's eyes. I frankly can't believe this phone/camera was released with this problem. I get it that the LED saves energy, but at what cost? Red eye removal is a piece of cake; this is anything but. Unless I've missed something.

Any ideas/suggestions? THANKS.

 

[jon law]

Have you tried the red eye removal method on them? afaik all it does is put black into the eye which as i understand it is what you need to do to your photos, unless i am also missing something? could you put up a pic so we can see what you are talking about?

 

[Skull One]

Just got my first iPhone (5) a week ago, and am very disappointed that the LED flash caused a glowing white circle over the eyes of the subjects. I've scoured the Web and haven't found a solution. There are plenty of red eye fixes in apps and programs, online and offline. Nothing, though, to fix white eye. I called Apple technical support today and they said there was no real solution, but said to try 1) changing my angle slightly or 2) shading the phone with an open hand over top, similar to when I shade my eyes from the sun. I tried the latter tonight indoors and it made no difference--white spots still in the center of subjects's eyes. I frankly can't believe this phone/camera was released with this problem. I get it that the LED saves energy, but at what cost? Red eye removal is a piece of cake; this is anything but. Unless I've missed something.

Any ideas/suggestions? THANKS.

Not to panic you, but from my understanding when a pupil reflects back the camera flash as white instead of red there is an issue with the eye itself. Usually something that needs to be looked at by a doctor as soon as physically possible.

Here is what I read a while back. What causes white eye or pupil?

 

[Skimonkey]

Not to panic you, but from my understanding when a pupil reflects back the camera flash as white instead of red there is an issue with the eye itself. Usually something that needs to be looked at by a doctor as soon as physically possible.

Here is what I read a while back. What causes white eye or pupil?

Very good info, Skullone, thanks for sharing this info.

 

[Skull One]

Very good info, Skullone, thanks for sharing this info.

No problem. I heard of the issue while watching a morning news show which lead me to that discovery.

And I finally found the original story I saw on TV from August of 2008. Woman saves baby

 

[teacher4blind]

Have you tried the red eye removal method on them? afaik all it does is put black into the eye which as i understand it is what you need to do to your photos, unless i am also missing something? could you put up a pic so we can see what you are talking about?

Here's 3 pics with too much white in the center of the eyes. I do understand there will always be a tiny white dot from a flash, even with a professional, but isn't there too much light, too much glow, in these? Am I too much of a perfectionist?

And thanks for the medical tip, Skullone. I teach folks with poor vision so I need to know this kind of stuff. I caution, though, that people shouldn't panic, but rather contact their eye docs if they have any concerns.

 

[jon law]

I think you may be being a bit of a perfectionist the flash (LED) on the phone is just not very controllable like a proper flash used by professionals, I would suggest that these photos are about the best you will get using the onboard phone flash, you could always try to diffuse or deflect the flash somehow?
If you want to get rid of these white bits then maybe you could use some editing software like photoforge2 or the like but remember if you get rid of them completely it makes the eyes look flat and dead

Obviously this my own opinion and others may have better answers

 

[stevnim]

To be overly complicated, professional photographers will put a polarizer on their flash to illuminate the scene and a second polarizer on the camera lens to eliminate the surface reflection of eyes but keep the illumination. Or they will use a bounce flash off the ceiling for more natural lighting. With iPhones and other similar on-axis flash/lens cameras, eye surface reflections are magnified, unfortunately. When composing shots, think about lighting situations as if you had a flashlight in your hands instead of a camera. You may find that your exposures turn out better if you turn off the iPhone flash and instead turn on additional room lights. Experiment away! You'll find that your shots are much better after taking 10,000 or so shots from experience.