How do you eliminate red eye while using a ring flash?

Do they cause red-eye?

Been there, here's my version of the same question and the replies I got.

https://www.modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=37440

To avoid red eye the flash should be at least 9" from the lens of your camera.
Ring flash is the worst thing that ever happened to photography! That is for portraits, fashion, glamour etc....

Photoshop...

Powerful modeling lamps.

Red Eye with the Ring Flash? The few times I fire mine up so far with a model that has not happened (I have what AB calls a Moon Unit on mine)

I've used the Profoto ring and the Alien Bee ring. Never ever had any kind of red eye or anything close to it.

Are you talking about one of those macro ring flash things, or a true ring light thats actually designed to shoot people?

I use profoto and yes, on certian people it does red eye... just like on camera flash causes red eye on some people.  either photoshop it out, or use modeling lamps/hot lights to shrink the pupil  while shooting.

If you are shooting through the flash, position another head off to the side and shine the modeling lamp towards the models face.

If you shoot off to the side of the flash ring, you probably won't get the red eye effect, but the shadow will be different fron shooting through the ring.

Red eye is the result of photographing the blood in the back of the eye ( pretty Gross) when you  get it means that the incident reflection is the same angle but opposite that shoots back at the lens . if you make the light reflect off the axis of the lens you do not have red eye. Unfortunately it is kind of a hit and miss thing

Two ways of reducing/eliminating red eye:

- Move the flash further away from the lens

- reduce the pupil diameter of the eye (stop down the model's eye)

With ring flash, it's difficult, but not impossible to move the flash away from the lens.  Alien Bees makes a ring flash softbox (they call it a moon unit) that expands the diameter of the ring of light.  This moves most of the light source away from the lens (while keeping it around the lens).  Moving the light away from the lens reduces red-eye.  Moving the light away from the lens also changes the nature of the shadows, which may or may not be an issue for you.

The easy solution is to turn up the modeling light.  This increases the ambient light shining into the model's eye, and her pupils will contract.  Smaller pupil openings means less red-eye.

You can combine the two methods for extreme red-eye elimination.