How can I avoid eye pain after indoor portrait shoots?

Question

I have experienced this now for couple times and need to get something done about it. In parties with friends, I shoot friends and family indoors. Light is sometimes sufficient and sometimes not. I take around 200 shots over 3-4 hours maximum. Next day onwards I start having pain in both eyes and especially more in left eye. I realized that pain starts right in party in left eye and that's because I close left eye and keep right open to look through viewfinder. What could I do to avoid this? I don't want to use liveview for some reason.

And by the way, I hold a Canon T2i with 18-55, 55-250 kit and 85/f1.8 prime lens, if that info is helpful.

Asked by vishal.biyani

Answer

Keep both eyes open.

The strain of squinting or closing an eye over time can be very stressful and headaches are common.

http://www.all-things-photography.com/both-eyes-open.html

How can one learn to shoot with both eyes open, and what are the advantages?

Answered by Dave Nelson

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Is camera flash actually harmful to infants or newborns?

Question

I just got a new off-camera flash, and the instruction manual says:

Never fire the flash unit closer than 1 meter from infants.

This was a little startling to me, since one of the main reasons I bought the flash was to take photos of my newborn son.

On the other hand, knowledgeable sources on the internet seem to say otherwise:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Eye-Care/infant-flash-photo/show/432284

Q: What long/short term risks are there to using camera flash in photographing a 2-month old?

A: None, shoot away. -- John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO

http://carefirst.staywellsolutionsonline.com/Library/AsktheExpert/Children/72,ATD011008

Q: Can a camera flash harm an infant's eyes?

A: No, it cannot. Actually infants have more protection from a flash than adults since they are usually not interested in being photographed and do not look right at the camera. Also, they typically have smaller pupils. This means less light reaches the retinas. -- Don Bienfang, M.D.

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?d=dmtATD&c=367698&p=

Q: Can a camera flash harm an infant's vision?

A: The flash of a camera, even if used to take many, many pictures of your newest family member, should not harm an infant's vision. Although the flash seems very bright, it actually isn't much different from normal daylight. -- Leann M. Lesperance, M.D., Ph.D.

So what's going on here? Are the makers of the flash just avoiding a lawsuit? Is this a myth? Or are the doctors just thinking about little on-camera flashes and neglecting to think about more powerful flashes?

(And if it's NOT a myth, can I assume that bounce flash is acceptable?)

Answer

I think you've answered the question yourself pretty well, with citations and everything. There's little real risk, and the flash manufacturers are erring on the side of caution in order to protect themselves from litigation.

That said, I don't think being flashed right in the eyes with a bright flash is very nice, especially from up close. And I'm not even a baby. Bounce flash is the way to go for this and for a number of other reasons as well.

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