Need help taking pictures of pets

[shmoopie4]

Good evening all!

I just got the SD300 and it is a great camera. The only problem I've had so far is taking pictures of my cats. Every time I use the flash, even with the red eye reduction on, the cats eyes are glowing in every shot. Just as a test, I took a picture of myself close up with the camera at arms length. With the red eye reduction flash mode on, I had absolutely no red eye even at such a short distance. It's only with the cats that I get the glowing eyes. I tried turning the flash off but then I get blurry pictures because I can't hold the camera still enough.

Have any of you out there had this problem and if so, how did you fix it? I would rather fix it by changing the camera settings than having to go back and fix the pictures with the software.

Thanks in advance.

[EAP]

You're getting this because of your cats' reflective retinas, which is what allows them to "see in the dark" (actually very low light). You'll get it with many animals. I'd suggest you use settings that don't necessitate use of the flash. Or, you could try shooting from an angle to the cats' eyes instead of dead-on in front of them. This may allow the light not to be reflected back from the retinas. Also, light the room as brightly as possible, so the cats' pupils aren't letting in all that light to reflect back off their retinas.

[KJB]

Paint Shop Pro software has a unique feature for fixing pet's eyes in photos. It is specific just for animal eyes. I often have this problem with my dogs, whose eyes turn out yellow, and my cat, whose eyes show up glowing.