Red Eye
Every day in the Photo Lab we see photos with Red Eye in them, most often in photos taken at parties and other night time shots. Thankfully the kiosks which customers use to submit their orders do have an editing feature where the customer is offered the opportunity to remove any Red Eyes in an image.
Unfortunately however this feature is not particularly good and can lead to leaving black marks over people's faces. Unfortunately this is because most filters work the same way, by detecting areas of bright red associated with Red Eyes, and trying to correct this by darkening the area. This can lead to someone with rosy cheeks (a common thing at a party) can fool the filter into thinking that these areas are in fact Red Eyes and leaving them with black marks over their faces.
Red Eye is caused by the light of the flash being too fast for the pupil to react to, so the pupil stays wide open when the flash is fired. The light from the flash enters the eye and reflects off the back of the eyeball before it travels back through the pupil before exiting the eye. The red colour that the camera detects is from the large quantity of blood in the eye behind the retina.
The best cure for red eye is to ensure that it does not occur in the first place, either by increasing the lighting in the room so that the pupils constrict and allow less light to enter the eye, or by using the red eye reduction feature built into most modern compact cameras. These red eye reduction features work by firing the flash three or four times before the photo is taken, this also causes the pupils to constrict and vastly reduces the red eye effect.
If you have a bounce flash for an SLR, aim it at a nearby pale surface so that the light bounces off this surface and illuminates the subject, or if you simply place the flash away from the camera so to the subject it is at a different angle from the camera. Both of these methods will cause the light from the flash to enter the eye at a different angle from the camera lens and thus be reflected out of the eye away from the camera lens, getting past the red eye problem.
Of course there is a much simpler solution available, have the subject look away from the camera.
The Red Eye effect can however be a good thing in certain circumstances. Leukocoria is an abnormal white reflection from the retina, instead of the usual Red Eye. This is can indicate cataracts and a whole host of other problems including Retinoblastoma in young children. Retinoblastoma is a cancer of the growing cells in the retina and affects mostly children under the age of five. In photos of young children spotting a white reflection in the eye early enough can mean the difference between effective treatment being administered and surgical removal of the eye. For more information on Retinoblastoma please take a look at The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust Website.
Volkswagen Golf GTI is Virtually Here
Every young boy in the country knows the joy of owning their own Scalextric set, inviting your friends over to race your best cars against your friends best offers, with all the add-ons and different layouts that you could muster and inevitably someone's car would come flying off the track and smash into something expensive. Unfortunately for most of us those halcyon days are over, however Volkswagen is here to help!
Ahead of the UK launch of the new Golf GTI on May 22, Volkswagen has constructed a Scalextric track on an epic scale inside a hangar to lend armchair (or office chair) enthusiasts the chance to race the new hot hatch online and against the clock.
The track is the work of a team of 60 modellers and features over 200 scale buildings in a space occupying 25ft by 30ft. It forms the basis for the ‘GTI Project’, a new online game through which you can control the 1:43 scale Golf GTI as it negotiates the hairpins, straights and narrow bridges that make up the track. Along the way you can learn more about the new Golf GTI, from its new 2.0-litre TSI engine to the advanced six-speed DSG gearbox, colours, trims and performance information. In addition you can order a brochure or even book a test drive.
For those who are particularly competitive if you set a particularly fast time you can be entered into a prize draw to stand the chance to win a drive in a Golf GTI for 3 months.
A1GP Season Finale at Brands Hatch
For the second year in a row Brands Hatch has hosted the season finale of the A1GP series, this year it was unfortunately only after the Mexico City round was cancelled due to the Swine Flu problems Mexico is currently suffering.
As usual the Kent circuit put on a great day for all the visitors for the day, including a parachute drop, entertainment on the grid and a great batch of support races including The Lotus Elise Trophy, Formula Palmer Audi and The Heritage Grand Touring Car Challenge among others.
Down in the Pits....
Just like the previous years at Brands Hatch there was an opportunity for the general public to enjoy a pit walk along the pit lane in the morning before any track activity took place. It was a great chance to meet the drivers and grab some autographs and watch the teams prepare for the race, including a few of the teams practising their pit stops.
Out on the Track
The traditional drivers parade lap took place with an open top bus, with only a small complication when the bus came across the bridge over Hailwood Hill, where everyone on top had to duck before the tops of their heads came into contact with the bridge!
Aaron Lim flies the Malaysian Flag on the Driver's Parade Lap
The Sprint Race was dominated by Ireland who managed to get a good start off the line, a fantastic quick pit stop which helped them regain the lead before crossing the line a comfortable 7.230 seconds ahead of India and with Mexico picking up third place.
Only a few cars did not make the end of the Sprint Race, on Lap 15 Daniel Morad of Lebanon lost the back end of the car in Paddock Hill Bend with Earl Bamber of New Zealand having to go into the gravel to avoid hitting the Lebanese car.
The Swiss Team chase down the Dutch Team up Hailwood Hill.
The Feature Race featured a false start after South Africa stalled on the grid, but when the race got started Ireland had another good start, however the Chinese, U.S.A. and Indian Teams all got caught up in the first corner which left China and India in the gravel which brought out the Safety Car whilst the cars were recovered.
After the restart Ireland's Adam Carroll crossed the line more than half a second ahead of the rest of the pack, which helped him build up a good lead in time for the first round of pit stops. Ireland came in first for their pit stop, which once again was a quick turn around allowing Adam Carroll to get out in the lead.
Team New Zealand did not have a good weekend ending up spinning out of both the Sprint and Feature Races.
Meanwhile Team Great Britain was flying around the circuit, and keeping up a good pace on home soil. In the second round of pit stops Ireland came in first again and returning to the front of the pack again, allowing Adam Carroll to build up a comfortable lead in the front, whilst The Australian Team were putting on the pressure on Team Great Britain by setting the fastest lap of the race with a 1:12.698.
In the last lap Adam Carroll was comfortably leading the race with The Netherlands behind him and Switzerland just holding off Monaco and Portugal who were battling for third place. At the end of the lap Ireland came across the line over 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field to claim their second victory of the weekend and their maiden A1GP Title, beating the reigning champions Switzerland 112 points to 95 in the championship.
Team Ireland's Adam Carroll took Pole Position for both races in Qualifying and then converted both of those Poles into Wins for Ireland, helping them to win the Championship.
Full Gallery
RAF Northolt Night Shoot II
Not long ago I got a chance to attend one of the fantastic photocall evens hosted at RAF Northolt, with all the money being raised from the event going to charity it was very generous of 32(TR) Squadron to host a group of photographers for the evening (and of course the cafe in the terminal for the excellent bacon butties!).
Unfortunately due to a few technical gremlins the RAF Merlin and Metropolitan Police Helicopters were unable to attend the evening, however the rest of the evening went off without a hitch with everyone turning up on time before being briefed and then let loose onto the pan in front of the 32 Squadron hangers where the residents and visitors were waiting.
This Sea King HAR3A of 22 Sqn's B Flight from Wattisham was waiting for the photographers when everyone turned up before the crew returned to start up the helicopter for their return to Wattisham.
A Puma HC1 from 33 Sqn RAF Benson was also sitting on the pan when everyone arrived, only to depart shortly after the Sea King. After they left everyone was left with photographing the home team of BAe125's and Augusta A109's
One of 32(TR) Squadron's Augusta A109 helicopters sits on the pan before the OC of 32(TR) Squadron took one of the helicopters up for a hover before landing again on the pan a few minutes later.
The final aircraft we were permitted to photograph was one of the BAe125's which was sat on the pan waiting for passengers to embark. Of course before long everyone had finished photographing the aircraft and many ended up in the cafe in the terminal to enjoy some of the delicious bacon butties.
Afterwards everyone agreed that it was a great evening spent enjoying the evening our hosts for the evening had put on for us.
With many thanks to Phil Dawe for organising the evening, OC32 (The Royal) Squadron Wing Commander Steve Pitcher for hosting everyone for the evening, and Station Commander, Group Capitan Guy van den Berg for supporting the event.