On camera bounced flash - bright dots on pupils problem

[pablomatsumoto]

<p>Hi. May be this a basic question for many of you, I am having the following problem.<br>

For social photography of informal posed portraits (eg., couple of friends drinking on a sofa) I use my on camera flash bounce on white ceilings (when possible) with a white/silver card attached so as to have some direct flash (obviously, this is a very common configuration).<br>

With this I prevent red eye without problems but sometimes I get little bright white dots on people's pupils (I guess is due to the direct flash that bounced on the card). This dots looks quite unprofessional for me.</p>

<p>Do I am doing something wrong?</p>

[scotbaston]

<p>the white dots are catchlights, usually a good thing. the only bad thing will be that they are so small due to the small size of the white/silver card. try it without the card, or with a much bigger white card... basically have a play and see how it affects the image</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Actually, that little bit of reflection in the eyes can play an important psychological role in conveying the vigor and health of your subject. Non-reflective eyes can actually seem very strange, sometimes. There's a reason that people talk about someone having a "sparkle" in their eyes, and mean it in a good way. </p>