I've found that a spot maybe two feet off to one side does a good job most of time of eliminating red-eye while still creating a photo that looks as though subject(s) are still looking into lens. Depending on how close you are and how bright your flash, you may need to experiment some to find your optimal point.

What if you don't have control or you are taking candid shots?

Easy tip #3: The good news here is that candid shots usually mean that activity is primary subject, not individual. In other words, you are not trying to make a portrait of individual; you are attempting to capture emotion of moment in time. To do that, just compose (frame) picture so that people or animals are only a part of event and looking at what is happening instead of into lens.

For example, if event was a wedding, snap photo with bride and groom looking at each other or cake. Or, if it was a party, frame person making toast so that they are off to one side, looking towards those that are being toasted. One last example. If this was your family reunion, capture small groups that always form and snap picture while they are looking at each other telling and listening to stories of past. If you can hear joke being told, wait to snap camera shutter after punch line comes out and capture smiles and laughter.

Easy tip #4: The amount of red-eye is in direct proportion to amount of light being reflected back to camera lens. Use telephoto lens and distance to reduce amount of direct light coming back into lens. Just be careful not to exceed maximum distance that flash is capable of compensating for. Most built in flash units have a limit of between 10 and 16 feet. Areas behind subject will also fade into darkness fast, but when background is not important, this can make for some very dramatic photo's.

What if none of this works for you?

If you are taking digital images, good news is that there are a lot of software programs out there that will edit out red-eye effects for you. If you are taking photographs with a film camera, then you will need to either scan image into digital realm or you will have to pay to have photo's retouched. Bottom line is that it can in most cases be fixed. The real question is, how much are you willing to pay to have it removed?

Final notes:

Plan ahead, practice and learn all capabilities that come with today's point and shoot cameras. Your photographs will show effort.

Begin with a 3/4 inch thick board that is about 2 feet long and 6 inches wide. Cut a V shaped notch in one end. Use nails to attach a small piece of wood to keep notched end raised above floor. Keep bootjack near door where you most often enter wearing boots. Put one foot on jack to hold it in place. Put heel of other foot in notch and pull your foot out of boot.

Wall display cubby box:

Small cardboard boxes can be fastened together and hung on wall. Small and valued objects can be placed there to be displayed and admired.

Save boxes from muffin mix, artificial sweetener, rice or other often used food items. When you have enough, cut each box to an appropriate size. I started with boxes 4-inches wide, 2-inches deep, and 6-inches tall. I cut each box to half height, so that each box was 3-inches tall. Boxes that are twice as wide as they are deep can be arranged as shown in diagrams of this article. If you use boxes with other ratios of width to height, use a different arrangement or use pieces of corrigated cardboard to fill any gaps between boxes.

Lay a piece of plastic sheeting such as a plastic grocery bag on a flat surface. The plastic will keep excess glue from sticking to your work surface. You can use white glue to fasten boxes together. To help keep glue from running down side of boxes, use a method similar to that used by bricklayers applying mortar to bricks. Before putting a box into position, put glue on each side of that box that will be against a box already in place. That way, while applying glue, you can turn box in any way that makes it easy to apply glue. And glue will quickly be between two surfaces. That helps keep glue in place. A good glue pattern is shown by red lines below.

As you assemble boxes together, use a straight edge such as a wall or a large box as a guide to align boxes in straight rows. Set something heavy against boxes to hold them together while glue dries. Bricks or large books work well. Use plastic sheeting to keep oozing glue from sticking boxes to books or bricks. You can use paper clips to hold edges of boxes together where gaps occur.

When all boxes are in place, let glue dry for about 12 hours. Then use a nail to punch holes for a string that will go around group of boxes. Two holes near each corner will keep string in place. Tie two ends of string together. Hang box display from a small nail.