Swollen eye from photography!

[SalvadorMontenegro]

My left eyelid is presently red and swollen. The eyeball itself is fine, just the area underneath it is inflamed. Coincidentally or not, I was walking around taking photos yesterday. This eye is the one I close when I look through the viewfinder with my right eye.

Has anyone else had this problem? I had this about a week and a half ago, also after having taken photos a couple of days before. I'm trying to figure out whether there is a correlation...

 

[bradyarz]

when you close your eye do you squint unusually hard?

 

[SalvadorMontenegro]

I think it's possible. I have a hard time keeping one eye closed and one open. I can't wink. I think it's possible that in an effort to keep my right eye open, I clamp down unusually hard on the left one.

 

[bradyarz]

this may sound a little goofy, and i'm certainly no expert on the matter, but...


when i was little one of my eyes was orders of magnitude stronger than the other. to strengthen the weak eye, they put a sleeve over the lens of my glasses on the strong side, and i spent the summer seeing with only the weak eye. but i digress.

the point of the story is they limited my vision to only one eye without me having to close one of my eyes or do anything uncomfortable.

that said, try a patch, or if you look through the viewfinder with your glasses, try putting something over the one lens that will block your vision and allow you to focus only with the one eye.

 

[matt321]

Perhaps pollen allergy. But that would be odd in just the one.

 

[SalvadorMontenegro]

^ Yeah, that's what I thought, as well. I do have other allergy symptoms, but as you said, it would most likely be in both eyes. It is also an uncanny coincidence that this has come about twice now in my left eye, a day after taking photos. That said, I've taken photos before and have never had a problem.

this may sound a little goofy, and i'm certainly no expert on the matter, but...


when i was little one of my eyes was orders of magnitude stronger than the other. to strengthen the weak eye, they put a sleeve over the lens of my glasses on the strong side, and i spent the summer seeing with only the weak eye. but i digress.

the point of the story is they limited my vision to only one eye without me having to close one of my eyes or do anything uncomfortable.

that said, try a patch, or if you look through the viewfinder with your glasses, try putting something over the one lens that will block your vision and allow you to focus only with the one eye.

I thought of that. It's too bad this wasn't going on a couple of years ago. I could have really cashed in on the Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow thing that was so popular.

An additional problem is that I have really long hair in the style of the Beatles. This means that my hair hangs over my eyes unless I swoop it to the side, a la a woman's shampoo commercial. Because it's in my eyes, this makes it even harder to see through the viewfinder, so I think I clamp down even harder with my left eye.

Woe is I.

 

[C Reed]

buy an older medium format camera and use the view finder with both eyes, se if it goes away.

I don't think I really close my eye when I shoot, but then I hardly even look through my camera (what with tethering and live view on the D3x I can focus and compose using a 20in monitor)

 

[Jethro1984]

I've had this happen before after closing an eye a little firmly for taking a picture or such. But I think the biggest cause is that I usually rub my eye (or the skin around it) slightly after I open it again...without really realizing it. You may be causing a sty when you are out with the camera because you itch the eyelid or such right after opening it again.

 

[eyeguy]

Try taking an antihistamine before going out on your next shoot. It could be allergies, though I'd say a reaction in one eye is pretty slim. If its an allergy, it'll help & if its some sort of flare up from excessive squeezing, it should help with that too.
I sometimes breathe through my mouth at night & wake up with a swollen uvula (that thing in the back of your throat that dangles). It'll swell so bad that it'll lay on the back of my tongue! Benadryl usually helps shrink it back to close to normal & before the end of the day I'm good to go.
The other thing you might wanna try is Visine right after you finish up. If that doesn't get you some relief, try an eye doctor for something more specific.
Hope that helps some.

 

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Hello, everyone. I haven't taken any photos since I posted this and my eye is fine. This weekend I have to take a lot of pictures for make up photography assignments, so, with a bit of bad luck, I could be a one eyed man by Monday. We shall see if there is a correlation. If there is, I'm not sure what I'll do.

For the record, I've taken allergy medication and used eye drops, as well. Didn't seem to do anything. The thing is, the day I posted this, the area UNDER my eyeball was red and swollen - as in, the skin. Overnight, my eye oozed a lot and was sealed shut with dried pus when I woke up. After removing the crust, I discovered that the skin was no longer swollen, but that my eyeball had turned very noticeably red. The next day, everything was pretty much back to normal. It's been fine since then.

 

[joshep.sheena03]

First of you will have to concern a doctor and ask him for this problem.Is this problem occur due to take photos or some other reason is resposible for that?I suggest you to wash your eyes through rose water.It will give your eyes relaxation.