How to Take EXCELLENT Photos and Video of Your Eyes! - CLEI Telemedicine Keratoconus Instructions

With telemedicine becoming more and more common, patients seeking eye care want to know: How do I take a picture of my eye? How do I take a video of my eye?

The doctors of The Cornea and Laser Eye Institute and CLEI Center for Keratoconus have developed the following protocol the ensure you take the best possible photos and videos of your eyes.

Disclaimer: There are multiple limitations to the care your eye doctor can provide via telemedicine. Not all conditions can or should be evaluated or managed via telemedicine. Only your doctor will be able to determine if your condition is suitable for care via telemedicine.

How to Capture Images and Video of Your Eyes:

Photos and videos are IMPORTANT for assessment via tele-medicine with your eye doctor. Everything must be FOCUSED so details of the eye can be clearly assessed. Blurred images cannot be analyzed. Ensure that the camera lens on the back of the phone is not dirty. Ensure that you are not holding the phone too close or too far away from your eye, about 4 inches away is ideal. The eye should be centered and fill the frame. No shadows should cover the eye. If you are having trouble, ask a family member or friend to help, they can take the photo for you with 2-2.5x zoom, flash ON, about 4 inches away from the eye. If your phone is older than 2017, it is possible the quality of the image will not be good enough for evaluation.

Here are directions on how to get an ideal photo of your eye. You will need a mirror and your smart phone:

1. Stand in front of a clean, clear bathroom mirror.
2. The room lights should be ON.
3. Open your smart phone’s photo app and set to use the phone’s BACK camera.
4. In photo mode, turn ON (NOT AUTO) the camera flash and zoom IN to 2-2.5x.
5. Point the phone’s BACK camera at your eye (this is not selfie mode), with the display is facing the mirror.
a. To photograph your right eye, hold the phone in your right hand.
b. To photograph your left eye, hold the phone in your left hand.
6. Turn your phone horizontally and place your finger or thumb on the volume button.
7. Make sure your hand or phone are not obstructing your view of the phone’s display with your fellow eye.
8. Look in the mirror at the reflection of your phones display to line up the eye so it is in the center of the display and the eye fills the frame (see attached examples).
9. Hold the camera lens about 4 inches away from your eye
10. Then take the picture by pressing the volume button on the phone or press the button on the screen
11. Take a picture of each eye separately

Take a few pictures. Your doctor may ask for specific images to best assess your condition. Direction of gaze may include:

o Straight gaze (the entire colored potion of the eye should be visible)
o Up (hold your lower lid down while looking up)
o Down (hold your upper lid up while looking down)
o Left with the eye open wide
o Right with the eye open wide
o Straight with the eye open wide
o Eye gently closed

VIDEO

Video can be helpful but only if it is shot in HD. Again, everything must be in focus.

Here are directions on how to get an ideal video of your eye:
1. Stand in front of a clean, clear bathroom mirror.
2. The room lights should be ON.
3. Open your smart phone’s photo app and set to use the phone’s BACK camera.
4. In video mode, turn ON (NOT AUTO) the camera flash and zoom IN to 2-2.5x.
5. Point the phone’s BACK camera at your eye (this is not selfie mode), with the display is facing the mirror.
a. To video your right eye, hold the phone in your right hand.
b. To video your left eye, hold the phone in your left hand.
6. Turn your phone horizontally and place your finger or thumb on the volume button.
7. Make sure your hand or phone are not obstructing your view with the fellow eye.
8. Look in the mirror at the reflection of your phones display to line up the eye so it is in the center of the display and the eye fills the frame (see attached examples).
9. Hold the camera lens about 4 inches away from your eye
10. Then take the video by pressing the volume button on the phone (this is easier than trying to press the button on the screen)
11. Take a video of each eye separately
12. The video should be less than 10 seconds

The video should contain a several key features. Your doctor may ask for specific directions of gaze, many common requests include:
o Look Straight and Blink Twice (REQUIRED)
o Look Up and Blink Twice
o While looking up, pull down your lower lid
o Look Down
o While looking down, pull up your upper lid
o Look Left and open your eye wide
o Look Right and open your eye wide
o Look Straight and open your eye wide (the entire colored potion of the eye should be visible)
o Gently closed your eye

Wishing you good health,

Peter S. Hersh, MD
Steven A. Greenstein, MD
David S. Chu, MD
John D. Gelles, OD

[execeauty]

Watched this to learn how to make a close up instagram reel of my eye makeup. 😅 thank you 👍😄

[HazeleyesCat]

This is the best tutorial for a close-up pic of the eye! Thank you !

[GaleLeach]

Thanks so much -- exactly what I needed to have a record of what my eye looked like for my doctor.

[jeneanreese]

Tell me why I’m now blind from the flash .. haha

[potatofairy]

Thank you for this tutorial :)

People keep complimenting me eyes and I wanted to see why.

[yolandamoye]

Thanks for this great video. I am an Iridologist and will be sharing.

[meghatripathi]

I appreciate your work, does the flashlight from that up close damage eyes in any way?

[OriginalHitman]

Nice eyes bro, my friends freak out about mine cuz they are hazel but i think all eyes are beautiful

[Invi_sible_]

love this tutorial but i had to wait a while cuz my phone's battery was too low to turn the torch on lol

[Lavidadeunacuarentona]

How you set the zoom to 2.5? I have an iPhone but I can’t find it. Someone who could help please?

[terror.wichtel]

and how do I center it??? I can't look at the phone.

[beautisinebybakhtawar]

OK, I clicked the video to learn how to shoot my eye make about half video done I read the title say cornea.... 🤔🤣... 💜

[UpTopAlex]

Bro my camera doesn’t want to focus :(

[dinhngoctrang]

this helped a lot for taking tiktok vids 🥺

[laust_mw]

This was so fuckin* cool i love it 👏🏻😳😍

[Prachij]

i get so many reflection on my iris that my iris color isn't even visible in the picture

[Kyleneedssleep]

i just blinded myself when i did this … pls

[Alex-zmpu]

Why does this look like it’s gonna blind me

[llitadeviant]

Didn't worked, my eye color became immediately dark right straight away 💀

[ahmedbebars]

Wouldn't it be bad for the eye to have the flash fire at such close range?