How do you deal with Eye Strain when editing?!

[Jeff31M]

Like many of you, I spend hours every week editing photos. For me, half the joy of photography is putting my creative spin on my raw files.

However, I also deal with sore eyes a LOT, so I am curious what people do to help alleviate.

I have 3 LCD's. A dell U3014, a Benq 4k IPS screen, and a regular cheap Samsung for toolbars. I always used to edit on DARK screens, but then I had numerous complaints that when people would get prints, they would be too dark (suprise!) I learned to read the histogram better and interpret that towards processing to help. I also will turn up the brightness to around 50 on my U3014 but then my eyes start getting SORE.

I have one more major strike against me. I have bad eye floaters (degenerative vitreous) in both eyes and especially bad in one eye. I often find myself trying to dodge around these floaters when editing and sometimes I get tension headaches. However there are two options to treat this and both have negatives. Laser can zap them and HELP a little bit, and then there is a riskier technique called a vitrectomy when they replace your vitreous with a saline one. If the technique goes perfect, you are gold, but if it doesnt you could introduce symptoms WORSE then the floaters. I struggle with this quite a bit, but havent decided what to do. Also the laser treatment is not offered close to where I live so I would have to fly and lodge at a fairly high expense. All dr.s just tell me to live with it, and I have, but they really suck somedays!

I purchased glasses that have the blue light blocker for regular reading and they help, but sometimes I forget to take them off when editing and my pictures have this weird color cast to them

So when you edit, how do you make sure your eyes stay relaxed and comfortable, I would love to hear how others deal with this issue, and if the real secret is just cranking down the brightness. I try and maintain proper task lighting in my editing room as well.

 

[mostlylost]

[No message]

 

[SoCalWill]

You have to take regular breaks in the course of editing just for the sake of the edits, otherwise you end up in one of those spirals where just a little more saturation looks better, maybe a little more, just a touch more, then when you look at the picture the next day it looks ridiculous. Very important to see your edits with new eyes frequently, stop and go do something else for a few minutes, get some natural color and contrast outside, then come back to it and see your work anew.

 

[Corkcampbell]

What's an "eye floater?" Is this what's called a "wag?" I may have the spelling of that wrong, but have developed one in one eye about a year after having cataracts removed. Seems it's a common problem, harmless, and easy to fix. In my case, I think it's free.

Anyway, I can't wait to get rid of it; it doesn't really affect my sight; it's just annoying and also bothers me as I want my eyesight to be as perfect as I can get it. My local clinic does it twice a month - it sounds like an assembly line type of situation, and I am scheduled for December 7th. Yeah, I know, Pearl Harbor Day - and my father was there - but I think this will be less destructive. I don't do childish emoticons, or I'd put a smiley face here.

Update: I never get eye strain despite that I'm on a computer all day, so I can't give any advice regarding that part of your post and concern.

--
"Knowledge is good." Emil Faber

 

[yardcoyote]

Computer glasses-- mine are bifocals with the standard reading correction below and my distance to the screen correction in the upper section.

I keep my eyes wet by using eyedrops several times a day.

I am careful to stay hydrated in general-- I try to drink 3 quarts of water a day, and to drink an equivalent amount of water for every other beverage I drink.

 

[DVT80111]

Use a slow computer so you can take a break.

 

[mostlylost]

What's an "eye floater?"

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eye-floaters/basics/definition/con-20033061

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floater

I have a large number of them, which cause me no significant annoyance.

Removing them is a not a trivial procedure, but laser treatment looks promising.

--

But to be honest, it's probably the unicorns.

 

[Jeff31M]

You have to take regular breaks in the course of editing just for the sake of the edits, otherwise you end up in one of those spirals where just a little more saturation looks better, maybe a little more, just a touch more, then when you look at the picture the next day it looks ridiculous. Very important to see your edits with new eyes frequently, stop and go do something else for a few minutes, get some natural color and contrast outside, then come back to it and see your work anew.

 

[Jeff31M]

What's an "eye floater?"

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eye-floaters/basics/definition/con-20033061

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floater

I have a large number of them, which cause me no significant annoyance.

Removing them is a not a trivial procedure, but laser treatment looks promising.

--

But to be honest, it's probably the unicorns.

Mine started off like that about 8 years ago. They have progressively gotten worse to the point where both my eyes are fairly bad and my specialist has offered me the procedure as he has peered into my eyes with a slit lamp and witnessed the cobwebs I stare through every day.

Oddly enough, he trialed the laser and said it was a waste of time and doesn't offer the procedure. Essentially breaking things up but not removing them whereas a vitrectomy will clean it all out, but with the risks of an invasive surgery on a delicate organ.

Can't win, as I kept stating that I will continue to wait for a better solution but at what point does a person say "how long can you wait in this short life, do you want to take a chance?"

 

[Ron Poelman]

your glasses are glare-coated, yes ?


If you have a wall behind your monitors, check out strip back-lighting.
You can buy a USB powered, self-adhesive LED strip for peanuts.
Works VERY well, (same principle as not having a full black void behind your TV).

Loading…

www.amazon.com

 

[mandm]

Nothing to worry about unless they lay eggs! ;-)

 

[Grunn]

You could try the palming technique, developed by Dr.Bates, an ophthalmologist from about 100 years ago. His methods and ideas are controversial, but since he studied ophthalmology I don't think all his methods and ideas are wrong, the palming technique is not dangerous and very simple, for relaxation of the eyes.

 

[Glen Barrington]

This is a hobby, when it hurts, I stop.

 

[griddi]

You have to take regular breaks in the course of editing just for the sake of the edits, otherwise you end up in one of those spirals where just a little more saturation looks better, maybe a little more, just a touch more, then when you look at the picture the next day it looks ridiculous. Very important to see your edits with new eyes frequently, stop and go do something else for a few minutes, get some natural color and contrast outside, then come back to it and see your work anew.

--
Digital Camera and Adobe Photoshop user since 1999.
Adobe Lightroom is my adult coloring book.

Very well said.........

I have no problem at all with my eyes, but sometimes when sitting to long before the computer, my eyes are getting a bit itchy, I just apply then 1-2 eye drops ( to get at any chemist store ) and all is 100% again .........

Griddi......

 

[Sonyshine]

It is a big mistake to edit in a darkened room. Your eyes will struggle against a bright screen in dim light.

I was always taught that computer monitors should be used in a room with equal ambient light - obviously not excessively bright either.

My preferred method of (non) editing these days is to shoot JPEG and get it right in camera most of the time. I have rarely used RAW in recent years except when shooting in very low light.

So - get the lighting right and minimise your editing if you are suffering from eye strain - your health is more important than anything else.

 

[Mike CH]

Try this:

• Ensure that your glasses have the correct prescriptions for the kind of work you are doing. Glasses or lenses vary quite a bit depending on what you use them for, after a certain age there is no such thing as a universal prescription.
  • I have special reading glasses, adjusted for a working distance of 60cm instead of the normal 30cm, for working at a computer screen
  • Watch out for varifocals. While many people can adjust very well to them, a not neglectable percentage cannot, and that causes major eyestrain and headaches.
• Don't work in a high contrast environment
• Do eye strain relief exercises; eg. every once in a while do near focus / far focus exercises, e.g. by looking out the window and back.
• Take regular breaks where you do not stare at something right in front of you

A lot of eye strain comes from keeping your eyes focused at the same distance for prolonged times.

Regards, Mike

 

[HRC2016]

Looking at a computer screen for hours at a time is simply not healthy.

I avoid any PP. Photography, for me, is being outside in natural light.

 

[Mike CH]

Looking at a computer screen for hours at a time is simply not healthy.

That's true enough. But is is actually not the computer screen, it's more looking at the same thing at the same distance for a prolonged time that is the root cause.

I avoid any PP. Photography, for me, is being outside in natural light.

... but luckily other people can have other definitions of what photography is.

Regards, Mike

 

[A Weed]

Looking at a computer screen for hours at a time is simply not healthy.

That's true enough. But is is actually not the computer screen, it's more looking at the same thing at the same distance for a prolonged time that is the root cause.

Really?

So, staring off into the distance several hours a day is unhealthy?

Please explain.

 

[Mike CH]

Looking at a computer screen for hours at a time is simply not healthy.

That's true enough. But is is actually not the computer screen, it's more looking at the same thing at the same distance for a prolonged time that is the root cause.

Really?

So, staring off into the distance several hours a day is unhealthy?

Please explain

I thought it was obvious from the context that a close distance was meant, but I forgot to account for the possibility for somebody having the need to score cheap points. Welcome to the forums, by the way.

Oh, and by the way...

Yes, staring into the distance for several hours a day can be quite unhealthy in certain circumstances. E.g. it can be sign that you lead a sedentary lifestyle, or that you are high on drugs, or that you are not paying attention. All of which can be pretty unhealthy.

Regards, Mike

--
Wait and see...
I hardly ever speak for anybody but myself. In the cases where I do mean to speak generally the statements are likely to be marked as such.