Look Into My Eyes

Here’s a cool thing: I now have a picture of my retinas. Below you can see both my eyes (left then right in case you were wondering) in full colour, as photographed by my optician. Whilst explaining to me what I was looking at, she also told me something I had forgotten.

The most sensitive part of your eye is the Macula (dark red splodges). This is the region you use for detailed sight. The centre of the Macula is called the Fovea where the highest density of receptors is located. However at this central point there only exist cones (no rods) and so faint objects are invisible, despite it being the most sensitive part. This is why stars are oftne much easier to see when you look just slightly to one side of them.

The round white region in these images in my optic nerve (as close as we’re all going to get to seeing my brain) and the arteries and veins are clearly marked out. You can also see pigment striations around the rest of the surface. This is just the way my retina is made and is different for everyone (hence retina id scanners).

This image is not processed in any special way. This was taken with a regular Nikon digital camera mounted onto a lens that allowed it to ficus into my eye. The image is true to life.

You can get these images done at Boots (and probably other opticians) for a fee. However if you’re as charming as me, you’ll get it for free.