Classic Indy Car

[Marmot02]

I am new to digital photography; this picture is from one of my first forays out with my new Canon S2SI at the first San Jose Grand Prix. The shot was made about 10 am with the sun off to my right. When I printed it, I noticed that the palm tree trunks were showing red, presumably picked up from the red of the sign on the side of the building. I don't think it is an actual reflection because the trees are well away from the building, but something happening with the digital image. Any ideas?

[hgernhardtjr]

Others may have a better idea, but what initially comes to my mind is the very bright red and white of the sign and what appears to my eyes to be a slight blur there.

I would be inclined to say your lens had a large smudge on it OR, perhaps, you came out of cold airconditioning to the outside on a moist day and that caused a bit of lens fogging, which in turn caused the blur causing the colors to "reflect" or "bleed" into the darker trees. If the later is the case, you should let your camera warm or cool to ambient before taking any photos.

On my student's photos, I have noticed this problem mostly in the winter. The camera is under the coat in an inside pocket (warm and moist), they pop it out to take a photo in the cold, crisp air and, poof, foggy photos ranging from very slight to very heavy blurring. Going from a cold car or building into the warm, muggy outside also can cause the problem.

Shoot with your camera at ambient temperatures, making sure your lens is clean. Examine your photos. If it keeps doing it, thenthelens/cameramay need to be worked on.

[Marmot02]

Thanks for the suggestions. The temperatures were quite warm and I hadn't been in air conditioning. Your suggestion about dirty lens is possible, but I was unaware of it if so. I will try to duplicate the strong color contrast some other way and see if it is consistent. Thanks.