This photograph was taken on April 19, 2022. Several people have seen it, and the consensus is one of puzzlement: What am I looking at, and where did those colors* come from?
These are droplets of water on a Tesla whose roof appears to be made of glass. The blue color is a reflection of the morning sky, and the green droplets are reflections from the trees just across the street. The yellow and orange droplets? I suspect it has something to do with light that is both reflected and refracted through the droplets, since orange and yellow are "next door neighbors" in the color spectrum. Paging Roy G. Biv! Paging Roy G. Biv!
The post title "Altered Reality" is actually a misnomer, because it isn't. The droplets of water were indeed rendered in vivid orange and yellow, although the green droplets were originally emerald green but didn't render well. I'm guessing the former colors were the result of direct sunlight being refracted within the drop, while the latter was a reflection of the background trees.
I set out on these morning walks to learn something about light. I guess I still have a long way to go.
Addendum May 8, 2022: For a lark, I inverted the image just to see what it looked like.
Whoa! Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
*Only one viewer correctly identified this as a reflection from the top of an automobile. I suspect it is because he is a tall man, and used to looking down on car roofs. Perhaps he also owns a Tesla.
