Red sun before sunset

This evening, about a hour before sunset, the sun was a red ball through the clouds.

Tried to take a picture with the cell phone and the Canon T5 Rebel. Both attempts

showed the sun as a faintly redish ball.

On the T5 tried different White Balance settings. Got the same result.

Not sure why. What gives? Don't have problems with reds other times.

 

Here is a portion of the picture as it came out of the camera.

 

IMO, Smoke from wildfires. Pretty typical outcome.

Don't know of any wildfires, except california right now.

My frustration was why I couldn't get the sun to photograph as the red it was.

Thanks.

In Monterey County, California, we've had the red sun off and on for several weeks. The fires are a distance from here but can tint the world. This is an unedited photo of Monterey Bay, Aug 19, around 8am.

Don't know of any wildfires, except california right now.

My frustration was why I couldn't get the sun to photograph as the red it was.

Thanks.

Search for Inciweb online - the West is burning. Smoke circles the world.

Where do you live David?

Sierra Vista, Arizona. South East of Tucson.

We had the same sunrise here in Cottonwood, Arizona. Heavy smoke that completely covered the mountains, and a deep red sun right at sunrise. I missed getting the shot this morning, but I'm hoping we have the same conditions tomorrow. Stay tuned! By the way, I understand that the smoke we're getting here in northern Arizona is coming from Baja California.

What gives?

Probably an exposure issue. Even though the sun doesn't look that bright when it's red, it's still a lot brighter than you think. If the camera is metering for near the center of the image, the sun is going to be overexposed, and that will wash out the color (relative to what your a-lot-more-adaptable-than-the-camera eyes see). You might try stopping down and bracketing to see if you can find an exposure that brings out the color better.

 

Here is a sunrise photo where I metered close to the sun using spot metering on My Canon 5DIV and, as Leslie suggests, bracketed.

The smoke from these fires (as with the earlier ones in Australia and SE Asia) ends up circling the entire planet before it's through.

Smoke over San Francisco Bay