In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an automated, computerized method is provided for processing an image. According to a feature of the present invention, the method comprises the steps of providing an image file depicting an image, in a computer memory, determining log chromaticity representations for the image, clustering the log chromaticity representations to provide clusters of similar log chromaticity representations and identifying regions of uniform reflectance in the image as a function of the clusters of similar log chromaticity representations.