1. A method of processing a digital image containing pixels with original color values, comprising: computing measures of pixel redness in the digital image; identifying a preliminary set of candidate red-eye pixel areas based on the computed pixel redness measures; filtering from the preliminary set each candidate red-eye pixel area having a computed redness contrast relative to at least one respective neighboring pixel area less than a prescribed redness contrast threshold; and filtering from the preliminary set each candidate red-eye pixel area located in an area of the digital image having a computed grayscale contrast relative to at least one respective neighboring pixel area less than a prescribed grayscale contrast threshold.