Remove dazzle?

[sdwilsonsct]

An experiment with the aim of reducing the size of the sun to something realistic.
And finding a subject on the Great Plains.
Question: is the dazzle beneath the sun a problem? What is this caused by?
Scott

[stpf8]

I don't think it's a problem.  Many viewers may see this as a positive attribute.  My semi-educated guess is that it's caused by diffraction due to water vapor.  The brightness of the foreground on the left may be more of an issue -- I wish that could be toned down a bit.  I think this is a very good photograph of the Great Plains:  bright and smooth clouds, very distant trees that provide just a hint of relief on the horizon, a road that goes on forever, and the remnants of crops waiting for a new cycle -- it's a wonderful combination of elements.

[Isaac]

My semi-educated guess is that it's caused by diffraction due to water vapor.

Looks a bit cold for there to be much water vapor in the air? Is it just lens flare?

[sdwilsonsct]

Yeah, it's just lens flare. Guess I need a bigger lens hood.
I have turned down the flare a bit on the next version, and toned down the brightness at the bottom left: thanks, Stephen.
BTW, no trees here -- those are grain bins.
Scott

[Rendezvous]

I don't think a lens hood would help you in this shot, i.e. when you're shooting directly at the sun. Nice shot by the way.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Why on Earth you would remove that flare, when it is exactlly what gives the whole picture its, well... flair!?

[sdwilsonsct]

Why on Earth you would remove that flare, when it is exactlly what gives the whole picture its, well... flair!?

That's the question, Slobodan. I was curious to know how people felt about it.
There seems to be a pro-flare consensus.
Scott

[stpf8]

I thought they might be lombardy poplars (rather wide ones) providing shelter for a farmhouse.  But as a visual break in the distant horizon, the grain bins are serving the same function.

[sdwilsonsct]

Stephen: yes, I should have gotten a little closer to the grain bins so that there was something else in the image. But it was more of an exposure experiment than a picture. The pictures on your website are really nice.

Rendezvous: thanks! I'm afraid I was joking about a bigger lens hood.

Scott