Why an oval sun in this sunset photo? (Page 2): I agree with Lamiaceae 100%. Let's not make the mistake of making something so obvious and uncomplicated complicated by introducing...

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

lamiaceae wrote:

Oh, come on guys. It is the same reason the Sun looks red at sun set and sun rise. The light is bend going thru the "extra" atmosphere at such an angle. The air acts like a lens or prism and "bends" the light. And the Sun light is so much dimmed at these positions that you can safely photograph it and look at is for a bit. And smog adds to some of the effect as a "colored filter".

I agree with Lamiaceae 100%. Let's not make the mistake of making something so obvious and uncomplicated complicated by introducing theories that are technical and account for only a small fraction of the real answer to the question.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

ALL answers.... wrote:

.../...

There is a download. Use it.

This is not about being close to the ground but something else that can have any number of reasons but the logical one.

Here is the cropped DL for the lazy one who do not pay attention to the question and the reply from the op
.

.

Explain THAT
Explain THAT...

(Download)

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

enygy wrote:

First post...love all the advice and discussion here!

I am hoping someone can explain why the sun disk in this photo is oval. I have a series of these with the oval in different places in the image.

Shot with Nikon D70s 80-200 f/2.8D ED @ 80mm ISO 500 1/4000 f/5.6
Subsequent photos show that sensor appears to be OK...no burned out spots. (second image taken about 10 minutes later)

I have never seen this before. Any ideas?

Thanks!

In the first image the sky has defined strata (Light cloud or simply heat haze) The flare that distorts the sun's image is either a gap in that part of the cloud, or more likely distortion by a thickening of the heat haze at its lowest penetration point. Sometimes it adds to the picture - sometimes not. Shooting directly into the sun - you cannot use a polarising filter....it will generally be a case of 'seeing what you got' after taking the shot. Some clever person may tell you how to correct it in PP. Personally I would 'move on'. The view will remain, so pick a day to return when the sky might be more dramatic. Sunsets are 10 a penny - everyone takes loads - Dawn however may give a sunless but better image verging on monochrome or shades of grey. Fewer of those about 'oddly'....!
have fun

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

enygy wrote:

lamiaceae - you are right about the extra atmosphere but the sun is usually squashed horizontally at sunset not vertically as in the first photo. You can actually see part of the round disk protruding from the side of the oval.

Actually, I was more referring to the second image with the elliptical sun. On my monitor the first shot is massively over exposed with a lot of bunt pixels.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

dragonswing wrote:

Reminds me of the eye of Sowran (?sp) from LOTR.

Sauron

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

robertjerl wrote:

Sauron

And yes, the eye of Sauron!

Or the OP got a photo of a rare star-star eclipse on Tatooine!

mrpentaxk5ii

BlackRipleyDog wrote:

Sunrise on Casco Bay this past summer. Looks like a nuclear blast. The atmosphere is like a lens and can introduce all sorts of distortion.

The 2nd shot is a little later

Nice photo of the Portland Head light.

jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

ken_stern wrote:

LAMIACEAE --- Got it right!!

Who cares whether he got it right. His answer is like telling kids that there is no Santa. It is just not nice.😥😥

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Rongnongno wrote:

There is a download. Use it.

This is not about being close to the ground but something else that can have any number of reasons but the logical one.

Here is the cropped DL for the lazy one who do not pay attention to the question and the reply from the op
.

.

This doesn't help any. The light from the sun is such a glare that it overwhelms everything near it. The sunlight could be coming through a slot in clouds, but we could never see it.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

In outer space if the Sun really looks like that -- lets hope our Starship has a full tank of gas & the motor is running

PhotosBySteve

enygy wrote:

First post...love all the advice and discussion here!

I am hoping someone can explain why the sun disk in this photo is oval. I have a series of these with the oval in different places in the image.

Shot with Nikon D70s 80-200 f/2.8D ED @ 80mm ISO 500 1/4000 f/5.6
Subsequent photos show that sensor appears to be OK...no burned out spots. (second image taken about 10 minutes later)

I have never seen this before. Any ideas?

Thanks!

My guess is atmospheric distortion and/or optical illusion or starburst effect created by the piling in front of the sun splitting the light. At f/2.8 the starburst effect just shows up as a blur.

tcthome Loc: NJ

lamiaceae wrote:

Actually, I was more referring to the second image with the elliptical sun. On my monitor the first shot is massively over exposed with a lot of bunt pixels.

That would of been first my guess. SOOC ? , PP ? How & where was it metered? But I am no expert , still just a guess. I have seen sunsets being processed & change shape with exposure & highlight adjustments.

Keep shooting , Tom

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

rehess wrote:

This doesn't help any. The light from the sun is such a glare that it overwhelms everything near it. The sunlight could be coming through a slot in clouds, but we could never see it.

This might be as good as my idea. We will probably never know.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

PhotosBySteve wrote:

My guess is atmospheric distortion and/or optical illusion or starburst effect created by the piling in front of the sun splitting the light. At f/2.8 the starburst effect just shows up as a blur.

This might also be as good as my idea. We will probably never know.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

And Photography being an art is also based on science, so can we stay rational? Though I liked the few Sci Fi jokes too, but not the personal attack BS.