Why an oval sun in this sunset photo? (Page 3): :sm24: :sm24: :sm24:...

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

alberio wrote:

Your sun would probably be round if the post wasn't interfering and causing diffraction issues

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

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!

Don't forget the earths atmosphere acts like a lens so you get refraction and diffraction effects, due to being close to the edge of the horizon. This is also why moon looks bigger close to horizon.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

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!

This was taken from earth? : )

Part of the answer might be the overexposure of the sun.

photon56 Loc: North America

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 shots.

Tjohn Loc: Inverness, FL formerly Arivaca, AZ

Thermal refraction causes the weird distortions when close to the horizon. It is fun to watch and makes some interesting pictures.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

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!

Cloud reflection.

DanielJDLM

BTW, it is Sauron

leftj Loc: Texas

Pegasus wrote:

My first guess is that the Sun went subsonic before it got to your camera, became unstable and keyholed on the sensor. You should increase the twist rate or add more powder.

And don't forget the disgronificator.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

Could be flare, but probably an atmospheric effect.

sjb3

dragonswing wrote:

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

I believe it's "Sauron" (though it has been quite a few years since I (re-)read the Ring Trilogy).

sjb3

Rongnongno wrote:

Explain THAT.

Wow, I didn't know Salvador Dali was a photographer, too!

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Here's my best guess. The two poles (not magnetic, but physical parts of the pier), between which the light of the sun is passing, have mass. Now, we know that photons have 0 mass and would, thusly, be unaffected by gravitational forces produced by the poles. However, they do possess momentum. A change in this momentum yields a force. As such, photons can interact with matter, the poles being matter.

Additionally, the atmosphere between the two poles is matter and being minutely affected and being attracted to each of the poles. The photons passing through this matter as it is attracted to the two poles interact with this matter. This creates a somewhat "domino" effect. The photons being aligned with the center of the sun and the axis of the lens are hardly affected and continue on a straight line. The photons slightly off that axial line are affected slightly and react by pushing other photons in a direction towards the poles. The overall effect is that the photos from the limb of the sun are most affected by the momentum change and cause the sun to bulge outward from its center.

I could inundate this post with a lot of mathematical formulae. However, I'll leave the proof to the reader.
--Bob

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!

JohnFrim Loc: Somewhere in the Great White North.

rmalarz wrote:

Here's my best guess. The two poles (not magnetic,... (show quote)

Bob, don't forget the quasi-gravitational-momentum effect of the paddle in the hands of the kayaker. He is pointing it at the sun which could repel a few photons in a slightly vertical direction before they interact with the posts. There is no kayaker in the second photo.

leftj Loc: Texas

JohnFrim wrote:

Bob, don't forget the quasi-gravitational-momentum effect of the paddle in the hands of the kayaker. He is pointing it at the sun which could repel a few photons in a slightly vertical direction before they interact with the posts. There is no kayaker in the second photo.

Ah! Now it's a mystery. Will we ever find out what happened to the Kayaker?

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

leftj wrote:

And don't forget the disgronificator.

Gawd, thanks for reminding me. I had forgotten about it.