Sun Flare

I took this some time in early 2009 as I was flying back North from Florida. By the looks of the shoreline we must have been around 35,000 feet. The camera specs are a Canon G9 shooting at 1,000 second at f/8.

What I like about the image is not only the star pattern of the sun but also the reflection off the Gulf of Mexico along the Florida panhandle. What is interesting about this image is it show two forms of lens flare. The star burst pattern from the sun as well as the reflected flare of the lens at the top left and bottom center of the image. I could have cropped this image to level the horizon bat as I am just blogging about the flare, it is no big deal. 

One really cool thing about taking pictures from the cockpit is the windscreen has some natural filtering to it. There is a layer of gold film that conducts electricity to heat the screen. This gold layer has a slight warming effect on the images. That is not what is causing the gulf water to be yellowish, that would be the reflected sunlight punching through the lat afternoon atmosphere.

So... Is this a great shot? I don't think so but it is unique and therefore was worth not deleting at the camera.

Take care all... Doug