Heiligenschein on Wheat


Heavy condensation on crops overnight made the heiligenschein quite obvious. These three images show that the glow is centred on the antisolar point of the camera, not me. The glow is clearly elliptical with the long axis vertical, which suggests the opposition effect is involved too, caused by the shadowing effect of vertical blades of wheat.

This closeup shows that most of the drops are millimetre sized or smaller and the surface of the leaf has not been wetted enough for them to spread out.

This allows the surface tension to keep them a near spherical shape and focus the sunlight more efficiently.


Canon EOS 20D   28th April 2009
Wiltshire, England

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