Erlik have made some very good points above, and especially the part with faded textures is good to keep in mind. "Solar Phenomenon" is pretty straight forward, where i simply built away from the cam, until the point where you can mask the rest with the horizon. (see attached image) As it looks now, the scale of the thing is achieved thanks to the clouds. To avoid the clean cut with the horizon, use a 2D-tool, and a thick bright line with an amount of gaussian blur. Play around with the opacity so that the sky and structures blend together. You can also try adding a few blurred radials where the main light source is located. In retrospect, i couldve used some blurred objects in the foreground, very close to the cam and increase the depth/scale even more. Try using something people can relate to, a lifeform, wires, a balcony etc.

Rudolf Herczog
Digital Artist
www.rochr.com