I am greatly enjoying my D Lux 7 - terrific little camera.
If you take a look at the attached image, taken only as a test, you'll see a foggy effect between the two trees. The sky was cloudy, but bright, and the sun was somewhere over the house, behind one of the trees. I was using a lens hood and I'm not certain if this is due either to incorrect exposure by me/ lens flare/ a fault. It is very reminiscent of the halation effect loved by some cinematographers.
How are you all exposing in high contrast situations like this?