I tend to make sun pure white when it is just a little higher because we perceive it this way. What else could it be?
When it is at the horizon level I want to at least to have the option, and particularly when there is some atmospheric haze rendering it deep orange and even red, as perceived by the naked eye. This becomes more important with longer lenses.
If you print on glossy papers you must have noticed issues with white areas coming out in different gloss, i.e. the original paper gloss. Having some colour mitigates that issue.
The sunbursts and area adjacent to the sun shouldn't go to pure yellow., i,e, red pixel signal saturation. This can be also true of sRGB files proofed for AdobeRGB, i.e. when you can't be bothered to produce more than 1 version and I'm too lazy for that. sRGB clips red and cyans much much sooner.
The specular highlights really become a problem when there are clouds or light reflections in the water and they tend to need a very good buffer with the brackets sometimes many stops down - I just play it safe. One of my custom modes on each of my cameras is 5 step bracket in 1 2/3EV or 2EV increments. So I don't have to even think: Set C2 and just press the shutter and deal with it at home.
There has been a big improvement in shadow handling over the decade, but highlights are still nearly as problematic no matter what camera you pick. When a pixel reaches well saturation it is game over for that pixel and it looks crap. They need to implement a reset counter or full well timer; we may just see Global Shutter get there one day. Until that we just need to deal with it.
This is potentially how: -3EV may be 1 or 2 stops out from the ideal 2nd exposure, and there is no -4EV should you need it. For majority of the area it will likely be suboptimal. Your data may just survive treatment at base ISO but you are leaving information and IQ on the table while going through the same exact effort. Maybe some denoise is not a big deal but if you raise the ISO (moving foliage, or shoot handheld - yes that's very possible in demanding situation), or shoot a moving object like a body of water and you will see noise or very different rendering, respectively.
If you really wanted to be super frugal with exposures and do it in 3 the ideal sequence may be more like BASE, -1 2/3, -5. These are the statistically most useful points. But you can't do that unless setting up each shot individually and risk minor tripod or head movement by doing so unless using the app.
Finally this is an insurance policy. First frame may have tripod shake or wind related movement. So next one is 1.6ev down, not 3ev down so that's still OK. Or you messed up with your base exposure. Also happens.
As I said before I like to have 20+ stops for high DR scenes, and I can (and do) throw out anything I don't need.
