IMHO, ignoring the obvious reduction of saturation of the sky, the main reason example #1 looks odd is that the lighting of the scene does not look like what one would ever encounter in the real world. Specifically, there are at least 2 sources of light in the image, not just light from the sun.
The man is lit primarily by a source that is in front of him, somewhat to his right, high in the sky, & which is not a point source like the sun (look at the softness of the edges of the shadows on his cheeks).
However, there is absolutely no way such a light source could light the bottoms of the corn stalks that brightly and with so little shadowing. The corn must be lit by a source much closer to the ground.
Also, the bright line of specularly reflected light on the long tube of the metal detector is not consistent with the position of the source lighting his head & body.
Tom M