Pictures of Sunflowers
Gifts of Gold from Ancient Mexico

If you want great pictures of sunflowers, put on your sunscreen and head for the sunshine! These golden beauties worship the rays so much, their “buds” turn to follow the sun from east to west every day. At night, they lean back to the east and wait for the morning sun and do it all over again.

But after the buds bloom, they get lazy. Maybe it takes too much energy just to hold up their heavy heads. So they stop following the sun's path across the sky. They just stare to the east and wait for sunrise every morning.

Taking pictures of sunflowers is usually easy because they like to look into the sun. That means the sun will light up their faces and the light will be coming from behind you! But to prevent a really contrasty picture, wait for the sun to go behind light clouds.

Wild sunflowers originated in Central America... Mexico, to be exact, way back in 2600 BC. And we STILL love them dearly! The Aztecs worshipped them as their Sun Gods. Across the ocean in Holland, they were a symbol of loyalty and devotion.

Have you ever seen Van Gogh's painting - the Sunflowers? Its one of the most popular pieces in the National Gallery in London... its in Room 45. He liked sunflowers so much he painted 11 sunflower canvases. The yellow color was his personal symbol of happiness - I completely understand that!

But there's no end to the sunflowers' attributes... Aztec sun god, seedy treats for birds, agricultural crop and cheery flowers for bouquets! They're also great subjects for photos. Sunflowers are strong, vibrant flowers and a field sure perks up the surroundings.

I can't pass by without taking pictures of the yellow-gold pretties. Here, I can share a few of my photos with you.

	A cute miniature sunflower in an autumn bouquet. A close-up with my macro lens - the petals surrounding the seed head really look like "flares" from the sun. Miniature sunflowers are popular for bouquets and growing in your garden.
	Sunflower fields are a common sight on the Canadian prairies - not yet ready to be harvested to make a healthy "vegetable" oil. Manitoba's my home province and the sunny heads are always a happy "welcome back" greeting.
	Another close-up but not a macro lens. The structure of sunflower heads is interesting. Each small seed is from an individual flower. The head is made of hundreds of small flowers. Know anything about Fibonacci ratios? I know a bit.
	Fibonacci numbers are named for the mathematician who published his theories in 1202. The patterns his ratios explain appear throughout nature - including sunflower seeds that grow in a pattern that spirals outwards from the center.
	Does this sunflower picture look too colorful? It is! I gave it an unrealistic look by hiking up the color values in Photoshop. Some people really like the funky look of pushing the colors to extremes. Here, it emphasizes the back lighting as well.

Minatures again! I enjoyed this bouquet for a few weeks. Got lots of photos out of it, too! Because they were so small, I used a macro lens for several shots. I like the gold "mums" paired with sunflowers - nice fall color combo.	There's a bold sunflower in this photo, pushing its head way above the rest of the crowd. Another Manitoba photo - one of many sunflower fields. Do you think sunflowers have personalities? My opinion - they're proud and really cheerful.

On a dull rainy morning - like now, while I'm writing this - bring out your pictures of sunflowers. Feel a little warmth and cheer happening?

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