the flip side

A few days ago, I posted my first photo of the year of the glorious sunflower. I think they are equally beautiful when viewed from behind.

two bees or ...

Sunflower season has come and gone for this year and I realize I have not posted a single shot of one.  So if the statute of limitations has not expired, here is one that just had to be.

the show is over, take a bow

They did put on a good show.

farewell to the sunflowers

Sunflower "season" is pretty much over but here is a shot from my archives when they were at their peak.

le tournesol

I found unexpectedly this nice field of sunflowers on a back road where I have not seen them before.  This collection was at its photographic peak on this day in July.  If only the bee had stopped working for a moment and posed for me.

the sunflowers have left the building

...because the show is over.  But even so, I liked the way the sun reflected off their stalks.





And here they were still "onstage" in July:

a parting shot

This is probably the last shot of sunflowers for the season (but no promises if I need to dig deep to find a worthy photo for the day).  Of course it's not terribly obvious that the little band of gold here is a sunflower field.  But I thought it was an interesting contrast with the field of wildflowers in the foreground.

sunflowers and Queen Anne's lace

I hope you haven't had enough of these beauties.  Both are so plentiful this year.  I found this scene on a little back-road while trying to find a new route to Chenonceau.  Again, it's too bad I didn't bring my ladder on the bike so I could show you just how enormous this sunflower fields is.

what are you guys looking at ?

Oh yeah, I guess that would be the sun.  It's been a good year for sunflowers this year, that would mean there are lots of big fields around Amboise for me to shoot.  And they're hard to resist... even from their backsides.  This will not be the last shot of this season you can be sure.

all good things come to an end - the October sunflower

The contrast between the sunflowers of July and and the ones of October could not be starker.  This shot I think really captures the feeling of Fall here now.

the field of sunflowers

I just have to post one more sunflower shot for the season.  While there were fewer sunflower fields this year (as least in my opinion), this enormous field was nonetheless spectacular.  Please enlarge for the full effect (on a PC, click on the image then maximize your web browser window).

August sunflowers

At last !  The sunflowers like all the other crops are almost a month behind schedule due to the unusually cool spring.  Anyway, they are here and are glorious.

Calendar Series Introduction - July Sunflowers

Europe is a huge consumer of sunflower oil (huile de tournesol).  Thus there are fields that seem to extend to the horizons all around the region.  It's a cyclist's dream to ride the bike trails surrounded by these beauties.