Sunflower Field

Helianthus or Sunflower is a genus of plants comprising about 70 species. There are only three species in South America. All of the remaining species of the Helianthus species are native to North America.

The Sunflower, whose round flower heads, in combination with the ligules, look like the sun. This and other species are cultivated in temperate regions, and some tropical regions, as food crops for humans, cattle, and poultry, and as ornamental plants.

Sunflowers are tall annual or perennial plants that can grow to a height of 120 inches or more. They bear one or more wide flower heads with bright yellow ray florets at the outside and yellow or maroon disc florets inside.

During growth, Sunflowers tilt during the day to face the sun, but stop once they begin blooming. This tracking of the sun in young Sunflower heads is called heliotropism. By the time they are mature, Sunflowers generally face east. The rough and hairy stem is branched in the upper part in wild plants, but is usually unbranched in domesticated cultivars. The leaves are surrated and and often sticky. The lower leaves are typically heart-shaped.

Eastern European countries, such as the Ukraine and Russia, are the top Sunflower producers in the world. They contribute half of the Sunflower seed production globally.

In 2016, Batey Farms had planted an entire field of Sunflowers, which brought throngs of visitors to their farm for photo ops. It was a hugely popular spot that year.

In 2017, I captured these images at Batey Farms in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Batey only planted about 12-15 short rows of Sunflowers last year, and didn't plant any this year, due to over saturated conditions.

Being a huge Sunflower fan, I wanted to put up a post showing all of the best images I could ream from my archives. Last year's Sunflower shoot came up in spades, as all of my favorites came from last year. What is your favorite Sunflower image? Mine is the second image. I love how perfectly the Sun illuminated the Sunflower. I hope you enjoyed this look back. I haven't been able to find any Sunflowers to photograph this Summer. Perhaps Batey will plant another crop next year. Have a wonderful weekend all. Relax, be safe and stay cool as Summer's heat is still upon us. ENJOY!

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Looking Back at 2017

Wherever you travel in the world, more than likely you carry a camera with you today. It may only be a camera on your smartphone or a tiny point and shoot or it might be a larger digital camera with interchangeable lenses. Here's a look back at a few of the venues I captured images of in the past year from the Tennessee all the way west to the Pacific.

One of my favorite places to visit in all of the States is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At the highest elevation, any visitor in an automobile can drive, sits Clingman's Dome. On this beautiful day in the Smokies, I captured this image of Fontana Lake way off in the distance with clouds floating by.

Capturing images of farms and farmland is by far one of the many photo ops photographers enjoy doing. To take this urban image, I only traveled about thirty miles north of my home and about a mile from the Kentucky/Tennessee northern border, just outside of Portland. This vintage barn with it's peeling red paint sits in a large field with beautiful yellow Canoli flowers in bloom in the background. I love to see the gorgeous fields of Canoli seeds in bloom every Spring. They are breathtaking.

Visiting Cheekwood Botanical Gardens is a great way to spend a few hours and get outdoors in nature. This Spring I walked over to the arboretum one last time only to find all of the visitors had dissipated and there was the beautiful arboretum just waiting for it's close up. It's yellows and purples and reds were so pretty, but I especially loved the urn at the back of the arboretum filled with flowers.

I flew across many states to land in the great state of California to spend a few days in San Francisco this Spring for a sales conference. While out on the Belle of San Francisco one evening, I walked out on the deck looking toward the Golden Gate bridge. When I turned back this image stared back at me. The city's lights were so beautiful I snapped a few images to share with you.

Photographing flowers is one of my favorite past times. Who doesn't love a beautiful flower. To capture Sunflower images this Summer, I traveled south almost an hour to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to Batey Farms to snap images of the beautiful Sunflowers in bloom. It was a picture perfect day with blue skies and tons of sunshine and the time of day couldn't have been more perfect for flower photography. It was the best photo opportunity I have ever had to take images of Sunflowers.

I hope you enjoyed coming along as I looked back at my travels in 2017. I can't wait to see where 2018 takes me. Are you ready for a major cold front that is on the verge of sweeping down from Canada in the next day or two. Today was 70 degrees and really didn't feel like Christmas at all, but this cold front will surely remedy that. Are you deckin' the halls. I trust you are or have and are now in hot pursuit of that perfect gift for your loved ones. My tree is decked, the gifts are purchased and I'm all set. Hope you are having a wonderful Holiday Season. ENJOY!

Before the Rain

The remnants of Hurricane Harvey will arrive Wednesday afternoon to drench Tennessee with 4-5 inches of rain. I thought I would share a little Sun beforehand from one of the many Sunflower images I captured earlier in the Summer at Batey Farms in Murfreesboro. Take care all, stay safe and dry as best you can. Prayers to those in Texas. ENJOY!

Sunflowers, Batey Farms

Batey Farms is almost an hour from Hendersonville in Murfreesboro, here in middle Tennessee, as the locals call it so it was a trek, but I was aptly rewarded. The Sunflowers were in full bloom at the farm. The huge field they planted didn't make it through the rainy Spring, but about ten rows of Sunflowers did. I arrived right when the Sun was directly overhead giving me the best light of the day. Don't you just love when that happens. I love the huge green leaves that accompany each Sunflower.

Have you ever wondered how many Sunflower seeds each flower yields. No doubt the farmers can answer that question, but I haven't a clue. To think these gorgeous flowers bring such beauty to our world and to top it off give us delicious Sunflower seeds too. Isn't Mother Nature amazing.

Of the 200 some images I captured today, these are my favorites I am sharing. I love close ups of Sunflowers the most. One beautiful large Sunflower bloom is all I need to satify my thirst for the Sunflower, but I still tried to capture some images of numerous flowers. This is one of my favorites.

The heat and humidity today wasn't nearly to the degree of the past week which made being out in the middle of the Sunflower field a tad bit more bearable, although it was still hot. I hope you are staying cool here in the States with this 'heat wave' in full swing and no relief on the horizon. For those of you down South in the throws of a snowy Winter, stay warm. ENJOY!

Sunflower Portrait

I captured this image last year in early August at Batey Farms in Murfreesboro. Sadly, I missed the Sunflowers they had this year. Last year you could walk throughout the field any time and take photos. This year they charged for folks taking portraits and only had one day folks could come by to photograph the fields. I hate it that they took all the fun out of it, but it's a working farm, so I guess you can't blame them. Besides just seeing a huge field of Sunflowers from afar is reward in itself. ENJOY!

Come Summer

Come Summer there will be days upon days filled with bright blue skies and sunshine aplenty.

Come Summer there will be fields strewn with daisies and bushes laden with red and pink roses.
Come Summer there will be bees a buzzing and butterflies a flitting and birds a chirping in the breeze.
Come Summer there will be bicycle rides and dips in the lake and dusty baseball games day into night.

Come Summer there will be long Sunday afternoons whilst family and friends gather to picnic.

Come Summer there will be glasses of sweet tea, backyard barbecues and thick slices of apple pie.
Come Summer there will be red, white and blue and stars spangled nights and firecrackers popping.

Come Summer there will be. Come Summer.

Sunflower, Batey Farms

Bathed in bright evening light this beautiful Sunflower stands ready for picking at Batey Farms in Murfreesboro earlier this Summer.

I hope everyone is having a great week. I am knee deep in deadline week and busier than a bee. ENJOY!

A Simple Sunflower

Is there anything more gorgeous than a beautiful yellow Sunflower?

Despite the raindrops, I captured a few more images of the Sunflowers at Batey Farms today. Some of the Sunflowers were fading and others hung over from the rain. But all in all, it was still a beautiful sight. ENJOY!

Sunflowers, Batey Farms

After spending the afternoon leading a great group of folks on our first outing together at Murfree Spring Wetlands, I stopped to grab a bite to eat at Parthenon Grille in Murfreesboro. I chose to sit at a table next to the bar. I struck up a conversation with a young couple sitting at the bar about the outdoors. They mentioned their 14 foot Sunflowers they had planted this year. After showing me a photo of just what they were describing, I realized these had to be the tallest Sunflowers I had ever seen in my life. I asked them if they knew of any Sunflower fields close by.

These beautiful images are just a few close ups of the Sunflowers I captured upon following the couple's directions to what has to be the most gorgeous Sunflower field I have ever laid eyes on. Seriously, words could not describe it. Batey Farms decided to plant what has to be at least 50 acres of Sunflowers. It was surreal to pull up and see this enormous field of Sunflowers that seemingly went on forever right before me.

I wasn't sure who to thank more, the couple at the bar, or the Batey Family for planting such a gorgeous plot of Sunflowers. As a side note, I saw more tripods floating around in that field of Sunflowers than I think I will ever see again in my lifetime, and who could blame them. I want to go back to capture some images when the light isn't quite so harsh but it will have to be quick or the Sunflowers will be gone. Thankfully, the temperatures weren't in the mid 90's as they have been for weeks. So it made for a pretty good day to be outdoors in the sun. ENJOY!