The Inspiration

Sunflowers.
They've always caught my attention, but lately I've found a reason to contemplate them further.

You see, recently I discovered photography, and while I'm a novice at best, I do have a few areas of interest:
My kids - yeah, I'm a typical dad
Gondolas - see my gondolablog and you'll witness a new level of obsession
Old buildings - especially in Italy and New York City
none of the above subjects surprised me - I'd been taking photos of them with cheap cameras long before I upgraded to a more serious one.
What did surprise me, was how I was drawn to photograph insects, and many of God's other small creations.

As a child, I would spend hours each day obsessed with insects: reading up on them, observing them, chasing them down, and pretty much obsessing over them like I do these days with gondolas. In fact, this tendency to focus so completely on one area of interest seems to run in my family.

Even though it's been decades since I was a "junior entomologist", my appreciation for bugs has found new life, with a camera instead of a butterfly net.

What does this have to do with sunflowers?
the best place to observe many insects is on or near flowers.
Flowers are designed to attract pollinating insects, and there's no bigger attractant than a sunflower.
It's a whomping-big beacon that screams "HEY! POLLINATE ME!" to any flying thing in the area that pollinates.

So after spending some time taking pictures around sunflowers in the neighborhood, I've decided it's time to plant some in my yard, and tomorrow's the big day.