Louise said, after returning from her bike ride, "the Sunflowers are out," so we all piled into the car with the dogs and off we went to take some pictures. This one has been taken with the sun directly behind it to give it a backlit glow, I also used a fish-eye lens which gives it a nice curvy look. Talking of curves, the seeds in the centre of the sunflower spiral out toward the petals. I am sure you are eager to know that this spiral pattern is not an accident.
Sunflowers have worked out that this spiral provides an ideal packing arrangement for seeds, so no matter what the size of the seed head there is optimal coverage across the whole area. This spiral is called a golden ratio and is also used in photography as well as architecture as it gives a pleasingappearance to the eye. The spiral can be represented by a Fibonacci number sequence as there is a very close mathematical relationship between them. For those who are dying to know more (and I am sure you all are) look at this site http://www.maths.surrey.ac.uk/hosted-sites/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fib.htmlfor further information on the golden ratio and Fibonacci sequences.
Nev
