Updating my portfolios means wading through thousands of photos on hard drives, but while I was searching, I started to notice a lot of spiral images in my collection.  Okay, I admit I have an obsession with spirals.  They’re all over my house, too numerous to count:  on my dishes, flatware, mirrors, jewelry, artwork.  I can’t tell you why I love this shape/symbol so much (maybe it was because I liked dancing, twirling around and getting dizzy as a kid!) but I notice them everywhere and have to photograph them when I see them.  Recently, I was photographing some cinnamon sticks and, again, was drawn to the spiral shapes on the ends.

Start looking around and you’ll start to see them everywhere, especially in nature.  Hurricanes, tornados, shells, flowers, and even our own DNA – all in the shape of a spiral.  It doesn’t appear to be by accident. Spirals in nature are associated with logarithmic spirals, the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio.  There’s a mesmerizing little video called “Nature by Numbers” that shows this in action.  I won’t even attempt to explain the math, but I do enjoy the visuals.

From Celtic art to Native American petroglyphs, Arabic architecture to the Nazca lines, the spiral symbol shows up in almost every culture.  It appears to have a positive meaning associated with it, depending on who you ask: the cycle of life, feminine power, spiritual journey, learning and growth, and the cosmic force.

Whatever the reason we find spirals so compelling, I will continue to make the images I do, including this last one of the hay bale spiral, which I exaggerated by spinning the camera while on a low shutter speed.  (ISO 100, 1/5 sec. @ f18)

To see more spiral images, check out my Flickr set – Enjoy!

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I am a freelance Food and Travel photographer, based in the foothills outside of Denver, Colorado. This blog is a way to share my passion for anything related to food, travel, and creativity. I hope you enjoy the images and musings, and feel free to comment and subscribe with the links below. Thanks for visiting!