Poppies.  Bright red poppies. The Wicked Witch of the West  loved them for their sleep inducing effect on Dorothy, and during World War 1, ANZAC diggers saw the beauty of poppies amongst the horrors of war.  Me?  I just love poppies.

I don’t know whether it’s their stunning colour, the bright cheeriness they bring to the landscape, or just the fact that I’m on holiday in Italy, but visit Tuscany in spring and I dare you not to become obsessed with taking photos of poppy fields, lone poppies, people in poppies, poppies with people, poppies with other flowers…  Ahhhh your poppy possibilities are endless!

I was there in May and had I known how spectacular the sight of poppies was going to be, or how enthralled I was about to become with them, I may have allowed myself a little bit more time.  After our first sighting I knew I just had to go back and wade right into the centre of a field and capture the sun coming through those spectacular petals.

I had a perfect image in my head of a blazing field of poppies with a castle or villa in the background and everywhere we went, I risked whiplash straining my head this way and that looking for my (p)opportunity.  And then there it was!  We drove around a bend in the road and a spectacular field came into view with an amazing castle perched on a cliff overlooking all that gorgeous redness.  But this is Italy, and on a major road, there’s sometimes nowhere to pull over. I squawked and squealed but there was nothing for it, we had to drive on by, my camera lifeless in my lap.

I still think about that poppy panorama and vow that someday I will return and capture my perfect poppy photo in some soft afternoon light. If you find yourself in Italy in spring, and are at all partial to a poppy, make sure you allow yourself some time to stop and smell the roses, pop into a field of poppies.