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When plants demand they be photographed
An unexpected exchange with some gorgeous winter plants wearing fresh morning dew
erick boustead
January 08, 2025
At the very end of December, Minneapolis had a strange wave of temperature shifts and we woke to a couple super foggy dewy mornings. I was walking around the neighborhood one of the mornings, I think on December 31, 2024, with a mug of earl grey tea and trying to focus on being present with the marvelous surroundings. As in, not taking photos. Because I was worried that bringing my camera out would make it about me ‘capturing’ the moment, or extracting the essence of the beauty, and trying to get something that would gratify my ego. (Not to say I think photography is inherently about these things, but that is a dynamic I’ve been working through in relationship to cameras lately. As in, over the last year what was a fairly amicable relationship turned into a body response of wanting to smash the camera if I picked it up [shrug emoji])
However, as I was making my way back inside, the plants pictured below piped up shouting “go grab your camera you idiot and take photos of us because we’re beautiful right now!”
With this unexpected intervention, I obliged and went and grabbed my camera with macro lens and played around a bit. Since focusing is a challenge when plants are moving in the wind, I tried out a new technique of doing a burst series while slowing moving towards the subject, and this led to getting some shots I really liked. (whereas I had been somewhat defeated in the past of struggling in these settings)
I really enjoyed editing these while warming up inside and my partner working on a creative project of her own. Time will tell if I’m able to maintain some space for creative work like this as 2025 picks up.
Anyway, here are some of my favorites. Hope you enjoy the beauty of the plants that demanded they be photoed!
The end of a stalk of tall prairie grass with tiny little dew drops at the ends of the needles.
Super closeup of a needle of tall prairie grass and a tiny dew drop, with a reflection of trees in the dew drop, and a gradient grey background.
Slightly different super closeup of a needle of tall prairie grass and a tiny dew drop, with a reflection of trees in the dew drop, and a very dark background.
Closeup of the end of a stalk of tall grass with several needles that have little dew drops on them, with a somewhat ethereal or frosty background.
Slightly different focus of the closeup of the stalk of tall grass with several needles that have little dew drops on them.
Slightly different angle of a closeup of the stalk of tall grass with several needles that have little dew drops on them, with a high contrast dark/light background.
Super closeup of head of bergamot bee balm in the shade, with light slightly bouncing off of the dew/frost hanging out on the browned head.
Medium shot of a bergamot bee balm stem and head with more light shining through the brown fiber and a light brown leaf of surrounding grass along the right of the frame.
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