In Which I Attempt to Take Pretty Pictures of Dead Weeds

| Allison

Hello friends!

You know how winter is so brown and gray and dead-looking that it gets kinda sad after a while? Well, I decided to challenge myself to find beauty in that by photographing a bunch of dried weeds, hehe. It was honestly fascinating to notice the structure and form of old growth – the bones holding up last year’s color, as it were.

This was a fun experiment and I hope you guys enjoy the result!

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We’ll start off with a… I’m not entirely sure what this is, but I believe it’s an old stem of pokeberries. They look like golden raisins now, don’t they?

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These grass heads look delicate and almost metallic, especially against a dark background.

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Broomsedge is definitely a weed, but I love the way it looks in pastures and roadsides. This is one weed, however, that looks better en masse than up close. Especially at golden hour, when it covers a whole field in rust-gold.

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These things are very dead and very dry. Tiny little strings of brown beads.

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A lonely, damaged disc of Queen Anne’s lace still hanging on. Some flowers appear impossibly fragile in winter.

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Here’s one of my favorite photos in this post, probably because of the bokeh in the background. 😉 I also quite like these spiky brown florets. They seem like cheerful fellows despite their dull color.

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I took this in a rather desolate pasture, but one which caught the sun nicely, as evidenced by the pretty backlighting on this goldenrod.

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I usually stay away from burs because these things will stick to your clothes with a vengeance. But they make for an interesting picture, hm?

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Another burry picture. 😛

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Ooh, I love this one too. You can just make out my companion during the photoshoot hiding behind the goldenrod.

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I’ve taken so many dried goldenrod photos… The soft, fuzzy heads capture and hold light beautifully.

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Look at this cute little plant! I dub thee stars-of-the-earth.

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More starry weeds. So dainty!

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Oh wait, this might be my favorite picture from the post. The soft blur, warm browns, and contrast of light and dark make me happy. These little guys manage to convey warmth despite their wintry clothing.

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I remember seeing these interesting things before and wondering if they were fungi or plants.

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See, don’t they remind you of mushrooms-on-a-stick? I don’t know what they are, but they’re neat!

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I’m going to cheat a little bit with this last photo and end with a tiny spark of green: some new growth on a thorn bush. This, combined with a day so warm I have my windows open right now reminds me that spring will come soon. Only a month or two and I’ll be sharing green photoshoots!

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I know that was kind of an odd post, but I hope you guys enjoyed it anyway. 😛 I had a lot of fun carrying it out, and will probably do something similar in the future. But yes, maybe the next color-themed photoshoot will be green. Ah.

What do you think – was my experiment a success? Do you find dried things beautiful too?

Thanks so much for reading, my friends, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

P. S. Photos taken with my Nikon D7200 and a 50mm lens. Edited in Lightroom.

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40 thoughts on “In Which I Attempt to Take Pretty Pictures of Dead Weeds”

  1. I loved it! Allison, you’re a master with goldenrod, bokeh, and all things golden hour! I love every single post!
    By the way, how is wedding planning going?

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    1. Aww, that is such a compliment! Thank you, Makayla! ❤
      And thanks for asking – wedding planning is going super well! We recently got the catering and rentals figured out and the guest list is coming along great! I'm so excited. 🙂

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  3. Allison, these are so beautiful!! ❤ I so love all of the dried flora & fauna…. They seem so hallowed, aesthetically reminiscent of glory in days gone by… I just love them ❤ ❤ God's creation NEVER fails to amaze me!! ❤ Thank you for sharing! ❤ Can't wait for more… 😉

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    1. Aww thank you! Yes, definitely glory of days gone by; I love that. Same here! God is such a master artist – His work is beautiful in all stages. Thank you for reading, Callie!

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  4. Beautiful! I think your starry weeds are asters, no? And did you know that cockle burs were a favorite of the now extinct Carolina parakeet? Apparently they were the only thing that could eat them. Anyway, winter interest in plants is something I love taking note of especially since I’m a landscaper and have an interest in natives. Some plants have their showiest time of year in the winter.

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    1. Oh yes, I bet they are asters! Asters are such lovely starry flowers in bloom too. Wow, really? That’s fascinating. What are some of your favorite winter plants? Maybe I should keep my eye out. 🙂

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      1. Some of my favorite winter plants are red osier dogwood, red twig dogwood, deciduous holly, witch hazel, and coral berry/buckbrush. You beautifully captured the structural beauty of a lot of natives. Supposedly rattlesnake master has structural winter interest too, but I’ve never seen them in the winter. 🙂

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        1. They sound beautiful! We have a good amount of dogwoods where I live, but I’m not sure the particular kind. Well thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the photography.

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  5. Allison, somehow you managed to make something drab and boring beautiful and gorgeous. I love challenges like this and you hit it perfectly. Such a great reminder to find the beauty even in winter’s dead-ness! ❤

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  13. Hello Allison,
    I was checking around you blog and I saw that on one comment you did a shout-out for a newer blog. Would you possibly be willing to do that for my blog? I started mine not to long ago (October 2021) and I’m still trying to get followers and comments, so this would be a real help! 🙂
    Thank you so much!
    Beyond Nature’s Meadow

    P.S I really like how you make such dried plants look so pretty!

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    1. Hi there!
      Unfortunately I’m not really doing shout-outs since it’s would be a bit hard to keep up with that and make it fair for everyone, but simply commenting on other people’s blogs is a good way to get your name out there! And I will go check out your blog myself. 🙂
      P. S. Thank you!

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  15. I have always seen winter as a time of rest. I see sleeping beauties in your lovely pictures. Congratulations on your engagement!

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  16. I enjoyed this! It was such a beautiful post despite showing what we look at and see as desolate. In isolation, they are beautiful and you’ve done a great job capturing them!

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  17. I actually really like dried brown things. I like the green too, but the brown is a nice change. A meadow full of brown grass is lovely to look out. And trees bare of leaves are like grey skeletons standing guard even though they have been stripped of their clothes.

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Your comments make my day! Please keep them clean and respectful so everyone can enjoy this blog. :) Thank you!

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