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Writer's pictureAngie Mahlke

January: Artist Spotlight - Emma Davis

January is known as the low light month for our p52clicks project. It's a great way to start the year and study how to use light in our photography. One photographer we've noticed that has really embraced low light into her work is Emma Davis. Here what she told us during her Artist Spotlight Q&A.




Tell us about your photography journey...


My dad bought me my first camera for my eighth birthday, a Kodak 110, and I took it everywhere

with me, filling roll after roll of film with images of places we visited, my favourite soft toys, my

younger siblings... I took photography in high school, and it was there that the love affair really

began. Twenty years on, I can still remember the mixture of anxiety and exhilaration that came

with hiding in the blacked-out cupboard under the stairs near the art room unwinding spools of

film ready for processing.


At uni, I worked part time as a merchandiser for Kodak, which helped support my addiction to

film and when my first baby arrived a couple of years later, I took literally hundreds of photos of

her with a little point-and-shoot. She’ll be 18 next month, and she still loves poring over her baby

albums!


I got my first DSLR when my youngest daughter was born eight years ago, but I didn’t really get

serious about photography as an art form until after our son was born in 2018. By this stage, I

was a stay-at-home mum looking for a creative outlet and some ‘me time’, and photography was

the answer to both!




Tell us a bit about your style...


Those who know me best (including my children!) describe me as a bit of a drama queen, so it’s

really not surprising that my photography style tends towards the dramatic! Art really does

imitate life! I love directional light and moody shadows, and I’m forever stalking pretty shadow

patterns and delicious little pockets of light. It was during the very first month of my p52clicks

project last year that I really fell in love with low light images, and now, I’d estimate around a

third of what I shoot is low light - which is just as well considering how dark my house is!




What gear do you use?


My first SLR back in high school was a Canon, and brand loyalty dies hard, so I still shoot

Canon now. I recently made the switch to mirrorless so I shoot with a Canon EOS R, and my

backup camera is my trusty 6Dmkii DSLR. I prefer primes to zooms, so my lens collection

includes a 35mm, an 85mm and a 200mm, as well as a Lensbaby Sweet 35 and Lensbaby

Omni system which I love for the creative flair they add. I recently bought a GoPro Hero 9 and

have been having fun playing around with that at the beach too!




What's your go to lens and why?


Without question, my Sigma Art 35mm 1.4. It pretty much lives on my mirrorless camera. It’s a

super versatile focal length for both inside and out, the wide aperture is great for low light

shooting, and also for selective focus which I love, and it’s tack sharp.




Who and what inspires you?


Without a doubt, of course, my children! I love documenting all the little moments that make up

our everyday lives - their unique expressions, the toys they are obsessed with right now that

they will have forgotten next week, their relationships with those around them... My big kids are

always on at me to take photos for their Instagram feeds, and my eight-year old is a total diva

who loves putting on a show for the camera.


As well as being inspired by my kids, I’m also inspired by light. I’m drawn to all different kinds of

light, and I love watching how light transforms the world around me, from the way the sun hits

the dandelions in the paddock across the road at golden hour, to the long, soft shadows that fall

across our hallway from the bathroom light left on for the kids of an evening. I always feel as if

the light is trying to tell me a story, and it’s my job to document that story.




What tips do you have for shooting low light?


Look for little pockets of light - my fave low light images usually involve a small patch of good

quality directional light and lots of dramatic shadows.


Always, always, always expose for the highlights. If you can get your subject’s skin exposed

correctly in camera, it will make editing SO much easier.


Don’t be afraid to bump your ISO! If I’m working with really low light, I tend to bump my ISO to

the point of slightly overexposing (but don't blow those highlights!) because that generally

results in less grain than if I underexpose and try to bring my exposure up in post. Both my

6Dmkii and my EOS R can cope just fine up to ISO 4000 with a little noise reduction in

Lightroom.




What low light image are you most proud of and/or love the most and why?


Oh my goodness, this changes week to week! I do have a few all-time faves, but I'm always

adding to the list as I find new pockets of light to explore. One of my recent faves is a low light

self-portrait I took during p52 Clicks self portrait month. I usually avoid being in front of the

camera, but that prompt gave me a bit of a push so I found a little patch of window light as

inspiration and I'm really happy with the end result.



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