A quick look at photographer Emma Smallbone’s website and you know the lady’s got talent—in spades. As the owner of barebonephoto, Emma has created a niche as the alternative to traditional photography.
Her journalistic style artfully captures moments in people’s lives that are rich, poetic and creative—and really cool to look at. This is the stuff you want to hang on your walls.
Emma Smallbone, pictured right, in action
Emma’s approach to photography is to get to know her clients, whether brides and grooms, families or toddlers, and make them feel comfortable in front of the camera. “I don’t allow time to dictate the quality of images we end up with,” says Emma. “If someone takes longer to get comfortable in front of the camera, we wait.” Although she concedes she has helped the process along by offering up wine or candy: whatever it takes to get the right shot.
With each photo, Emma says she seeks out “love and light—capturing the love, whether in between families or couples in love, in some spectacular light.” Her studio, nestled in the woods in Puslinch (near Cambridge), is often the location clients choose for their portraits. It’s clear she is well versed at harnessing the right light, both in and out of her studio. But all the hard work happens before she even starts clicking. She says, “My rule of thumb is to get it right 99% in camera so there isn’t a lot of post-production work or editing.”
Emma is a favourite on the wedding circuit. With more than a dozen wedding seasons under her belt, she has come to realize who her ideal client is: it’s people like her. She chooses to work with clients who are creative types with a flair for style and an appreciation for art. Then her job becomes less like work and more like “hanging out with a group of people creating art together,” she says.
Emma: the photographer being photographed
And for Emma, photography is her art. “When I was young, I wanted to be an artist but couldn’t create the picture I was seeing in my head,” she admits. “Photography is satisfying because I can see the picture and capture it, making it my own art.”
Feel the urge to be captured by Emma and her cameras? Get in touch.
P.S. Emma’s favourite topic of conversation: life’s big questions.
P.P.S. You should follow Emma on Pinterest – the girl has got great taste.
Red leather booth 