My name is Emily McCall. I’m a photographer.

My introduction to photography started at age 12 in the name of sibling rivalry. For Father’s Day one year, my sister took some pictures of our dad’s vegetable garden with the ‘family camera’, some long-forgotten Canon model, and organized them into a slide show set to his favorite song, Isn’t This a Lovely Day by Fred Astaire. Dad crowned it the best gift he’s ever received. Not to be outdone by my sister the matheletes-champ, that Canon camera became my new (only) best friend.

Shoot what you know. I spent a lot of time with cats and plants.

I like to think of my botanical photographs as celebrations of the ordinary. Though I wouldn’t turn down an opportunity, I don’t typically shoot in exotic, remote locations. Most of my photos come from revisiting plants I saw during my daily walks with my son. Becoming a mother reduced the size of my world instantly and permanently. I no longer had stretches of time (or energy) to coordinate elaborate shoots with talent, assistants, and call times. These new constraints forced me to rethink my approach to photography if I wanted to continue creating art I loved.