At the beginning of October, I was FINALLY able to visit Yosemite! We had a great time and were able to creep up very close to a herd of deer and also encountered a bear (no picture, I didn’t want a bear to notice us!)! What a beautiful place!

Finally made it out of the house. Between not having a car, working too much, and then finally getting a car at the very beginning of COVID (still an ongoing crisis, obviously) I haven’t gotten out much. But we wanted to try to see the Neowise comet before it disappeared and in doing so, went up to Shaver Lake! I did not manage to capture any good images of the comet at all, but I DID get some pictures I really liked. I forgot to bring a tripod with me, so had to improvise…. but that’s just what we do.

So, being the brilliant person I am, I managed to lose my sync cable for my Canon DSLR in our move. I have no idea where it is. And I haven’t been able to pick up a new one and it’s already been months and months. As a result, I’ve been “stuck”  using my phone camera. And I have to say, I’ve been pretty pleased with the results. Check some of my images out!

Hey there! So it’s been awhile since I wrote, but a local dancer, who I admire not only for her creativity, skill, and grace, but also for her intelligence and practicality, posted this blog post about why you should shoot with a professional photographer. It’s lovely – you should definitely read it. Being me, I wrote an excessively long comment in response to her blog post, but then I thought that I would bring these over here in case anyone was looking for this kind of information. So, go read Sophia’s post and then come back here for more! —— Okay, so time has passed and you’ve read Sophia’s article – thanks for that! In case my comment hasn’t been approved yet (not that shouldn’t approve it, just that it’s 2am and she might be sleeping. So this is what I added: “More tips from Nathara of RaMagik and Educated Savage Photography (who happen to be the same person) – – If you plan to edit your photos yourself or to hire someone else to do it, get permission from your photographer FIRST – to do otherwise is considered rude and is also technically illegal. Some dancers like to do their own edits, and some don’t. And, yes, that includes Instagram filters (the bane of a photographer’s soul!). – Be upfront with your photographer about WHY you want the photos – tell them you want to use them on promotional materials. This will ensure that you get a photographer with the right kind of experience who is familiar with the process of making promotional materials and will make sure you get what you need. – Before confirming a date, make sure you will receive digital copies of the images – this is pretty much the norm these days, but there are still photographers who don’t do this. – When possible, use the watermarked version of your photographs to give a shout out to your photographer – we survive on word of mouth! – Find a photographer with whom you can collaborate – the best photos come from a partnership of subject and photographer. You, as an artist, need to communicate information about who you are, what you are like, and the kinds of things you are capable of. The photographer typically wants to use their style to tell the story of you as an artist. When you work together in this process, magic happens. – Lastly – if you love your photographer, promote them like crazy! These days, everyone has a camera and is a “fauxtographer” – the experienced artists, just like in belly dance, get undercut by the enthusiastic amateurs. Do this, and the photographer will do the same for you. Hope that helps!” But I thought it would be fun to elaborate with some specifics, expanding on the primer Sophia provides. Don’t wear white or black outfits without discussing it with your photographer before hand. Especially if you want a neutral background that can be removed for advertisements and stuff. If you do, you’ll blend into the background and it will be harder for your marketing people (or yourself) to work with your image. Discuss the qualities you want to portray in  your photographs. This also means that if you have two very different things you’d like to express, you should discuss this with your photographer. For instance, if you dance with an American Cabaret troupe and also with a Tribal Fusion group, you may want different themes with entirely different moods, sentiments, costumes, etc. Compile a look book and be prepared to discuss images with the photographer regarding what you like and what you dislike about them. Not ALL photographers are down for this, but most of them are – especially as working with dancers is NOT a common experience for photographers – the closest they usually get is in their senior portrait sessions (seniors in high school), which are completely different. Pinterest has made this incredibly and ridiculously easy to do. Besides, it’ll give you a better idea of what works and what doesn’t. If you are a larger dancer – or a smaller dancer – make sure your photographer has experience and is capable in posing your body type – or be prepared to know your own poses when you show up. Most photographers shoot the average size person (women who feel they are the wrong size typically refuse to take photos) almost exclusively so are not aware of what looks best on alternative body types. TRUST ME!!!!! – No one is so unphotogenic that they cannot be captured beautifully in one or several images. So if your photographer can’t do that, move along to the next one. GWC – “guys with camera” – Sophia mentions this in her posts as well. “GWC” is the “industry” slang for a guy who has a camera but does not participate in the “art” of photography – instead, he usually tries to pick up girls through photography and he’s more interested in ogling than art. Studios can be very expensive, though, and many photographers work out of their home or on locations as an alternative, so don’t discount these photographers. But DO ask for references of previous clients that they’ve had, preferably other performers, and contact them in  your preferred method and talk to them about any concerns you may have. Hair and make up – does the photographer have a make up artist or hair stylist who they prefer to work with? Often times photographers can offer a package that includes the hair and make up as well which can be a big savings. Not all make up artists and hair stylists know how to do make up or hair for photography – it’s a different set of skills, so be aware of that (for instance, glitter is pointless on still photos, and you want to make sure you use matte make ups instead of shimmering ones). If not, try to find a good make up

Hello guys and ghouls! It’s the hostess with the mostest…! Oh, wait, no, this is me, Educated Savage. As much as I love Elvira, my impressions (and aspirations) just don’t stand up to the real thing. But that doesn’t diminish my horror at all or make it any less. I’ve been fretting off and on over the last couple years about how I haven’t been shooting any horror photography – just nature and fine art stuff. And that’s not really where my best work happens. But I had it in my head that I needed a make up artist, hair stylist, and designer in order to fulfill my favorite nightmares. But, then came the moment when I couldn’t stand not shooting anymore, and I rushed my self to Facebook and asked everyone to play with me. The person that responded is my good friend, Erin, another belly dancer in town. Which was pretty cool, because I know Erin appreciates the dark and dreadful. So, we teamed up, accessed some YouTube tutorials, pooled our make up and weird stuff together, and got the job done. And I am STOKED about the final product! Ready to see? Here you go:

So, there’s this scene in The Last Unicorn where the Unicorn is captured by Mommy Fortuna and placed in Mommy’s Carnival of Wonders. In it, Mommy Fortuna has a lion that is magic’d to look like a Manticore, a monkey that’s magic’d to look like a ferocious beast, and a snake magic’d to look like a dragon. But Mommy has two REAL wondrous creatures: the Harpy and the Unicorn. Unfortunately, to normal people, Unicorns just look like pure white horses – they cannot see the horn unless they know what to look for. So Mommy Fortuna shows her audience a real, live Unicorn by magicking a fake, illusory horn on the Unicorn’s forehead. And when the people see her, they weep at her beauty. I’m Mommy Fortuna putting fake horns on real Unicorns. *I* can see the beauty of a real Unicorn with my bear naked eyes – I know the secrets of seeing. But when I take my photographs, I take them so that OTHER people can see the amazing creature I’m looking at for what it really is, instead of what they’re expecting to be. And when the people see her, they weep at her beauty. Call me “Mommy” for short!

{Flashback to Saturday, June 9th, 2012. You see, I’ve had EducatedSavage.com the website and blog since 2008 or thereabouts. Maybe earlier, maybe later. I’ve been Educated Savage for a really long time now. And I’ve tried being authoratative, confident, articulate, not-to-apologetic you-know-people-hate-that, sincere, authentic, informative, professional, and business-like. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, really. I guess I haven’t found a voice yet. I know I have a lot to say and that it’s really scary for me to say it and it’s a whole lot easier to say “Look at this! I saw this, isn’t it pretty!” and flash some nature photography. I’m passionate about my horror photography – drawing the things out of my brain and into reality (although it’s not all real, some of it’s computer, but I guess it’s real now) and tacking down other people’s monsters. I love telling stories. I love showing other people what I see when I look at them, but that’s a whole other post… one I might write after this one. My point is, though, that I’ve started and stopped this blog so many times over the years, and this last time was the first time I ever did a complete wipe. Of course, it’s not totally complete – there’s still the WordPress Blog, but everything between the WordPress Blog and here is gone now. Not that there was anything good in it. Anyways, the thing I’m trying to say is: I’m reading this amazing book by Amanda Palmer called “The Art of Asking” which was given to me electronically and legally as a gift by a woman whose name I’ve forgotten with a brief note that said something like “It changed my life. I hope it changes yours.” So far, so good, actually. But that’s another post. Amanda Palmer so eloquently expressed what I was trying to express years ago (about the same time of her kickstarter, actually, which I backed at the time, too) when I wrote the below post. Unedited and in it’s entirety, displayed here, for your viewing pleasure. My angst, for you. Enjoy! In a sick twist of internet irony, I had to type the next line TWICE.} I Am An Artist. Whew, that was tough. Really tough. It took me a long time to move from “I take pictures,” to “I am a photographer.” Some part of me feels like there should be an application process to prove I’m qualified, or some criteria out there that I can check off to feel confident that what I’m saying is true. But, no, instead I had to dig deep and face my monsters – the ones that say that I can never be anything – just to admit that, no, I don’t JUST hit the button, I compose, communicate, handle all the settings myself, choose my effects, see the world differently, and whatever else you want to throw in there to become a Photographer. Somewhere along the line my pictures went from being “snaps” to being “photography.” I did it, though. I can say it, without flinching or scuffing my toes in the dirt like a liar – I can look people in the face and say “I am a photographer.” But now I’m struggling with what I think of as the next step. Going from “I am a photographer” to “I am an artist.” Is what I do REALLY Art? Art has always been this mystical Other kind of thing that I never really understood. I know emotions have colors because I’ve been told they do, I don’t know it instinctively. I suppose it’s near to instinctive, now, but it didn’t used to be. I don’t automatically think outside the box, I’m not all that creative. If you sit me down and tell me to create Art, I will become overwhelmed by the terror of a blank page. I don’t know what to do. I’m just someone who sees things and captures them in a way that tells their story. I am a Photographer. But am I an Artist? Can I be a Photographer without being an Artist? Did I just insult all the other photographers out there by even asking the question? Will I end up on the blacklist now? Are some Photographers Artists and other Photographers not? Isn’t that the same kind of stuff that separates “I take pictures,” from “I am a Photographer?” What other criteria is there? I don’t know. I just know that Artists are these amazing, wonderful, otherworldly beings and they don’t really care for me that much. Am I an Artist? Do I want to be one?

Hello, beautiful people! It’s the holiday time! Are you ready? I know I’m not. Thanksgiving is this week, so the topic of Thankfulness has been on my mind quite a bit – and I bet it’s been on your mind, too. I just wanted to share some of the things that I’m thankful for. Here they are! Ancient Greeks and Chinese, who developed pin-hole cameras called camera obscura which would create upside down images projects onto a surface, such as a wall Neiciphore Neipce who created the first still image using colloidal silver, but it wasn’t permanent Louise Daguerre, Neipce’s partner, who continued his experiments and created the first permanent images, called Daguerrotypes Richard Leach, who developed the first Gelatin Dry plates, allowing photography to become a “snap shot” of time George Eastman, who developed the first Kodak camera and used celluloid for the first time Oskar Barnak, who developed the 35mm film camera Edward Land, who developed the Poloroid Camera (originally known as a Land Camera) Fuji, who developed the first commercially available digital camera Canon, who created MY digital SLR camera (The Canon Rebel Xti) My Fiance, Dad, and Little Brother, who encouraged me to keep taking photographs All the wonderful models, make up artists, hair, wardrobe, event organizers, and other people who have given me a play ground to develop my photography process Mother Nature, who ALWAYS gives me something beautiful to shoot Thank you so much, everybody, for everything that you do! Feel free to add your thanks in the comment box below! – Charlene