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Charly Savely
@charlysavely
Wildlife and nature photographer based in Alaska
Introducing Charly Savely
Charly Savely has been a great inspiration for @nomadict, and we had the opportunity to learn about her work in 2019 when we released a short interview. Many things have changed in the last three years, but our excitement for her photography continues to be the same. Today we are delighted to share a new, long-format interview for you to learn from.
This interview aims to show you the new life of Charly in Alaska and comprehend her creative workflow, vision, style, and brand:
Having lived the majority of her life on the West Coast of the US, living now in Alaska has been a completely different experience for Charly. In Alaska, she has had the opportunity to hike out to glaciers, walk on frozen lakes, witness the aurora borealis dancing in the night sky, and rediscover light: “I love it. The winter light is so beautiful, and it’s so nice that you can wake up at 11 am and watch the sunrise. In summer, it’s the complete opposite. I can start a hike at 7 pm and end at midnight while there is still light out. If you do a hike at that time, no one is on the trail!”
So far, Seward and Homer are her favorite regions in Alaska, having little towns on the water and giant mountains and volcanoes as the backdrop. Charly also loves Fairbanks and being in the Arctic. These remote regions have allowed her to keep evolving as a photographer.
In the interview, we also asked Charly what makes a great photo: “For me, there has to be a good story, a good memory surrounding the photograph, an extraordinary moment, or an animal with something unique about them.” In the interview, she shares some of her favorite photos and the stories that make them exceptional.
In the last part of the interview, we learn about preparing for extreme wildlife photo shootings, strategies to find and safely photograph unique moments with animals, finding your style, staying creative, evolving as a photographer, and how to use colors to define your brand.
We hope you enjoy it! Keep reading!
Interview
Welcome back Charly! In our first interview we learned a bit about you. But, I was wondering about the following while taking a look at it again: Did you first get into the career of wildlife photography from your passion for the outdoors or for the art itself?
If I couldn’t go outside anymore, I would transition to some form of indoor photography. So I think it’s definitely the love for photography that comes first, and then the outdoors and its wildlife that inspires me.
Alaska is a dream subject for many. However, shooting in Alaska surely requires some adaptation and practice because of its unique environment – unfamiliar for many. What is different about shooting in Alaska? How did you have to change your approach to photography and what did you have to learn/unlearn to achieve the best results?
Alaska is different to photograph from most places in the world, mainly because it’s such a large State. It’s bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined; something like seven times the size of Norway. We only have about four major road systems, and we don’t have many roads in general. So much of Alaska is remote, and to get to those remote & wild places, you need to take a small plane or a boat, so that is a massive challenge in itself. Also, there are so many things that can kill you here: bears, moose, the weather, etc.
I think we get a lot of tourists that visit here and think “I can capture a lot of photos here”. Yes, you can, but the distances are huge. You’re going to have to do a lot of driving, you’re going to have to go explore a lot, and spend more time to get those shots. I’ve had to let go of control a little bit upon living here because the weather is also so unpredictable. For example, I went out to go shoot last weekend, I was planning on hiking out to a glacier, and walking on a frozen lake. When we got there, and despite what all the weather apps were telling us, it was a complete whiteout blizzard. So I just had to turn that into the photo shoot instead. It was fun and worked out great, but I was getting blasted in the face with snow and wind, which is its own challenge when your hands are freezing.
In the summer, it’s another beast. You’re dealing with thousands of mosquitoes, our state bird, chasing you in a cloud. It’s definitely a wild place that requires a lot more effort. You really have to work for it here, but at the same time I can see beautiful mountains from my window, it’s worth it…
What is it like being a photographer in Alaska?
The photography community here is really small and I like that. It’s nice that we can all know each other and that if one of us needs anything, we can help each other. With that, there’s also definitely less work here than you would find in LA for example. In LA, you’re going to have all these amazing big clients with big budgets and big client jobs, whereas in Alaska you really have to dig more to find work and make connections. People like to meet in person here, rather than talk through email. That being said, Alaska is 10 years behind in many ways. So many companies are still wondering what Instagram is, do we need this, what is social media, whoa, I weirdly sold all my tours through this new social media tool, should I hire a photographer to help me? etc… I think it’s interesting to be at the forefront of that, but it can also be very tiring having to explain to companies why you need nice photos & videos to promote your business so that clients will see that it’s beautiful and want to book your tours. We are a very tourism-based state, so it’s a blessing and a curse at the same time.
What do you think about hosting workshops in Alaska?
I’ve been preparing to launch my Alaska workshops for over a year now. I’m hoping to have a few different ones in 2023. They’re going to be primarily wildlife-focused, so I am really excited. Alaska being so remote, getting around is much more difficult so that does add to workshops in Alaska being more expensive. Especially if we’re doing wildlife photography, we have to get very far out there. I’m also teaching workshops in Antarctica and South Africa this year which I’m really excited about. But it’s going to be really nice to teach them in my own home.
As an introvert, workshops are a little harder, as much as I love them. I really have to push myself, and then I’m completely exhausted at the end of them, but it’s totally worth it. I love teaching.
During the workshops I’ve done in the past, I’ve formed such deep bonds with the people I’ve met and the students that joined me. We went through this awesome experience together, everyone was so excited, the energy was so high, we were all learning together and it was quite exciting. You end up having new friends for life and that’s what I really love about it.
What are your favorite regions in Alaska?
I love Seward, and I love Homer. Those are great regions, with little towns on the water and giant mountains and volcanoes as the backdrop. Those two are probably my go-to when we’re trying to get out of town for a few days of road tripping. They’re about 5 hours away from Anchorage. I love going up to Fairbanks and being in the Arctic. Anchorage is considered the subarctic, even though I don’t really understand that because our weather is so much more intense than some arctic places, so it feels like we should be considered the Arctic. We’ve had seven months of snow now!
Can you tell us about the light in Alaska?
We don’t get full darkness here. In Anchorage, we get down to four or five hours of daylight a day, from about 11:00 am to 3:00 pm during the darkest months of winter. I know further up North it’s three to four hours, and then way up North, they have a month or two of solid darkness, which is wild.
I personally love it. The winter light is so beautiful and it’s so nice that you can wake up at 11:00 am and watch the sunrise. The sunrise transitions into the sunset and the light are beautiful all day. That’s what I love about the winter months. In the summer, it’s the complete opposite. The sun sets at 1:00 a.m. and rises at 3:00 a.m, so we have 2-3 hours of darkness, which can really mess with your mind. What I love about it is that I can start a hike at 7:00 p.m. and get done with the hike at midnight while there is still light out. If you do a hike at that time, no one is on the trail so you get it all to yourself, which I really enjoy. It’s bright until 11:00 p.m, so that can be a challenge if it’s really harsh light, but there’s so much sunlight that you feel like you can get a lot done, which is really cool.
It takes a lot of getting used to. We’ve been here for two years now and we’re still not used to it. But we love Alaska. Just the community and the friends we’ve made here… It’s wild. The people are so kind, and we love the culture, I don’t know if we’ll ever leave.
Have you witnessed climate change firsthand in the Arctic?
I’m so passionate about photographing the Arctic because people don’t think about the Arctic, they forget we’re up here. But when all the glaciers are melted, we won’t have much time left on the Earth. People think that it’s not that big of a rush, but it is because it’s exponentially warming up. One of the glaciers that are really popular here is now half the size of what it was a few years ago, and that’s pretty scary.
Which animal species do you enjoy photographing?
Foxes. I love their personalities, their colors, and how they photograph so well. Bears are definitely a rush, there’s a lot going on in your mind when you’re photographing a bear and that’s a very interesting challenge. Right now, I love photographing foxes and eagles though. In South Africa, I would say leopards are probably my favorite big cat to photograph. I’m going to photograph African wild dogs for the first time this year and I’m so excited about that. African wild dogs are extremely endangered, so it’s going to be an incredible experience to see some. I will probably cry.
I also have a massive love for wolves. I think people, especially in Europe, have such a wrong impression and fear of wolves. But these animals are so easily scared and timid, that it’s hard to even find one in the wild now because they’re so elusive. The whole aggressive scary stigma that they’ve been given is just not true. They’re very family-oriented and loyal. If you haven’t seen it already, I think you should watch “How Wolves Change Rivers” on YouTube. It’s about how biodiversity was saved when they reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone. It shows you how everything is connected and how we need each other.
What are your favorite images?
My favorite images change over time. I’m always most excited about what I’m currently photographing. Some of my favorite images in the past are definitely my eagle shot with its third eyelid blinking. Another one would be my favorite lion in South Africa, Mario, who was rescued from canned hunting. Canned hunting is this really messed up thing going on in Africa, where rich people pay to shoot a lion in a cage. One of my other favorites is the bear with the big paw. It was a great day, and we were wrapping up filming when this big old fat bear, so fat and sleepy, was trying to watch us but was also falling asleep. It was so funny to see. She looked so content and she eventually did fall asleep, and I loved that moment because it was so wild to be watching a bear fall asleep in front of me.
What makes a great photo?
I think there are a bunch of factors. For me, there has to be a good story, a good memory surrounding the photograph, a unique moment, or an animal with something unique about them. A few months ago, I photographed a Caribou that had one antler missing, and I really loved that. I also photographed a bear that had a healed wound of half of its mouth missing, most likely from a fight, and had somehow magically survived with only half a mouth. These photographs end up being my favorites because they’re such striking and unique moments that you don’t forget.
How do you prepare for your photography trips in Alaska?
It sounds so basic, but you really have to make sure you’re taking care of your body first. The conditions can be so hard and unpredictable; if your hands get cold for example, you’re done. If it’s the cold season, make sure you’re going to be warm the whole time with things like hand warmers. If you don’t feel good, you’re not even going to enjoy what you’re doing so there’s really no point, and you’re going to take crappy photos. With wildlife, you should prepare your camera settings before you are even in an encounter.
Do you invest time researching wildlife photography spots?
Yes, research is definitely a big part of it. Googling things like: “Where are the best places to see bears in the US?” Is something as basic as that. You can also start narrowing things down in your own community with word of mouth from other wildlife photographers. You can go out & track animals yourself. In the winter, it’s nice because you can see pawprints everywhere. It takes a lot of reading and studying to learn this stuff. I make mistakes all the time, where I think it was a black bear paw print, but it was actually a brown bear. It’s nice because it’s always a good challenge and there’s a lot to learn. So I’m excited to keep learning about that.
How did you find your own style?
I feel like on Instagram especially, there are so many people copying each other’s styles, and it gets really saturated and not as unique. I think to find your style, you have to really focus on finding what feels true to you, and not imitating someone else. You need to do a lot of experimenting, trial, and error, practicing and learning, trying different color palettes, and figuring out what kind of light you like. Do you like bright and airy photos? Do you like dark and moody photos? What subject matter do you like? Do you like photographing people, and cars? Trying it all is how you find your style. These days, a certain style becomes popular on social media and then everyone jumps on that train. But in jumping on that style train, you’re devaluing yourself because it’s not your true voice. So tons of experimenting and finding out what you like, and then you’ll find something that’s unique to you and that will help you stand out.
"Some people get into photography, and they're naturals. They have a natural eye, they already know how they want things to look and have an innate style. That's really amazing, and I'm always jealous of those people. But for me, it took years of experimenting."
I had phases when my work was super desaturated, and then phases where my work was super dark and moody, and now I look back and I’m like “Oh, I hate it”. But that experimenting helped me to learn and figure out what I like. And even now, my style will continue to evolve as I decide what I like and don’t like. I’d say my style changes every 6 months just a little bit, as I learn and grow, and my taste changes. It’s really amazing when you can be scrolling through this sea of work, and someone’s photo sticks out to you, and you don’t even have to look at the name to know exactly who took it. That’s where you want to be. I feel like people want a quick fix, they’re like, “Can I just buy a preset?”. But this is a lifetime career for a reason, it takes a long time.
In this regard, can you identify any tipping points?
There have been moments in Photoshop and Lightroom where I learned a little tweak on how to do something, or I just experimented. I thought, what if I make this color, and then “Oh, I really like that, I’m going to keep going in that direction and apply that to everything”. Do that over and over again, and before you know it, you have your style.
And we would love to know a little more about your palette of colors. What can you share with us about the colors you use?
There was a while when I got really carried away with my color palette, and I think now I’m refining it, and it’s still evolving. I definitely always liked some sort of black, some sort of white, some sort of mint turquoise color, and then some sort of orange. I was always trying to find that, just because those are my favorite colors and it makes me happy to see them in photos. I worked with that and figured out which shades of green I like, things like that. It’s always going to be evolving because my tastes are going to change, but I hope to get at least one of those colors in each photo. But I also don’t like being confined to anything…
Do you think the palette of colors you use is also part of your brand?
Yes. I’m obsessed with color and color palettes and they are also part of my branding. But you have the freedom to do anything, you can choose to work without a specific color palette and photograph any colors.
How do photography and nature contribute to your mental well-being?
They are intertwined. Photography & nature play a huge role in my mental health because it’s what I’m in love with. Being outside and taking photos is the healthiest thing for me, it’s when I feel most alive, so that’s very good for my mental health. Photography has its life and death cycles, it has its winters and it has its springs. You’re just constantly in this cycle of inspired, uninspired, burnt out, inspired, and it can make you feel like you’re going crazy sometimes. But at the end of the day, it’s always worth it. If you’re living out your passion, it’s hard to complain about that.
And finally, how do you stay creative?
Learning. Whenever I feel in a rut, I will watch a YouTube tutorial or I’ll purchase someone’s workshop. Even if the workshop has things I already know, there’s always going to be something in there that I didn’t know, and it’s going to get me excited again.
Seeing other photographers go through their editing process, I’m not watching it to learn to edit like them, but I will learn things from it, and be like “oh, that’s a good trick”, and incorporate that into my workflow. And that gets me excited, because when I learn something, I’m improving, or I’m progressing, and growing, and moving forward.
It’s hard not to be inspired if you’re growing and learning, so that’s always the biggest thing to come back to if you’re feeling uninspired. Force yourself to watch or read something new, and it will help.
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