Blog by Olesia Saveleva

11/02/2022

My street on

10/22/2022

Behind the scenes of “Tattoo” by

10/21/2022

Had a blast shooting this music video with .art and ❤️

10/18/2022

Istanbul streets.

10/12/2022

Out at sea, in Istanbul

09/14/2022

Running towards my 33rd year! 💃🏼

08/21/2022

This bike rides makes me feel alive, just breathing and moving and seeing the places from a different angle (not a car windshield angle). Even if I sleep less than 5 hours I want to go for this ride, cause it is an energy booster! Thank you .photo and for being the best team ❤️‍🔥

08/11/2022

In Bakersfield

08/06/2022

BTs and the final result with .dabdoub

08/04/2022

Sunset silhouette on

08/03/2022

Beach hut

07/31/2022

07/31/2022

The sweet feeling when you sit down by the fireplace and relax after a long day of hiking! And the best sleep too, even if it’s short!

07/30/2022

Getting the developed pictures is very similar to unwrapping the Christmas gifts!
On the first picture: the famous Half Dome during sunrise, June 17, 2022.
On the third picture: can you find the deer? 🦌

07/29/2022

Backpacking in Yosemite! We got up at 5:20am to see the sunrise and take these pretty pictures with my film camera!
📸

05/19/2022

Portra 400.

05/18/2022

A restaurant and a cafe in Paris.
J’adore ❤️‍🔥

05/18/2022

Boulanger 🤭

05/15/2022

Dancing on a roller skates 🎶

05/15/2022

02/10/2022

In December I went to Lebanon. It was rainy and beautiful. I thought to myself: “If I don’t capture it on film, I don’t want to capture it at all!”
Thank you .a.haddad and .me for helping me find my new love Canon A-1

02/06/2022

шоссе
Новинское 16

Розовый дом.

02/05/2022

Trucks. Can you find me?

#portra400

02/05/2022

Волшебная атмосфера дома у и 🕯

01/30/2022

Проявила я тут свои плёночки. Первые два фото сделаны на зенит+гелиос 58мм, третья - кэнон+кэнон 50мм. Обе заряжены Портра 400. Один и тот же автобус с одинаковыми настройками экспозиции. И вот какая разница. Я конечно понимаю фары флюшат, но не до такой же степени!
А первая фотография - мой фаворит. Назову ее «Атмосфера пандемии».

Took a picture of the same bus with the same film but two different cameras: and and such a big difference (pictures 2&3)

01/26/2022

Классно полетали сегодня ⛸⛸

01/17/2022

On set of IMDb TV docuseries “Top Class” as a B camera operator.
Streaming on Amazon Primе 📺

01/04/2022

Home! Can’t believe it’s been a year 🙈

12/26/2021

Ladies of Saida at lunch

12/25/2021

Merry Christmas🌲
chez &

12/25/2021

Children in Saida

🎞captured with love on

12/22/2021

‎𐤂𐤁𐤋
Byblos — one of the oldest cities in the world, where the first letters of the alphabet were invented by The Phoenicians.
Incredible feeling to touch a wall that’s 7000 years old.

12/09/2021

New video coming soon
with .art
Directed by .film

12/01/2021

Sometimes my thoughts and voices in my head overwhelm me. Being in the nature and physically exhausting myself erases everything in my head. Like formatting a card. Just wanna eat and get warm. That’ll make me happy.
Keep forgetting how good it feels.

10/25/2021

After yoga the water was freezing but we still jumped in the ocean! Andros enjoyed it the most, he spent so much time there as if it was a hot tub!

Summer of 2020.

10/13/2021

Finally after two weeks of fever we are feeling good 🕊

Our tests are negative. We are safe.

For the two weeks we walked 7-10K steps a day along the ocean. We slept 8-9 hours a night. We ate average, on a healthy side — even though we didn’t feel tastes for almost a week, the brain knows the good stuff 🍫.

If it wasn’t for covid and antibiotics, it would be my healthiest two weeks of the year!

We’ve watched:

1. Cruella 🤩

2. The Gentlemen 😎

3. Nomadland 😒

4. Bridget Jones's Diary 😍

5. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason 😝

09/26/2021

In Santa Barbara with my mom 💛

Today I laughed so hard at my mom’s jokes. No wonder why my sense of humor is so good!

On a serious note, it has been 8 years since I left my hometown and moved to Los Angeles to pursue my dream of becoming a filmmaker. My mom and my whole family have always been supportive of my decisions.

I remember when my brother was visiting me in Los Angeles we had a long conversation about what shall I focus on within the world of filmmaking. Him and my dad were quite positive that I should study producing, but my heart had already been stolen by cinematography.

I didn’t really know what it takes to be a cinematographer. It turns out to be a lifelong enthralling journey.

Their faith in me helped me to go through all the ups and downs and become a person I am today: reliable, honest, positive, and always learning!

I am very lucky to have this invisible armor that I feel is always with me.

09/17/2021

How not to eat s**t on set?

Simple answer is: you’ll be eating s**t on set no matter what.

But you can eat less s**t if you know yourself a little better.

Here is a step by step process that works for me.

I want to eat s**t only if: I am bored, I am exhausted, I am on my period, or I am craving for undetected reasons.

So what do I do when I first got a signal: “mmm peanut butter jelly sandwich…”

1. If I slept less than 6 hours - I know I am tired and my body wants to refill energy with fast carbs. Same if I work late, after 9pm I usually feel exhausted. If both — skip the chain of questions, go to the last step right away and eat that sandwich!

2. If I slept well and it’s still early I check with myself if I want some nuts, veggies or fruit instead. If I do - it means I was hungry. After snacking healthy, I don’t want PBJ anymore.

3. Some people confuse “s**t craving” with thirst but I drink lots of water so that’s never been the case.

4. If I’m not hungry, I might be bored. I distract my mind with a task. For example, plan on how to light the next scene, search for my dream house on the internet, organize my tool bag. BTW I realized that when I work as a cinematographer I am never bored.

5. If I'm on my period - that’s a dead end for any reasonable thinking that leads to eating PBJ (and many other things afterwards).

Okay, what if I'm not hungry or bored?

I am either exhausted or on my period or I'm craving s**t for undetected reasons. Then I accept the fact that I am going to indulge myself. And usually I start with offering myself:

1. Coffee. Sometimes drinking coffee gives that tasteful spark that lasts for some time. By the way drinking coffee after 9pm equals to “eating s**t”.

2. If it’s not the case — I check if I can get away with s**t that’s not sweet - chips, pretzels with peanut butter, popcorn, etc.

4. As a last attempt I offer myself some lower calorie s**t, like Welch’s fruit snack, a lollipop or coffee with sugar.

5. If all attempts failed, I rejected all the offers and I still want that PBJ at that point I deserve it.

In fact if you analyze your behavior, you should be proud of yourself. And PBJ is a great reward for that!

09/02/2021

Result VS. Process

This job as a camera operator at conference is a perfect example of a project where the process is more exiting than the result.
Though seeing my shots on big screens was quite satisfying!

So first, I got to work on and learn new cameras - FX9, FX6 and FX3.
My favorite challenge has been to fix a camera issue fast (thanks to google, camera manuals and ). A camera is a magic box, if you place it well with the right lens and settings — it turns any object into beauty, any idea into a story.

Second reason (which is a first reason really), is the team! These guys know their s**t and we keep enjoying our days here! What’s going on guys? Why is everyone having so much fun?

I wake up every day exited to go to work. Thank you for taking care of me 🖤

I realized also with all this Ayn Rand philosophy that how I work is who I am, this is where I translate my values, my standards and my attitude towards people.

Of course I think about the result when I’m working, but the process is basically my life.

08/19/2021

I just finished reading “The Fountainhead” a novel by Ayn Rand!

First of all, it feels so good to finish a book. Since my school days finishing a book gives me a sense of accomplishment and a reason to be proud of myself. Especially if a book is 780 pages long.

Secondly, the main character Howard Roark is very inspiting in his attitude towards his work. You hear? “Howard Roark - towards work”

Anyhoo.

The thought that I loved the most was “Degrees of ability vary, but the basic principal remains the same - the degree of man’s independence, initiative and personal love for his work determines his talent as a worker and his worth as a man.”

Which means be creative in your work, don’t be dependent on opinions of others and keep doing your thing. That’s how talent and personality is formed.

Thank you for recommendation!