The Pic Up

Every photographer knows that the best light for photographing outdoors comes at sunrise and sunset. It’s not just about the magical background of colors the sun provides. The strength of color and softness of light create the perfect contrast for eye-catching photography. As a photographer with fifteen years of experience, I photograph my clients in the evening hours, reserving the morning hours for more leisurely photography such as wildlife and landscapes. This is the normal practice of most photographers in the area since evening hours are more convenient for clients than morning hours. It’s an unspoken rule for some destinations where nature photography is done regularly. So, it surprises me when another photographer shows up with a family while I am doing a nature shoot.

It’s a brisk autumn morning in the middle of the week. I believe it to be the perfect time to drive over to the nature reserve for a hike and a little photography. I hike a mile in, where the forest opens up to a meadow filled with an array of colorful wildflowers. To my surprise, standing not too far from the tree line off in the distance, is a majestic twelve-point buck with his head up, looking straight at me. There is a mist, a low-lying fog that is drifting in over the ground. It is the perfect shot with the leaves in full fall color behind him. I slowly bring my camera up to my eye and zoom in on him. I’m so excited for the shot. It will look great above my mantle. Then two SUVs come roaring up the gravel road and slide to a stop behind me, crunching gravel and kicking up dust. The deer’s tail goes up and he moves to get a better look at the commotion. Out of one of the vehicles springs three energetic kids that run into the meadow, trampling the flowers. I see getting out of the other vehicle a woman with a new, expensive, professional grade camera. She directs the parents to follow their children into the meadow. I sigh heavily and look over my shoulder. The deer is gone.

I don’t want to say anything to this photographer in front of her clients concerning her obnoxious arrival and poor timing, so I hang around to watch the shoot. She isn’t bad, but you can tell she’s relatively new. She definitely has her own style. She chases the kids as they play, tearing flowers from the ground and throwing them in the air. She stops and makes jewelry out of the flowers with them, letting them pose for pictures wearing what they made. She gets shots of romantic moments between mom and dad, dad playing with the girls, and tender moments of mom with her daughters before getting a family portrait. It isn’t a timely shoot due to such a style. No doubt she gets a few images the parents will pay for, but time is money and she’ll learn that, especially when she gets to the editing process and has more clients to cater to. The more I watch this lady work, though, the more I want to talk to her. I find myself attracted to her. She’s a pretty woman, vivacious with a charming smile. I can tell she loves what she is doing and how she does it. We have that in common.

After her clients drive off, I catch her before she gets in the car. “Hey there, Colin Anderson, fellow photographer. Can I talk to you for a moment?”

She climbs in her vehicle and cracks the window. “Sure, what’s up?”

“I want to let you know that it’s an unspoken rule among photographers around here that the morning hours are reserved for nature photography.”

“Oh, okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t think so. I’ve never seen you around. Nature photography is a hobby. I’ve been working professionally for fifteen years, so I know just about everyone around these parts who’s in the game. I was assuming you were new.”

She laughs and tosses her chestnut hair back, “Busted. This is only my third shoot. I’m still trying to get my name out there.”

“Tell you what, if you like, we can meet at Starbucks in town. I can give you a few tips to get you started, Mrs.…,” I offered, hanging there waiting for a name.

“Bloom, Janet Bloom, unmarried, and yes, I would appreciate that very much.”

At Starbucks I got a cup of coffee. Janet ordered what looked like a supersized hot-fudge sundae with a drop of coffee in it. I had never seen a woman salivate with eyes so wide as I did sitting across from Janet, eyeing that drink before taking a sip. I imagine that’s how us guys look at women just before sex. After she took a sip, her face reflected satisfaction equal to that of an orgasm, so I started questioning my choice of beverage. I shook it off and got to the point.

“How’s your internet presence?”

“I’m just going by word of mouth.”

“Word of mouth will do you wonders once you’re established, but first you have to get established. When you get home, set up a website. Got to godaddy.com or wix. You don’t have to hire anybody for an expensive site. Those sites will set you up with one for free. Then you have to optimize search engines.”

“What does that mean?”

“When people search for photographers, optimization helps put your name towards the top of the search results. It’s time consuming. I suggest checking out tutorials on YouTube. They are primarily for google, but that’s the widest used search engine anyway. That’s what I did. If you need help, call me,” and I slip her my card.

Janet looks at it and asks, “What kind of photography do you do for a living?”

“I try to book as many weddings as possible. That’s where the big money is. Speaking of which, I usually have to hire a second photographer for weddings. If you could use some extra work…”

“Really! That would be great,” and she slides me her business card. It’s cheap, done on a home printer.

“FYI, I’m not knocking your design, but you will want to take this to a copy shop and have them use cardstock. It will give your clients a more professional impression. I got a wedding lined up for Saturday, you’ll make enough to get a box, easily.”

“Awesome, I’m so excited. Eventually I want to get my own studio and specialize in infants and children. I have to admit, I’ve been spending more on props than I have been on the advertising aspect. Props and lighting, mainly. I go to people’s homes with my gear. I’ve done a couple infant shoots. Their squishy little faces just drive me wild,” she says as she squishes up her own face in the most adorable way. She smiles at me, and I swear I see a twinkle in her eye, like the stars are in her gaze. I smile back and momentarily lose my train of thought.

“Do you have a portfolio with you? I’d love to see your work,” I say, suddenly remembering where I am.

“No. My work is on my computer at home,” she says scrunching up her face again. This time in an oh, darn expression.

“Put one together and keep it with you. You’ll be surprised how many people will want to see your work. It leads to jobs ninety percent of the time. Do you want to see mine?”

Janet nods her head enthusiastically as she sips through her straw. I tell her that I’ll be right back and head for my truck. Outside, I exhale heavily, realizing how tense I am and just how badly I’m crushing on this woman. I’m feeling good though because I believe I’m making a good first impression. When I get to my truck, I’m not sure which album to choose. What will impress her the most: weddings, portraits, senior pics, team photos, nature… ah, infants. Not my biggest seller, but that’s what’s she’s into, and I want her to be in to me. I grab the album and jog back to the restaurant.

“I didn’t know which album to pick. So, since you’re into infants, have a look,” I say sliding the album over to her nonchalantly as I sit down.

The first picture she sees, she lets out a high pitched, “Oh, how cute.”

It’s a picture of a little guy with a peach fuzz head. He’s asleep with his head resting on both hands, propped up on his elbows. His tiny little feet sticking out next to his arms. The next one solicits a laugh. It’s the same little guy, laying on a furry white throw. He’s propped up just slightly by a small pillow underneath the throw. A white sheet covers him to the chest. His hands are placed behind his head, elbows pointing out, as he lays there sleeping with a smile on his face. As she peruses the album, Janet starts discussing some of the poses she has tried, asks about mine, and how I accomplish them.

We take our conversation out to my truck where we look through the other albums and talk about other ideas to generate more business. I feel good because I’m having fun with this amazing woman. We hang on to every word the other one is saying and laugh at all the right times. I know I’m going to see her again Saturday when I shoot that wedding, but I feel I need to secure a reason to see her more often.

“I have a studio,” I blurt out. She looks at me, confused. “You can borrow it for your sessions if you like.”

She smiles and closes the album that’s laying in her lap. I’m thinking, “Whoops, went too far.”

She looks at me with a smile on her face and that twinkle in her eyes. “Tell you what, Collin. I’m a sports fan. I love pizza and washing it down with beer,” she says as she pops open the door and steps out. “You have my card.”

I drive home with a big smile. At home, I start to dial her number. Then I throw my phone on the couch as if it’s covered in covid. Is it too soon? Will I come across as too needy? How long should I wait? Obviously, I should call before Saturday, right? That is her expectation, isn’t it? I decide to play it cool and go to the gym.

I get to the gym, put in my ear buds, and warm up on the treadmill. The music is drowned out by the sound of Janet’s voice and laughter. As I run, visions of her appear, visions of us working together, traveling together, raising kids together, cameras in our hands everywhere we go. Without realizing it, I’m running at an incredible pace. It’s like I’m chasing after the dream of her in my life. I want it so bad I’m pushing myself physically towards what I’m imagining. I step off the treadmill and go to my truck. I blast the a/c and grab my phone. I dial the number but before I can press send, I drop it on the passenger seat and bang my head on the steering wheel. What if I didn’t make the same impression on her as she did on me? Then again, it was her who said to call, and with an idea for a date. I look at the clock and it has only been three hours since we last talked. I begin to feel crazy thinking in such a way about a woman I just met.

At home, I get on the internet and find a sports bar downtown that has big screen TVs, pool tables, darts, and offers pizza, beer, and wings. I check to see if there are any games on tonight, deciding to go all in and see what happens. It’s not like I’m going to ask her to marry me, but I’m on such a high I don’t want to come down. I fix some lunch, I do some laundry, I edit a few pics, and then decide it has been long enough. I want to see her again and talk more. This time I pick up the phone, dial, and press send.

“Hello?”

“Pizza and beer, huh? There’s a hockey game on tonight and I know of a sports bar downtown if you’re free.”

“As a matter of fact, I am. I was hoping you would call. I’ll text you my address. Pick me up at six?”

The game is just starting as we take a seat. We get a medium pizza with everything on it, twelve wings, and a pitcher of beer. Janet is not one of those shy, dainty eaters. She digs in and guzzles her beer, wiping her mouth on her sleeve just as I do. We both cheer for our team unapologetically loud and with vulgar mouths. We celebrate with high-fives and hugs. At the end of the game, the food is gone, and three empty pitchers sit on the table. She bests me at a game of pool, talking trash the whole time. I beat her at air hockey, returning her trash talk to her amusement. Leaving, I ask her if she would like to see my studio before I take her home. She smiles that charming smile and says, yes.

The upper level of my house is a log home landscaped to the nines. The lower level is my studio. Clients park out front and walk around back. A lot of times they choose to do their shoots right there on the property around the artificial waterfall, pond, gazebo, and trellis. The front wall to the studio is all glass, allowing natural light in. There’s also an office area in back where I do editing and billing, and a storage area filled with props and different backgrounds. Janet is very impressed.

“I can only dream of having something like this someday.”

“I’m offering it to you to use,” I say as I set up my camera on a tripod.

She grins. “What are you doing?”

“I know we just met and just had our first date, but I want some pictures of us. One good one, then let’s get goofy.”

She laughs and twists slightly in shy way. “Okay, let’s do it.”

I set the camera to auto and let it snap repeatedly. Janet let me get behind her and put my arms around her for one serious photo. Then we break into silly faces and act stupidly with our tongues out, eyes crossed, moose antlers on. I act like a chicken while she pulls out her ears and puffs up her cheeks to look like a monkey. We start acting like we are beating each other up. She punches me in the face. I hit her in the gut. She jumps on me, and I catch her. She kisses me. She slides down, leaving her arms around my neck. I feel her getting heavier, pulling me to the floor. We drop out of the camera’s frame. You get the picture.

With the rise of the morning sun, we wake in each other’s arms. I’m relaxed and at peace, no longer worried about what impression I might have made or whether or not I like her more than she likes me. It’s mutual and we both had something to get out of our systems after meeting one another. As we lay quietly looking into each other’s eyes, the scenes that crossed my mind on the treadmill come floating through my head again. This time I don’t feel so crazy. I feel one step closer to that vision, a vision of love and happiness between two people brought together by chance, all due to a common interest. This could be the beginning of something beautiful.