A Photo is Worth a 1,000 Words (Closed to Kismets_Paramour)

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Name: Adrian Hurley
Age: 52
Height: 6 foot
Build: tall, broad but some middle age spread
Hair: Black short
Eyes: Bright Blue
Occupation: IT Manager for a small Lawyer firm

Adrian stopped outside the front door to his house, the late-summer morning sun was emerging over the roof of a neighbour's house on the opposite side of the street. He placed his hands on his hips as he inhaled deeply, the trickle of perspiration running off his brow. as he stood there for a few moments allowing his body to recover from his cycle ride, his ride leaning against the garage door. He reached for his water bottle and emptied the bottle, having just completed a leisurely 35-mile ride.

With his Bottle back in the holder on the frame, he started to stretch his legs, taking his time. For years he never really bothered stretching, but as he reached 50, he realised he needed to start making some effort on the post-exercise cooldowns. He stood, is tall frame leaning against the wall as he started to stretch his quads, his thighs and his glutes before working down his legs, doing various stretches in numerous positions, his tight Lycra bib-shorts revealing his middle age spread. But whilst he could do with losing a few pounds, he wasn't unfit. His doctor often commented as such, but losing a few pounds would make the work of his joints slightly easier...

An hour or so later, he was sat behind the iMac in his office, as his wife of almost 20 years sat in the living room, on her MacPro reading the gossip sites. As he sipped his coffee, he watched Lightroom import the photographs that he took the night before. A neighbour had held a birthday party in the honour of his wife's 50th birthday. It was a BB style event and he had been asked, as a keen photographer to take photos of the evening for his wife and him to remember the event. And so, there he sat importing the photos from the memory card, before uploading them onto the event's private FaceBook page to share with the hosts and guests alike.

And so he spends the next couple of hours reviewing the photographs of the night before, editing the light settings and contrast as well as cropping some of them. He even spent some time 'perving' over some of the female guests, some younger, some older. Age was, is just a number to Adrian, an age. He was attracted to their looks, their attire, their persona. He saw a photo of one of the younger, newer neighbours snogging, clearly still very much in love. As he looked at a couple of photos, his cock twitched in the confines of his shorts, before he moved on to the next photo.

Finally, he was happy with his efforts, and with his iMac uploading the photos to the FB page, he left his study, and headed to the kitchen for another coffee, and then to find his wife. Having seen some of the photos, he was now aroused, but wasn't sure whether his wife would be interested. Sex in the last couple of years had become less and less frequent and when it did take place become more and more predictable.

It wasn't until later that early evening that Adrian returned to his Ipad, and logged onto Facebook. As he did so, he saw he had received several notifications, moslty regrding th ephotos he had uploaded of the night before.

Nicolette "Nico" Clark
19 years old
5'3, body sculpted from years of gymnastics and swim, long dark coppery red wavy hair, light gray green eyes.
Second year student at Academy University

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"WHAT!"

The quarter assignment that was worth 30% of her semester grade had been graded and posted on her student account. "A D-, that's impossible." Nicolette had never in her life been less then a B student, and even B's had been come a rarity for the ever common A's that highlighted her academic timeline. Typing furiously, she emailed her teacher back and requested as politely as she could a meeting to discusses her recent grade.

In truth she had take the photography class as a means to lighten her full class load. She was taking some advance science classes that demanded more of her time that she had and this photography class was meant to lessen her hectic life, not make it worse.

Minutes later she had a meeting time.

The meeting didn't go as she had hoped. The first thing out of her teacher's mouth was how lazy she was. It was shocking and it left Nico sitting there with her mouth hanging open. She had never been called lazy and it hurt more then she had expected it to. She had tried to defend her 'laziness' with her introduction to photography, it was that she wasn't trying in the class (even though it was), it was just that she was new to the whole camera aspect that she could be given a pass. After all hadn't she done the assignment to the letter? Was it her fault that she wasn't any good? The project was to take pictures of her life from an outside viewers perspective and she had set up a tripod to take pictures of her as she studies, went to the laundry mat and even cooked.

Mr Parker didn't buy it and called her out on her true use of his class. She had thought that the class would be a cakewalk and he was there sitting across from her to correct her. If she wanted to pass she would have to do more then pass the tests with the right answers, she would have to embrace the magic of the art.

"Magic of the art." She muttered darkly leaving the building that her photography class was in. "What magic?" Nico whined kicking at a leaf blowing past her. "It's a camera not a wand." As much as she wanted to stomp and bitch about her unfair teacher, he was correct more then he was wrong. It wouldn't hurt to try, and he had been nice enough to let her redo the project giving her a week to complete it.

Running back to her apartment, she grabbed her cheap drug store digital camera and started snapping away. She wasn't too sure what she was doing but filled the memory card in hopes that something would jump out at her.

There was nothing that looked passable. So she moved the snapshot outside and repeated the process of taking random pictures until the camera beeped that it was full.

This time there was one, maybe two that were passable and she saved them in a new folder on her laptop. "Two out of 180 photos." Those were horrible statics and she pulled out her phone sending a group text out to her friends. Not that she could remember any of her friends being into picture taking but if there was even one with a hidden hobby that could help her she might be in luck. Ideally it would be perfect to be able to just snap a bunch of pictures of her 'pretending' to go about her day and get this all done and over with in a hour or less.

No one had ever taken photography classes, none had a wish to thought Clint offered to take some risky pictures of her if she ever needed a hand. It wasn't helpful and she promised to slap him the next time she saw him for even thinking of her in a risky fashion. He sent her back a winky emoji. Yeah, she wasn't very scary and she and everyone else knew it.

Feeling hopeless she googled photography tutor but she was met with many of the same kind of responses that Clint had given her. After the sixth one she gave up and turned her laptop off.

It wasn't until later that night when she was scrolling through her facebook that something caught her eye.

Her Dad often shared posts from friends or family members and most of the time she scrolled past his reposts unless it had to do with the family. Tonight it was a picture of a sunset that caused her pause. It was beautiful and she clicked on the picture to enlarge it. She didn't claim to have an eye for photography but the picture was stunning.

"Adrian Hurley?" Nico clicked on his profile and perused his public photos. In all there were maybe a dozen pictures all taken by what looked like a professional. Figuring that his reply couldn't be any worse then those craigslist adds, she quickly typed him a message. She kept it informal and friendly hoping to draw him in with honey.

'Hi Adrian, it's Nicolette Clark, Phillip's daughter. I know it might be strange me messaging you but I noticed your pictures on facebook, my Dad shares them because they are amazing and I was hoping that you might help me out. I'm in a photography class at Academy University and I'm struggling to be honest. As a scholarship student it is vital that I keep and maintain a GPA worthy of the school's investment in me and I fear that I'm failing in both my class and the regard of the school. Any help would be much appreciated.'​

Nico worried for a second if she laid it on a touch thick there at the end before she typed in her cellphone number and signed the message in closing hoping to hear from him soon.

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Adrian was browsing his Ipad, the living room filled with the sounds of various female jazz vocalists singing; his wife was on her MacAir laptop.

He suddenly noticed a message, and clicked on it, recognising the name, but it wasn't from one of his friends. The message opened up as he read it.

'Hi Adrian, it's Nicolette Clark, Phillip's daughter. I know it might be strange me messaging you but I noticed your pictures on facebook, my Dad shares them because they are amazing and I was hoping that you might help me out. I'm in a photography class at Academy University and I'm struggling to be honest. As a scholarship student, it is vital that I keep and maintain a GPA worthy of the school's investment in me and I fear that I'm failing in both my class and the regard of the school. Any help would be much appreciated.'

Click to expand...

He recognised her name and knew who she was, a good friend's daughter. He read the message a few times as his mind tried to fathom out a couple of things. She was clearly needing, wanting help with her photography course at university.

But he was also trying to remember the last time he saw her in any detail. Probably 4 years or so ago, when she became a 'typically stroppy' teenager, no longer wanting to get involved in family activities but wanting to go out with her friends, do her own things.

Become independent. Perfectly normal for a teenager.

He clicked on her name wanting to see if he could view her profile, her wall. But clearly, her security settings were quite stringent, even as a friend of her father who was also her friend, he couldn't see that much.

He had her mobile number but he chose to chat on FaceBook first. He asked to be her friend before he started to reply.

"Evening Nico,

Thank you for your message, and quite unexpected it was too. I don't think we have really seen or chatted since your mid-teens? Anyway, I hope all is well with you and your other studies. And I am sorry to hear that your photography isn't going as well as you would like. As such I am happy to advise and assist.

I'm not quite sure at the moment where you need guidance, whether it is a technical aspect or simply having the 'eye' Remember it is the person behind the camera that takes a good photo, not the camera itself.

Saying that, a quality camera which allows you to change the lens and other parameters gives you much more control. What camera do you have?

Anyway happy to assist, maybe we should meet for coffee one day and have a chat? I can meet late afternoon after work or on a weekend? I sense there is also an element of urgency required?

Great to hear from you and chat soon. Here is my number if you want to text/Whats-App me. Adrian"

He read it a couple of time, and whilst not necessary grammatically correct it was conveying what he wanted to say and pressed return.

Nico was sending flirty text messages with Caleb her police officer friend when her phone dinged with a FB message and request.

"That was quick." Ignoring the following text from Caleb, she opened the FB app on her phone and without hesitation accepted his friend request before read the message.


Reading over her reply, Nico pursed her lips. Was there maybe more to photography then just pointing her camera and clicking the button? Perhaps she should have paid attention in class instead of using the time to study for her other courses.

Worried she pressed the send button. Copy and pasting the number he attached she snapped a picture of her off brand point and shoot camera.

In a text she inserted the picture of the camera and entered a quick greeting.

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Adrian noticed about ten minutes later the notification on FB of a message. He looked up at the status bar and saw that his friend request had been accepted. As he was moving around FB, his phone vibrated on the arm of his armchair.

Hi picked dit up and saw a Whats-App message from Nico, with a photo of her 'trendy' point and shoot camera. He just grinned and made a mental note to get one of his older camera bodies out and to charge up the batteries.

On his Whats-app her replied.. "Aha point and shoot camera, nothing wrong with them but they do not allow you to have as much control..."

Back on FaceBook, he started to read her message several times in total as he read it carefully looking for any clues. But basically, she needs help with both the technical aspect and composure.

"Hi Nico, and thanks for your project title. Can I ask you please to list down the aspects of your life that you think others could find interesting? Any daily sporting activities such as Yoga, going for a run etc etc. This will help you, or rather US to focus your efforts for your reshoot, a week isn't long, and as it is a Sunday I guess the deadline is this Friday or a week tomorrow?

Oh, and can you explain what I mean by depth of field or the rule of thirds. This isn't a test but rather something to allow me to decide how much I probably need to cover on photography basics.

How about tomorrow afternoon, Boydens do a good pot of tea as well as good coffees. My treat!"

Adrian"

He pressed send and then started to browse her FaceBook profile looking at various photos and her online antics. He also saw a few selfies as well as posed for another camera photos. She was quite pretty he thought.

The thought of manually setting the camera felt daunting. There were tons of preset setting on her camera that she had tried out, even changing some of them looking to capture what she was hoping for. None of it work so she had chalked it up to it not being possible or her not having the 'eye'. With a disappointed frown she glanced back at her camera that she had once been so happy about.

"For an introduction to Photography class it's really technical." Again that was probably her fault for doing other class work and hoping to just get by with simple picture taking. Leaping from her curled up spot on her battered sofa, she dug around in a stack of textbooks until she found the one she was looking for. She had thought that a class that only required a single textbook would mean little true work and studying. Flopping back to her seat she flipped through the small book just randomly searching for something that might help.

A ding alerted her to a new message and she quickly opened it hope to see a time a date when they could meet, she was realizing at a startling pace that she was far behind and not up to par with what her teacher wanted from her.


"Not a test?' Nico didn't want to argue with the man offering to help her but that was exactly what it felt like. Not wanting to cheat him with a textbook answer she tried to remember what they were and came up blank.


Figuring she might as well brush up on her photography terms and principals she cracked open the hardcover book and skimmed over the pages.

Going to bed early she work up the next day and took a long hot shower, washing her hair and shaving her body silky smooth. Nico loved the feel of her freshly shaved self and ran slow teasing fingers over her body as she dried herself. It would have been a great moment to linger and explore but she had a list of things that needed to get done today.

Donning her favorite black skater skirt she matched it with a fitted low cut scoop neckline black and white horizontal pinstriped long sleeve and topped it with her 'safari' olive drab cargo vest. The vest was long and almost hit the hem of the skirt but stopped an inch short. The locket she always wore was around her neck, as well as a ribbon choker. On her feet she slipped on black thigh high boots. Her hair she left wild and free, finishing her accessories with feathery earrings and her worn gray canvas shoulder bag.

With as far away as Boydens was she would have to take the bus and made the most out of the trip, filling a laundry bag full of her clothes. It cost more but there was a laundry mat near the Asian market that laundered your clothes and folded them up nicely in a bag ready for you when you came to pick it up later. Calculating the cost of laundry soap, softer and dryer sheets along with the time involved, Nico didn't mind splurging when she didn't have the time to do them herself.

Arriving at Boydens a quarter before her appointed time, she headed directly for the baked goods. The shop itself kind of reminded her of her Nana's house with it's cluttered collection of breakable figurines and cinnamon scented air. Licking her lips she eyed the freshly made massive cinnamon roll topped with a heavy dollop of thick creamy icing. Her mouth watered and catching the woman's eye pointed at the largest roll with a childlike wonder reflected in her smile.

"Thank you." Nico sighed with delight after paying. The roll was still warm and the older woman had added another dollop of icing to her plate. Handful with her baked goodness, she took a look around for Adrian, she didn't see him so sat at the table tucked in the window nook overlooking the outside scenery.

At Boyden's

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He received the text from Nico confirming the meeting at Boydens…

Smiling he wrote a reply. “Great see you then, and please remember to make that list of locations, activities that would be contenders for your project ‘A day in the life of Nico’ Then we can discuss how we/you could achieve them, Oh and I have a couple of presents for you…”

“Clare, your old Nikon, do you mind if Nico borrowed it?”

They ended up chatting for a while as Adrian explained the situation of the last 30 minutes or so, and Clare was happy to assist in the loan of her old camera.

Adrian got up and found the camera and a few other odds and sods, including an ageing remote for the camera and put the batteries on to charge. In the morning he found an old Tripod that he had when he was 19 back in the mid 80’s. It was considered a good tripod back then but now well technology had moved on. But it still worked and would suit Nico for her project…

Dressed in smartish casual, of chinos and a short sleeve Oxford shirt, he headed to work at his usual time. His day was busy. His title was ‘Network Manager’ but in reality he was also the ‘technician for many things, only having another junior person to work with him. But the two of them got on very well, and had worked with each other long enough to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. But he left slightly early and parked up by Boydens, close to the suburban district where he lived close to Philip, Nico’s father.

He walked into the coffee house/deli and immediately saw Nico and smiled warmly as he approached, placing his bag of goodies on the floor beside the table.

“Well Nico, you are definitely growing up, and how very pretty you look; I do like your hair,” he stated as he smiled.

“Can I get you anything, after all, it is my treat.”

At the counter, he stated the order, before looking around as he waited, including stealing a few glimpses at Nico. She had definitely grown up, and ‘filled’ out slightly into an attractive young woman, and her hair was gorgeous, but then he had a thing for auburn hair. And those boots!!

He paid and returned to the table and sat down.

“So, how was your day?”

As they chatted, the waitress brought across the order, including his bottle of tap water and a flat latte.

Nico had just taken a big bite out of her cinnamon roll when a voice called her name. "Mumph." She laughed chewing quickly, licking her lips clean of any trace of icing before greeting Adrian in return. "Yeah, I'm not that little girl from before." She grinned, glowing at the compliment. "Thank you Adrian." Her eyes took him in from head to toe. He was aging much better then her father was, Philip had gained some weight in the last years and his hair had thinned and grayed making him seem older then the truly was. Nico had expected the same signs of aging in Adrian but didn't. "You look great, just as I remember you."

Standing she went in for a hug, realizing that too late that he might not be a hugging kind of person. Too late to withdraw from the hug without it looking totally awkward, she stood up on her tip toes and lightly pressed her body against his with her arms around his neck and shoulders. "Thank you for agreeing to met me and help me out with this project." Pulling away from the hug her mind lingered on how tall he was and how fit his body still felt, not too hard and far from being soft. It seemed he kept in shape and wondered if he was the gym sort or at home fitness type.

"I'll take a spiced orchard oolong tea."

Adrian got their orders and Nico sat back down, taking another bite of her cinnamon roll.

"After getting off with you I got a message from a classmate letting me know that my first class had been cancelled. So I used the time to catch up on a few chores before coming here. Would you like come of my cinnamon roll." Nico had only touched the one side where she had cut off three bite sized pieces leaving the majority free from 'cooties'.

The waitress brought their order to the table and the conversation stilled as Nico thanked her.

"What about you? Do I dare assume that you've dressed up looking all dapper for little ol' me or did you have to go to work today?' Nico teased a bit blowing on her tea cup before taking a small sip.

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Adrian smiled as Nico lent in to hug him. Like most people, he was tactile, as far as hugs from friends, but also felt slightly insecure, especially when hugging a female who he barely knew, or didn't see often. And so he would always happily reciprocate, but he would never make the first move unless it was with someone whom he knew well. Nico didn't fit that category.

"Thank you for agreeing to met me and help me out with this project."

Glad to be able to help, I hope." he smiled "Let me get us some drinks...?"

xxx XXX xxx​

Back a the table, Adrian sat opposite Nico, his bag of goodies on the floor by his feet, sipping his flat white, leaving a layer of milk on his top lip, before he subconsciously licked it away, He then poured his single espresso into the flat white as he listened to Nico; taking a bite-sized piece of her cinnamon roll thanking her.

"What about you? Do I dare assume that you've dressed up looking all dapper for little ol' me or did you have to go to work today?'

"Work I'm afraid, I'm not quite that old you cheeky minx" assuming she was suggesting that he was now retired. "Was in a meeting most of the afternoon, but nothing too stressful... Thanks." He then paused before he continuing, "Not sure Clare would appreciate me dressing up all dapper for someone your age!" he joked' "though its fun to have the opportunity!"

They continued to chat, make small talk for a while essentially catching up on each other, as Adrian looked at her lovely red hair.

Finally, with his flat white finished he approached the subject.

"So Nico, your photography course, it isn't going as well as you would have liked? What is exactly the problem, from your perspective and from your tutors? Then we can come up with a plan so we can re-shoot your project for next Monday taking onboard their encouraging comments." He wanted to help Nico. He had undergone some coaching training, and as such he wanted to try and use those techniques to help Nico, to get her to identify her weaknesses and then help her find solutions. One of those techniques is whenever possible to have a positive spin, to always be positive. In his bag, he had one of his older D-SLRs as well as a tripod and some other possibly useful accessories.

"Not everyone has a Monday to Friday work schedule." Nico defended with a playful smile. She noticed the pause and worried that her friendly teasing had made him uncomfortable but he replied in jest and the carefree smile was once again back on her face. "Well a girl my age can only hope, with or without Clare's appreciation." She laughed stressing the part about her age, keeping the conversation light and merry.

This was the part of the conversation she dreaded. She had thought about how to phrase her class and her failure in many different ways but all in all it boiled down to lying to him or telling him the truth. As she was a horrid liar, she was left with nothing but the truth. Taking a deep breath she pushed away her cinnamon roll and licked her lips clean, taking her time in doing so because she didn't want to admit what she was about to admit.

"My teacher doesn't feel I'm trying. That my lack of skill isn't because I don't have the 'eye' but my lazy attempt at finishing my assignments." Nico shrugged, her eyes drifting from Adrian. "I take into account what the assignments ask for and simply do that. I point and click away but he faults me for not using the techniques he teaches properly or at all." Biting her thumbnail Nico look back at Adrian with a weak smile. "I thought photography would be easy, that it was just a simple class where you took pictures and that was it. I didn't see it as a real art form or that it would be as deep and technical as it is." A blush colored her cheeks as she admitted the truth. "Mr Parker wants me to 'find the magic in the art'." Wrinkling her nose, Nico sighed again. "I'm not too sure what he means by that but I am acknowledging that I've done wrong by this class and with this second chance I'm going to go all the way to Hogwarts and back if I have to."

The saying 'The truth will set you free', didn't apply here. In fact Nico felt sick and looked over at Adrian waiting for him to just stand up and leave. She had been the one to get herself in this position and she expected Adrian to call her on it and leave her to her fate. The silence between them was giving her stomach ulcers, if he did walk out on her she didn't know if she could improve her project anymore they she had already tried without help. Gosh, she hated to do it but if it came down to it she was prepared to beg for his help.

"I know, it's my fault that I tried to take advantage of the class but I really need your help." Nico began begging. "I could give you a hundred excuses on why I did it but but in the end that all they are, excuses and it doesn't change what I did." Not that it was horribly wrong but it wasn't right either. "I just can't afford to fail this class and I didn't think that all that stuff he talked about in class really made a difference in picture taking."

Sitting up straight, squaring her shoulders Nico lifted her chin and looked Adrian in the eye. "I understand if this changes things for you and you no long want to help me." Her mouth was dry and the sweet sugary pastry turned to acid in her mouth. "I'm sorry for taking up your time. I was nice to see you again."

Because in her mind that was the only outcome. Adrian would be disappointed in her, it would turn into anger and he would withdraw any past offers of assistance. Her mind scrambling she tried to come up with a way to make it all work without Adrian and she was coming up empty.

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Adrian listened intently during Nico’s mini-monologue; and he was quite taken aback by her honesty about she had hoped that the photography class would be an easy class. He took out a little notebook from his trouser pocket and started to scribble down a few things on a fresh page having dated the page first and with a heading ‘Nico’

He felt that he may need to refer to his notes in the forthcoming days, or even ask her a couple of questions. But he didn't want to interrupt her. He had done some basic coaching skill courses, and one thing they stressed was that if someone is speaking let them finish, you may never get their honesty like that again.
And so he scribbled a few notes as she finished.

“Wow Nico, and firstly I must thank you for your honesty. And for taking the blame, taking the responsibility. So many people today always seem to blame someone else. The fact that you have taken responsibility is a good start.” he offered smiling as he reached for his coffee and took a sip.

“And yes whilst a good camera will help with a good photo, it is the eye behind the lens that takes a good picture, not the camera…”

An idea struck him.

“May I have your phone please, on camera setting?”

He felt her look at him strangely briefly before she handed over her phone.
He quickly took a couple of photos literally pointing the lens at Nico and fired away, the flash making her look stark on the photos he took.

“Okay Nico, please hold your cup, and look thoughtful, yes that’s perfect.. And now look at the window, the people walking past please”

He moved from his chair as he took a couple of photos, turning the flash unit off, before moving slightly almost kneeling as he took another photo or two; before returning to his chair and offering her her phone back having scrolled back to the first one he took.

“Now compare the first photo and the later ones? Do the first couple tell a story? Do the later ones?’

He took another sip of his coffee as he watched her scrolling back and forth over those photos. He hoped those photos made the point he was trying to make; just by moving the camera angle and possibly asking the model to look in a certain way, and, or a certain direction could add a 'story' to the photo.

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​Nico didn't expect him to be so understanding so when Adrian asked for her phone she didn't even question him, handing it over without hesitation. "Yeah of course." She didn't know what he planned on doing but taking her picture was the last thing she would have guessed and she blinked rapidly clearing out the flash out of her eyes from her phone.​

"What-?" She began, her brows drawing together in confusion. His words were slow to process in her mind but when they finally did she held up her cup, foolishly trying to look pensive, unsure at all if she was even doing a passable job. Pleased in a surprising way when he called her effort perfect. The smile on her face more genuine as she followed his next direction, watching the people pass by. Adrian took a few more pictures, moving from his seat snapping away before returning to his chair and handing her phone back.

Scrolling through the handful of pictures he had taken she nodded mutely, the first ones were boring and the light was horrible making her skin look chalky and pale. The next ones were better adjusted and she had a far away look in her eyes as she clutched the mug in both her hands. "Wow," She sighed, she hadn't even been thinking that hard yet her captured stare had her wondering just was it was that occupied my thoughts. "I normally hate pictures of myself but these are good." The next set were even better and she lingered on a pictured Adrian had when he had taken a knee, managing to capture a beam of light reflected off of something behind her that cast a golden halo over her red hair.

"My turn?" Nico smiled turning the camera towards Adrian snapping a picture to to take one. It was as horrible as the first one he had taken and she scrunched her nose at the result. "Think of something exciting." She prompted with a grin holding her phone up in waiting. Nico still had no idea what she was doing but Adrian made it look to easy and she was eager to follow in his example.

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“My Turn?”

Adrian nodded. “Sure of course…..”

He looked at her and smiled as he sipped his own cup, wondering whether she had a plan, or like him, being spontaneous. He was glad that she seemed to understand, and appreciate the difference between the first couple of photos he took and the reminder. He had watched her as she scrolled through flicking forwards, and then backwards as she looked at them.

“Think of something exciting."

He looked at her as she held her phone and smiled.

“Something exciting? “ he repeated the question even though he heard and understood what she wanted. But he was trying to think of something.

He turned to the window slightly as he caught a younger female, but probably older than Nico walk past, in her work attire. She wore wedge sandals, and a smart dress, smart enough for work, yet casual enough to go shopping in, the one shoulder clearly having slipt of her shoulder slightly exposing her bra strap. Adrian looked at her, and then in that direction as he felt the camera on him.

His mind changed to one of a recent bike ride as he accelerated past 50mph down a rather steep hill, the wind in his hair, the tears in his eyes despite his safety glasses as he rode down the hill.

As he heard a couple of ‘commands’ he obeyed, trying to be the perfect model, knowing that Nico was probably slightly out of her depth.

“Why don’t you try taking some without the flash in the way that I did in my last few? There is enough light here….”

Nico nodded and turned the flash off and played with the light that streamed in through the many windows as well as the bulbs overhead, learning quickly that she preferred the warmer toned sunlight to the harsher artificial light above them.

"Here," She stood up and joined Adrian on his side of the table, passing the phone over to him as she pulled the chair over close to his side. She wanted to know what he thought, be there next to him so he could point out weakness and thing that could easily be fixed or even, though unlikely, praise her if there were a shot or two that wasn't just horrid.

"I tried to think up a story in my head and take pictures as if that was what was happening." Nico blushed unsure if it would pull though in the quick snapshots. "It was a lot more fun then forcing a picture." Leaning over she hovered waiting for Adrian to start flipping through the pictures, all of a sudden more nervous then she had been turning her project into her teacher.

Being so close she could smell the cologne that Adrian used and she closed her eyes and breathed deep. It held the typical masculine muck scent but there was something sharp and fresh that left a clean flavor to the cologne that had Nico breathing deep again. With that second breath she realized that she was smelling Adrian and she snapped open her eyes and subtly leaned back over, putting space between them as her cheek darkened with a flush of color.

Once she felt she was at an appropriate distance she braved a look at Adrian's face, wondering if he had caught her breathing in the scent of his cologne. She prayed that he had missed it, absorbed in her phone and the pictures she had taken and let go of her breath that she hadn't even realized that she held. Adrian was looking away from her and it seemed that no harm had come from her crazed moments of smelling the man like a scratch and sniff sticker.

"Are they bad?' She asked when he hadn't said anything.

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Adrian continued to look as natural yet thoughtful as he could despite being self conscious being in front of the camera. He hated hs photo being taken, became rather self critical and and self conscious. But he listened to her brief commands but couldn't help smile with relief as she sat next to him, offering him her phone.

He took it and started to swipe through her photos, though he was initially distracted by her closeness? He felt her leg press against his albeit very briefly before she settled down. He could smell her feminine smell, her perfume, possibly with a citrus smell of her shampoo or conditioner. He wasn’t sure, but her close proximity had made him become aware of her feminine smell, together with the brief touch on his leg as she had sat down.

"Are they bad?'

“A couple possibly but then every shoot you will have on average 20 photos for each good one at least, if not more… And I do like some of them…”

"I tried to think up a story in my head and take pictures as if that was what was happening."

“Good idea, And the story is of a man is ‘Lost in thought” he asked as he turned to face her, looking at a couple of photos, one side in the natural light, the other side in more shadow adding to an impression of thoughtfulness and a hint of tension maybe he wondered to himself.

“Well I like a couple of them, much better than the first few shots, don’t you think? In terms of taking photos, especially in portraiture work, you need a story to tell.”

He returned to the phone swiping back and forth as he listened to her comments.

“Yes, there are a couple that I like. What about you? Which is your favourite and why, and which is your worst photo from that batch, and what one thing could you do differently to improve it?”

He wanted her to start thinking, about composition, light. The phone camera will take care of the practical details so Nico could concentrate on composition and the like. Only be criticizing her own work will she start to improve.

"That's good to know." Knowing that every picture wasn't expected to be perfect was a relief. "1 out of 20 sounds doable." But it was a statement that was quickly followed by a frown. If Nico was doing the math correctly she would need a much larger SD card then she currently had in her camera. Hearing that there were a few that Adrian liked turned that frown into a shy smile as she warmed at his words.

Nico nodded in agreement in her improvement from her first set of shots. "My favorite?" There had been a few that she would have thought while taking the photo that they would have come out great but when she reviewed them, they were truthfully kind of awful. Yet there was one that she really liked and she leaned in to Adrian and reached out to swipe the screen a few times over until she got to the photo that she wanted.

It was one of him drinking from his mug, his lips parted but not yet touching the rim as his eyes stared off into the distance. Warm light filtered in through the windows and it cast a soft shadow over part of his face. "This one." Nico smiled pausing at the photo she had in mind. "I like the relaxed posture of your face, the parted lips and the way the sunlight creates a warm and shadowed effect on your face."

As to the one she disliked the most. "There are more bad pictures then good, picking the one I like the least it harder." Scooting over again to get a better look at the phone screen brought her even closer. Her leg from knee to thigh pressed along Adrian's, her upper half twisted in her seat to fit the arm between them off to the side and behind her, while her other arm reached over hovered over his arm as the side of her breast molded against his upper arm.

Nico flipped all the way to the beginning and pointed at the first one. "The light it too harsh from the flash and reflects off the window horribly." She flipped to the second, "It does it in this one too." The next few were the same but this time the flash reflected from his cup or cast dark shadows under his eyes and along his nose making him look like a cartoon villain. "This one's not bad but the angle of your face as you turned your head to look at something makes me, I don't know. Lose interest because I can't see what you're looking at and I don't think anyone's ear can look exciting."

There was something that Nico could pick out in nearly all her photos that she hated, be it the focus causing the photo to look blurry, or the lighting or just the last of action or emotion that she failed to capture and she shared all these thoughts with Adrian until she got to the end of her shoot.

"Improvement would come with practice and guidance." Nico answered simply. "Learning to take in the scene within the lenscape would help and learning moments when the flash should or should not be on." She further explained leaned back into her seat with a hard look on her face. She had taken close to fifty photos in rapid secession and there was only one that she even liked. Was there even an SD card out there large enough for the number of photos she would need to take?

"So 1 out of," She leaned over and flicked her finger over the screen and huffed, "42... Well it gives us a place to take off from, right?" Nico tried for a smile but finding out that she was as horrible as she had guessed herself to be was a bitter pill that she wasn't swallowing well.

.



Adrian felt Nico lean into him, as she took her phone from his fingers and swiped back and forth a couple of times, till she showed him the photo that she thought was her best. He took the phone from her and studied it as she explained why she liked it, and he agreed it was a good portrait, almost taken as if I was unaware of the camera - a good sign of a good portrait, Even if the model knows there is a camera pointed at them, as well as the lights, the photo should appear as if the model is oblivious of the camera’s presence. He explained.

“But it is often a good idea to self-critique your photos especially if they are taken for a specific project or even image that you are trying to achieve. It is so easy just to point the camera and shoot... “

She nodded as she reached for her phone "There are more bad pictures than good, picking the one I like the least it harder." momentarily pressing her side, possibly her breast into his right arm as she leant against him reaching for the phone. He automatically shuffled on the bench seat moving further along allowing Nico more space.

“Don’t be that harsh to yourself” he injected as he watched her swipe through her photos. “At least you are being honest with yourself and able to highlight strengths and weaknesses…

He looked at the first few photos and saw for himself how harsh the flash was on the lighting, hence why he suggested turning the flash off, though he decided not to repeat himself. She needed more encouragement and not to ‘reinforce failure’ He listened as they looked at the remaining photos, Adrian injecting where appropriate, with the odd negative comment but for the most part he was always positive, and every negative Nico found, he generally found a positive, even if it was a small feature.

"Improvement will come with practice and guidance."

“Indeed gorgeous” he replied. “And if you continue picking up your own weaknesses and ideas on how to overcome those shortcomings your photos will improve especially composition wise.”

He paused as he finished his coffee…

“So your shoot, what are your plans to reshoot before next week? And more importantly, how do you see me fitting into that plan Nico?”

As he asked, he glanced down to check that his bag was still there.

Nico nodded seeing the logic of what he was saying, even if she lacked the confidence of being able to fix all her weaknesses before her assignment was due. Adrian finished his coffee and she looked over towards the other side of the table at her forgotten, now cold, tea and wrinkled her nose.

"I was thinking about revisiting the pool first. Get in an early photo shoot of me swimming. I was hoping..." She took a deep breath knowing what she was going to ask a huge. "That you could be there." She looked up at his face judging how he was taking her request. "I could take a few pictures, we could review them and I could fix them as I go." And here was the shoe. "Problem is I get to the pool before anyone else is there in the morning. It would make it an early day for you if you were to help me."

Already doubtful and worried that she had asked too much, Nico jumped into a new branch of thought. "Or we could set something up later in the day, at the library, gym or studio." She quickly replaced in offering. "Really any time you could commit to this would be a life saver." She gushed with a shy smile laughing at herself and how bad she was at asking for help.

"I also understand if today is all that you can do, I feel like I at least have an idea of what to look for and like you said practice will improve my skill." It wasn't a complete lie, he had shared some quick tips that she felt she could easily apply to her next shot. There was sure to be some improvement just by using her camera instead of her phone, right...

Taking her phone back she turned the screen off and slid back into her seat, giving Adrian space to think over what she had just asked of him. She didn't was to pressure him by being in his space but felt that moving back to the other side of the table might be just as awkward. So she just sat there and waited, trying to keep from fidgeting in her seat. Patience wasn't one of her virtues and she managed to keep from tapping her feet in nervous apprehension.

The Loan Camera

.

.


He listened intently nodding his head every now and then where relevant, including the suggestion of the pool, but he waited before she had finished speaking before he replied.

“Well if it makes you feel better, I’ll happily be there, after all, I’m a morning person!” he offered with a smile on his lips.

“Then as you say we can look and then ‘fix’ them if required. "

“But how early are you there Nico?”

“And sure I’m happy to be at the other shoots” as he listened to her suggest the gym and the library before he replied.

“Have you a plan, a ‘mental storyboard’ of the story that you are trying to get across with your shoot, or are you just taking random photos?” He looked at her on his right before continuing, “Be honest”

He continued as he watched her. “If for example, I was to tackle this project with you as my ‘story’; Id ask you what you wanted to convey in the story; in the shoot, and then decide how to best achieve that image, through location, attire and props and then plan a series of shoots accordingly.”

“And I’m not going to abandon you, so don’t worry about that Nico. You have asked for help, and so I will assist in whatever manner I can until we agree that you have learned enough to go ‘solo’.”


And then he reached for the bag on the floor and opened it up. “This is an older camera the D5000. It was a rated DSLR for the middle enthusiast at the time. IT allows you to take complete control or it will make some decisions for you. For example, if you want to do some portraiture work, turn the dial onto portrait and the camera will set the settings as close to optimal as the situation will allow. For Sport, it will have the fastest shutter speed and the like. The batteries are charged, and there are a couple of memory cards. I’ll explain this in detail later but it also will allow you to take photos in what's known as RAW format, which saves far more data. Which has its downside but it also means you have more data to manipulate in software like Lightroom”

As he finished speaking he offered her the camera. “Try it”

He wasn’t sure if he had bombarded her with too much information but he smiled affectionately towards her.

“Another cup of tea Nico?” He asked "Or soda or...?"

"Really, that's great." Nico sighed, letting the breath she had been hold out slowly. "I normally get to the pool around six in the morning. If that works for you."

Nico thought about his question for a bit knowing that her 'story' wasn't so much a story. "I was trying to capture the movement of each action, to show a life always on the move." She answered honestly. "So it's not so much a story as a vibe. Would a story be better?" Nico asked her brows drawing together as she tried to make a story headliner for her life coming up with a blank.

Knowing that Adrian planned to be by her side relaxed the young woman and she smiled grateful for his help and knowledge. "You really are the best, a real life saver." She praised with a faint blush.

Adrian reached down and pulled out a complicated camera and nico eyed it as if it were a snake ready to bite her. It looked intimidating and Adrian's explanation of it didn't make her feel any better about it. As she listened she realized that he intended to have her use them and she felt a flutter at the pit of her stomach. The camera looked expensive and if she were to break it she knew that she didn't have the means to replace it.

"Try it?" She repeated keeping her hands where they were. Nico was this odd mixture of excitement at learning something new and playing with a new toy but the possible price tag of Adrian's own personal camera was daunting. "Truely?" She asked looking up at Adrian's face.

His smile was reassuring so she waved away his offer of another drink. "I think I'd prefer to learn a bit more about this camera of yours and maybe get some hands on experience with it before we call it a day, it that's alright with you." Nico stood up and returned to her side of the table, where her bag was and placed some money on the table looking at Adrian expectantly.

She was more a dive in head first kind of learner and if this was to be her new toolset she had to properly know how to handle it and get over her pricy fear of the thing. "Do I even want to know how much a setup like that cost?" She braved looking back at the camera like it had sprouted another head.

.


He saw he blush briefly, and how she instantly relaxed with a sigh of relief when he mentioned he would be there to ‘hold her hands’ at least metaphorically.

Adrian watched Nico fiddle with the camera as he pointed out the dials and controls, as she held it, slightly mortified.

“It was a good camera in its day Nico, still is, but it isn't worth what I paid for it now, so now worry if you break it, WHICH I’m sure you won’t.” smiling. “CErtainly try it out now, but if you want to do your current assignment this week in the camera you feel more comfortable, confident with, then that makes sense! My main cameras are at home!”

"Try it?" She repeated after him.

“Sure, how else will you learn how to use, handle it. In the bag I have a flash unit and a spare tripod together with a simple remote control, which i can show you how to use as and when. Oh and there is also a book written by a third party on how best to use the camera, I certainly learnt stuff from it.” trying to be upbeat and encouraging. He felt he was as much as a tutor, a coach as a teacher, and wanted to encourage her to learn and learn from her own mistakes. That may take longer in the short term but better in the longer term.

"I think I'd prefer to learn a bit more about this camera of yours and maybe get some hands on experience with it before we call it a day, it that's alright with you."

Certainly, makes total sense!” he replied as he watched Nico move and reach for some change for the tip. As he stood up and got his stuff ready he spoke.

“There is a local park near here which is quite picturesque, and has an old wall with graffiti for a ‘urban look’. So a mixture of landscape and some where to try portraits using several settings on the command dial.”

He saw her nod to his idea, and soon they were walking down a coupe of side streets enjoying the evening sun, the early signs of Autumn, the fall already making it’s mark on the landscape with the leaves starting to turn colours into reds and oranges.

He gave her a brief demo on how to use the camera, how to hold it, and to use the viewfinder, as well as reiterating some of the controls she should try and master as soon as practical. But as soon as he could, he let go of the camera, wanting Nico to take ownership of the camera and to use it.

He watched her starting to take photos, as she felt the weight of the camera and lens, and using the viewfinder. As and when he responded to any questions, Once or twice he spoke making a couple of suggestions, “REmember in the shop I mentioned changing your viewpoint, kneeling for example. Well Here you could stand on a park bench or whatever just to get a viewpoint that most people do not see, so are less familiar with.”

As he watched her, he also started to look at her as a person, rather than a friend’s daughter. She had blossomed into a rather attractive young female even if she was possibly too skinny for his usual type. But she was sassy,a nd friendly and seemed to be approaching her photographic dilemma with an enthusiasm. Hope it lasts he thought to himself. He loved her hair though, long wavy and a lovely colour. It also looked very fine, soft and silky. Her jacket, her T-shirt also made him smile with her sassy but apt top. Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't hear her next question until she repeated it.. Thankfully his gaze had moved before she noticed he had been watching, pondering ot at least he hoped..

She hadn't understood just how into photography Adrian was until he pointed out that this wasn't one of his main cameras, making it sound like he had a collection. Even more so when he listed the amount of things that he brought with him that was also in the bag. Was there a room dedicated to photography in his house just to store all this equipment?

"This is more then I ever would have expected." Nico smiled, her smile warm as she clutched the camera gently to her chest. She followed him silently as her focus turned to the camera and all the different functions and modes. Adrian had quickly gone over what the camera could do and that she could understand but it was the ability to achieve a successful shot that was lost on her.

Looking away from the camera Nico took in the beauty of the day, the leaves were changing and birds swooped from trees twirling around each other in a magical dance before darting back above the reach of the trees. Once they reached the park Adrian went over the camera again, going into the finer details of the controls, showing her how to properly handle the camera so it fit in her hand more comfortably. The demo was very informative and Nico absorbed the knowledge with a hungry grin.

Armed with new knowledge Nico took to the park snapping shots here and there. A leaf falling, a flying bird, a passing cloud. They were targets and Nico was ruthless in their capture. "Hmm?" Nico paused nodding turning to Adrian as she hopped up on the nearest park bench? "Like this?" She giggled ad snapped away taking pictures of Adrian with childish glee. "Or this." Jumping down from the bench Nico took a knee looking up at Adrian and adjusting what she hoped was the focus before take yet more pictures.

"Is that what you meant?" Snarked Nico in a friendly tone holding the camera out for his review. "What do you think?" She hadn't looked at any of them and wanted to know if the somewhat clued toggle spinning did anything to improve her photos. Though if she was being honest with herself it still felt like random button mashing and scope twisting. This would take some getting used to.

"Do you have the user manual for this? And I'll take you up on that offer of the book you mentioned before." She mused already thinking about googling or youtubing videos on this model of camera.

.

He took the camera as Nico offered it to him after she had taken a few photos and scrolled through them on the back display. A few of them were okay, nothing special, but some others were pretty good. He saw a maple leave in its golden orange colour against the green grass underneath it and commented that he liked it.

He then saw a few of the photos of him and nodded. I do like the ones where you knelt Nico, gives a different perspective. And I can tell that you used the ‘portrait’ mode on the last few, as the background is less defined, making the person focus on me!”

He looked at her as he nodded “so good…”

As he finished looking at the photos he met her eyes and nodded. “Some good photos there Nico. They may not win a photo competition, but compared to some of those you have shown me for your project, a great improvement.”

He then proceeded to stand on the bench that the had just been sitting on.

“Step back please Nico, and look at the camera. All these photos will be taken on the same settings in terms of shutter and aperture on the camera settings but the camera will tweak according to the function dial.”

He then proceeded to take a photo of Nico in quick succession changing the main command dial, or the function dial in between each shot.

“Sadly I don’t have the paper manual but I do have a pdf at home, Ican email that to you later….”

He started to scroll through the photos he had just taken.

“One day, when you’re not busy, it would be fun to have you model for me!!” smiling and winking as he made that comment.

“So anything else for me before I give you your homework?”

He saw what looked like a face of despair as he mentioned the dreaded homework word.

“I want you to think of the story that you want your photos to convey for your project, and to have some ideas, of what you want to achieve, and how you can achieve them. You are the one who has said time is short, so planning your shoot is essential to get the results you desire quickly and efficiently.

“And what time at the pool tomorrow?” he asked wanting to confirm the timings. He remembered around 6 am, but wanted to be sure.

"Hmm..." Nico grinned to herself at Adrian's comment that he liked one of her photos, the smile growing as he complimented her more on the improvement from before.

Adrian then stood on the bench and pointed the camera at her. She nodded with what he was saying, she hadn't changed much and had had only changed the focus and switched back and forth between just two preset function modes.

"That would be great, I'll keep an eye on my inbox." Nico flushed trying not to squirm under the gaze of the camera as he snapped a handful of photos. "Really, me?" The wink he gave her made her think he was joking but the punchline was lost on her if it was. "Fun? I mean I guess." She shrugged turning away from the camera shyly.

Nico frowned at the mention of homework, she hadn't thought there would be homework but what he was asking was only fair. Yet she frowned. "So movement isn't a story?" She pouted. Was there was way she could turn that into a story?

"Meet up at six in the morning?" She confirmed reaching out for the camera.

The Morning Rondevous

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Just before he drove away from giving Nico a lift home, he opened the car window.

“I’ll send you the pdf shortly, and I’ll see you around six. Oh and any problem I’ll be up till around 10:30”

Once home he sent her the pdf and a few other odds and sods that he thought she might benefit from, and was soon in the evening routine with his wife Clare.

Around ten minutes early, he applied the handbrake outside the college’s sports centre and opened the car, enjoying the cool autumnal morning. With his coffee in his hand, he started t walk around as he waited for Nico to turn up, it wasn't long before he heard her voice and he turned to face her, to greet her.

After their pleasantries, he smiled as he saw her in her activity leggings and jacket.

“So Nico, do you have a plan for us?”

He followed her into the building sipping his coffee as he did so