Over Exposure
4
And Action!
“Valerie” by CHAINFOTO24, ID249514102 licensed from Shutterstock.com
I GOT OUT of my job at two o’clock and went to my Chicago Fashion Tribes class. That was the first time I saw one of my buddies. Leslie was taking this course. That seemed natural, since her concentration was fashion photography.
“Nate! I wondered where you were. What are you taking?” she asked as she gave me a hug.
I found out that when I had Imaging Strategies and Experimental Photography, she was taking Fashion Photography/Studio and Commercial Photography. We agreed to get together Wednesday at noon and try to get Leanne, Carrie, and Devon together for our weekly study group.
After what we quickly dubbed ‘the tribal class,’ I headed straight home. Getting out at four o’clock meant I was still likely to hit the peak of rush hour on the train at four-thirty. You could just about bet that by the time any train got to the south end of the Loop between four-thirty and six o’clock, there would be standing room only.
“Oh, man, look at this,” Patricia said when she got home. She barely got the newspaper tossed on the table before she was bowled over by Toni. Ronda had the little girl all day and was still trying to get dinner on the table for the family. I’d try to get home sooner tomorrow. I had a feeling the family was going to start eating later in the evening than we had been. Especially when Ronda started school in three weeks. But Toni was going to start daycare tomorrow while Patricia worked. We all agreed that Ronda wasn’t the equivalent of daycare, no matter how much she loved Toni.
“What is it?” I asked, looking at the entertainment section of the New York Times.
“It came out last Wednesday, but I didn’t think of picking up a copy until I saw it in the break room today. Page thirty-one. It’s a review of Beth’s show.”
I sorted through the pages until I spotted the review of The Emerald Slipper. I don’t think the show was at all what I thought it was. And the reviewer struggled to be kind. And failed.
First of all, the show is definitely not for adults of any ages. Although at the Saturday preview matinee I attended some of the children seemed to enjoy some of it some of the time, it is not a recommendable show for children either—unless you are absolutely at a loss for something to do with a child at 7 o’clock in the evening.
The play, the work of Josill Alcarez, who also directed, has an Oriental background and characters named Prince Won Ton, Princess Consume (pronounced consommé) and Chow Mein, which means it has much to overcome before it begins.
—The New York Times review 9/2/1970 by Mel Gussow
“Oh, dear. There isn’t even a mention of the acting or actors,” I said. “And the reviewer ends by saying, ‘I’d be a Liar Box if I said I enjoyed any aspect of it.’ Poor Beth.” I tossed the paper on the table and took Toni from Patricia so she could take off her jacket—and a few other clothes—and sit down at the table. I got Toni into her high chair and Ronda put a very nice tuna/noodle casserole in front of us.
I had a completely different line-up of classes on Wednesday with Image Strategies, Makeup Techniques, and Urban Images in Media and Film. Leanne was a student assistant in the Makeup Techniques class. It would be a hands-on class, but like all classes, the first day was an introduction and I figured out that I’d need to go buy the textbook, which cost something ridiculous, like $12.95.
Leanne and I went to the cafeteria to meet Leslie, Carrie, and Devon. Only Devon was definitely Dora now. She made no pretense about being who she was. I wondered how I was going to deal with her when she came to get her ID photo. Well, she’d have that battle with the Registrar, not with me. She looked divine.
“I don’t know, but by the looks of it, you four all got laid this summer. I mean, I know Nate did. Dora already told me she did, and I can’t imagine Leanne and Leslie going to visit Nate in Stratford and not getting screwed. I’m insanely jealous,” Carrie said.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t found a guy to do the deed with!” Leanne said. “Nate, you really need to help this poor girl out.”
“Not my job!” I said. Not that I’d mind fucking Carrie, but I was afraid she’d think that meant we were getting married.
“No, I think I found the guy, but we haven’t quite gotten to that part yet. But he’s so sweet. He works on Leva’s staff, so you know he’s respectful of women.”
“How goes the campaign?” I asked.
“I think she’s going to pull it off. I didn’t know this, but the Chicago City Council isn’t the only City Council in town. If that made any sense,” Carrie said.
“Almost,” I said.
“There are a number of neighborhoods, like Englewood and Edgewater, that have neighborhood councils. They aren’t as prestigious as the City Council, but they make a good stepping stone for political aspirations. Leva is going to run for a board position on the Edgewater Community Council.”
“That’s cool. That’s a nice neighborhood. It’s where Beth’s family lives.”
That got us talking about Beth and the bad review her show got and how we’d broken up at the end of the summer and she’d gone to New York. Then we caught up on everyone else’s summer. We agreed to meet on Wednesdays at noon and the next meeting would be at the studio.
I got a call on Thursday that I had an appointment Friday for a portrait. Cassie didn’t think it was a big deal and shouldn’t take too long, but the order for prints was likely to be large.
That was unusual for a basic portrait. The only time a person wanted a lot of prints was for a portfolio, or for school pictures. I thought perhaps one of the brochures I’d handed out had brought in a client.
I got to the studio about ten after having had a long and luxurious lovemaking session with Anna. She’d finished her first three days in classes and was happy to be home. She had a pile of homework already, though, as she had two classes that were going to take a huge amount of time: Real Estate Finance and Banking. Apparently, our transaction to buy the house and business in Stratford had been extremely simple compared to what financing a home purchase in the US could be. And I thought banking was nothing more than putting money in a checking account and making payments from it. According to Anna, they were really big topics and she’d spend an entire semester studying each.
I guessed accounting and finance were as complicated as photography. At least I didn’t have to buy huge textbooks for most of my classes. They were more esoteric, I guess. A lot of my tribal class and the film class would be taught out of magazines and newspapers. The Image Strategies and Experimental Photography classes were mostly hands on with a couple of professionals who brought their experience to the classroom more than a text. Only my makeup class had a real textbook. It would be an expensive class beyond that as we were supposed to start assembling our own makeup kit.
My musing was interrupted by the arrival of my client. She was carrying a dress bag in front of her that was blocking my view of who it was, but when I greeted her and she lowered the bag, I almost lost it.
“Welcome to Attic Allure. Let me help you with your dress bag,” I said. “Valerie? What are you doing here?”
“I’m getting married!” she said.
“Here?”
“No! I’m getting my bridal portrait done here. Where else would I go?”
“A bridal portrait! This is your wedding dress?”
“Yep.”
“Sorry for having been taken so off guard. Welcome. I’ll be happy to take a bridal portrait. I was just so surprised to see you. It’s been…”
“The New Year’s Eve Party when you brought that incredibly beautiful woman from Los Angeles. As well as all your girlfriends.”
“Adrienne is our mistress. I was out in LA just a couple of weeks ago to work on the movie. I saw her then,” I said. “Here are a couple of pictures I took while out there. Not of Adrienne, but of some actresses.”
“Do I recognize her?” Valerie asked. “She seems familiar.”
“That’s Sue Fletcher. I’ve never seen anything she’s in.”
“I don’t recognize the name. Were you taking a picture of a teenybopper? That’s a little risky, isn’t it?”
“That’s the actress Lorna Love. She’s twenty-three. She’s playing a teen in the movie.”
“You have a Lolita in your movie!”
“It’s not my movie. I only act as a consultant on photography issues and I took production photos during the first week of shooting. It’s actually a murder mystery,” I said. I didn’t want anyone to think the movie was about me. Lyle was a creepy guy, both on film and in person.
“Well, I finally got my guy, so I need bridal photos. I think I’ll want one of those big color pictures to give my parents. I’ll need a couple dozen black and white 8x10s to send with announcements to newspapers and society journals, and I’ll want an album of intimate photos that show me getting ready.”
“Wow! Let me see what I have for scenery props and background that would be good. Too bad I can’t show you coming down the aisle on an airplane in your gown.”
“Yes! Could you do that? I mean take the picture if I got it set up?”
“I’ve taken pictures on a plane before. I think I could get a good one. I just don’t happen to have a plane available.”
“I’ll get one. But not today. Today, start with a regular portrait and then get me into my dress.”
I paused as I set the stage for a standard portrait as I considered what she had just said. Get her into her dress? Well, Jordan had said that I didn’t need to be concerned about taking pictures of Valerie or Nadia. What the hell?
I treated Valerie like I would any other client. If I had known how extensive a sitting she wanted, I would have gotten an assistant in. This could take a long time, but Valerie had already described several hundred dollars’ worth of photos she wanted to buy. I’d just go with it as it came.
Valerie posed nicely on a stool for her initial portrait and I got her in all the positions I would have used for a high school yearbook. Nothing really special about that portrait set, but she was very pretty and it would make a nice portrait.
“Now, you can step behind the privacy screen to put your dress on,” I said. “I think I have a white room backdrop that I can use for the portrait. The dress is white, isn’t it?”
“Um… Nate? Yeah, white. But… I don’t suppose you’ve ever done a wedding. It takes more than one person to get me into the gown.”
“You want me to dress you.”
“It’s why I came to you for this set of photos instead of Olan Mills,” she said.
“Okay. Let me get the backdrop up first. If you wouldn’t mind giving me a hand, we can get it done more efficiently.”
I got the drop and Valerie helped hold it while I fastened it in place. I pulled the white drop out under the room so she would have a white surface to stand on. I set lights approximately where I thought they would go. Then I took a deep breath and went to help Valerie get dressed.
By the time I joined her behind the privacy screen, she was wearing only her bra and panties. Well, at least I didn’t need to undress her. She had the bag unzipped and I could see the beautiful white dress in it. She was bent over to remove her shoes from the bottom of the bag. My cock was instantly reminded of another stewardess I’d seen bent over like this. Wow! The panties didn’t really hide much. They were the style that just had a string around the waist and one down her butt crack. There was a triangle of thin silk covering her pussy lips. Mostly.
“Enjoying the view?” she asked, looking back at me.
“Yes, actually. Don’t hurry.”
She wiggled her hips slightly and then stood, turning to face me. The bra was as thin as the panties and her nipples were clearly visible through it. She handed me a pair of white lacy hose and sat down, holding out a very shapely leg.
“I was told by my sister that you don’t fuck in the studio,” Valerie said as I sorted out the hose and reached for her foot.
“That’s right.” I was thankful Beth hadn’t mentioned areas where I did fuck.
“That’s what gave me the courage to come and do this photoshoot with you. It was what you did in the shoot with Lisbet last spring. I’m okay with all that. In fact, I’m kind of hoping for all that. But it wouldn’t be seemly for the bride to fuck another man while she’s wearing her bridal gown, or putting it on, or taking it off. You know, the groom has a right to expect something,” she laughed.
“I agree,” I said. “Who is the lucky guy?”
“Daren Collins. I was with him at the New Year’s Eve party, but there were so many people there, I scarcely spoke to you. He works for the government, in civilian service at the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. He’s an assistant deputy something or another, but has a pretty good career path in front of him. And family.”
“I had assumed he was temporary,” I said. “Every time I met you at the house you were with someone else.”
I moved to her second leg and rolled the hose on. She sighed and opened her legs wide.
“Look at this, Nate. Oh, don’t be shy. I know you’ve seen a pussy before.” She pulled the gusset of the panties aside so I could truly see her bare lips. “Do you know how many men have put their penis in this vagina? I don’t know either. I’ve spent five years as a sky mattress. And I finally found a man who not only wanted to get between my legs, he wanted to stay there.”
She pulled her panties back into place and stood up.
“By the way, that sounded tired and bitter,” she said. “I’m not, really. I’ve had a blast flying and meeting people. I like getting a man’s penis in my vagina. I still wouldn’t mind getting yours there—but not in the studio or in my wedding gown. I figure there must be some reason so many women want to hang with you all the time. So, help me out of my bra and into my dress. I figured that it would be easier to start fully dressed and have you take pictures in reverse order as you undress me, than to keep stopping as I dress to take the pictures.”
I worked with Valerie all afternoon. And played a little. She had lovely boobs, just a little smaller than Beth’s. Valerie was a little shorter than Beth, and perhaps a little thinner. Why was I constantly compelled to compare Valerie to her younger sister?
Nonetheless, Valerie responded well to my direction and seemed to appreciate when I moved her with my hands, whether they strayed to her ass or anyplace else. The pictures of her in her dress with her veil and train in front of the backdrop were perfect. I loved the white on white look and took all the time necessary to capture the image of her full length front and back. Each time she moved, the train had to be adjusted.
“This is pretty, but how do you handle it, going up and down the aisle and dancing at the reception?”
“It’s brilliant, really,” she said. “Are you ready to start undressing me? I’ll show you.”
“I’d like just a couple more close-ups. One veil down and one veil up.”
“Can you see through it okay?”
“Oh, yeah. I did a series of photos of a model a few years ago just dancing with a veil in front of her. Nothing else. They were gorgeous.”
“We should try that,” she said.
I didn’t take a lot of photos, and I took most of them on the Linhof, so it took a little longer to get set up and get the right film carrier in. I was taking both color and black and white images.
When I’d finished the last take with Valerie fully dressed, I needed to take ten film carriers into the darkroom, carefully separated as to which were color and which were black and white. I put them in different dark envelopes that I’d pre-marked and then reloaded the carriers.
When I brought the new carriers out, I asked Valerie what she saw as the sequence for the next batch of photos.
“I think I’d like photos front and back without the train and veil in front of this backdrop, but then I’d like you to do something really dramatic with the rest of them. You know… with the rest of the pieces coming off.”
“Okay. Let’s start with removing the train and veil.”
The veil was fairly easy, but I had to put her hair back in place when it was removed. Then she showed me how the train, which had been attached to the skirt when I got her into the dress, unbuttoned from the waist of the dress so I could remove it. I got them into the dressing area and hung up, then returned to see the stunning result.
The dress was lace, tailored tightly to her bust and hips before flaring out just slightly around her legs all the way to the floor. It had a plunging neckline both in front and in back. In front it was cut well below her boobs and had just a translucent layer of silk beneath it. With the train on the dress, I hadn’t realized the lace and thin silk underlayment went all the way down the skirt.
In back, the vee went all the way down to her butt, stopping just above where one would see her crack. I’d put the dress on over her head, much as I’d helped Ronda into her homecoming dress years ago. It fit snugly over her hips and had barely cleared her boobs on the way down. I had to make sure those beautiful breasts were securely tucked inside the gown.
Now I wasn’t sure but what I could see them beneath the lace and silk. Not clearly, but I just knew right where the nipples were. I got her into the first position and took the color and the black and white pictures as she looked over her shoulder at me. Or rather the camera. Then, just as we’d used a three-quarter back position, I turned her to three-quarters front. I knelt to fluff the edge of the skirt out a bit and make sure it hung straight. From this distance, I was sure I could see her panties and where the white stockings ended. Well, I supposed no one but her husband would get this view on her wedding day.
It was a good view, though.
“Now, for something dramatic,” I said. “Let’s get this drop out of the way and pull the black. You have lovely fair skin and the white dress will make a great contrast with the black background. I’ll have you floating against the void.”
Getting the background out of the way was a little more difficult than getting it in place. All I could ask Valerie to do was stay out of the way while I wrestled with it. I only rolled it up and didn’t attempt to move it off the stand. I rolled up the white backdrop that I’d extended for her to stand on and pulled down the black. When it was in place, I moved Valerie onto it. I adjusted the lights and was satisfied that I had her isolated.
“Now, how are you going to undress me?” she whispered. “Please be careful not to damage the dress.”
“I’ve gotten a better look at it now that we have the veil and train out of the way,” I said. “I think we can get some lovely shots that look like you are getting into it instead of out of it.”
I positioned her with her back partially to me and stood beside her.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“I’m in your hands, Nate.”
Well, she wasn’t yet, but she was about to be. I reached across her and slid my hands under the left shoulder strap in front and in back. Then I pushed it off her shoulder and let my hands caress her shoulder blade and breast as I pushed it down her arm. I held her hand just across her waist so the gown wouldn’t fall any farther and went to take the next photo.
I didn’t linger with trying to show the dress in a lot of different stages. I discovered there was an elastic panel in the back over her butt crack that let me push the dress down instead of pulling it over her head. She stepped out of it and I carefully hung it.
I brought a dressing room chair and put it where she could put her foot on it and roll her stockings down her leg. We put her shoes next to the chair and it was the first picture I could actually see her breasts in.
“I think we want to take this last article of clothing,” I said as I slid my hands into the waistband of her panty. Well, the little string around her waist.
“I’ll be completely naked with you,” she husked.
“Yes. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“Yesss.” I pulled the string out of her butt crack and the thin little triangle off her pussy, making sure I paid attention to both as I slowly pushed them down and off. “I’m not wearing any of my wedding clothes now,” she continued. “So, it’s not like there’s anything here I’m saving for my husband. You could… you know…”
I knew and I did a thorough job of feeling her up, sucking on her little titties, and stroking through her pussy. She was breathing hard and had her head back as I stroked up and down and between her legs.
“Now, before we go any further with anything, I want that one last shot that you’ll frame and hang in your father’s office.”
“Nude? Like Lisbet’s?”
“Yes. And like hers, you’ll be nude, but not quite exposed. After all, it is your father’s office.”
I hurried to the dressing area and retrieved the veil. She smiled. We worked for a few minutes to find just the right pose, and I took the photo in color and in black and white.
“Can I take that one with me? You know my father’s birthday is coming up soon and I’d like to give it to him.”
“It will take me at least an hour to get the black and white version processed and printed. What size?”
“Not the giant one, but that middle size?” She pointed at the 12x15 print in the gallery.
“I have everything I need to do that, but I’ll have to do it all in the darkroom. Would you like me to help you get dressed first?”
“Can I come into the darkroom with you?”
“Sure. It’s a little boring, but we can chat.”
She followed me directly into the room and I just focused on that last picture, putting the film into the processing tank. I’d used the extremely fine grained x-ray film for this and I was confident the photo would be perfect.
I felt her arms go around my waist and her hands reach up to start unbuttoning my shirt. I let her go. When she had it fully open and was running her hands up and down my chest, I turned toward her and pulled her naked breasts against my chest.
“Nate, you’ve had your hands all over my body, but you haven’t kissed me. Please?”
That was not a problem at all. I captured her lips and they parted to admit my tongue. Maybe someplace in the back of my mind I was ‘getting back’ at Elizabeth for betraying us. When I had the film out of the developer and rinsed, I took a few minutes to worship the rest of Valerie’s body with my tongue, including parting her legs and lapping at her smooth pussy until she came.
While she sat in my chair and tried to recover, I got the negative on the enlarger and did a test strip to find the best setting. I put it in the developer and felt Valerie returning to action as she unbuckled my belt and unzipped my slacks. While the picture was in the stop bath, her hand was stroking my cock. When I moved it to the fixative, she dropped to her knees and started sucking on me. I was thoroughly enjoying this and didn’t try to come down her throat. I had another print to do yet.
I set the negative up and put the 12x15 archival paper on the enlarger. I kicked off my slacks that were around my ankles, and started the exposure. While it ran, I pulled Valerie to me and started kissing her again, running my hands through her butt crack and stroking her pussy as I bent to suck on her nipples again.
“How can you go so long without coming?” she panted as she stroked my cock.
I turned and removed the paper from the enlarger and put it in the developer.
“I guess I just enjoy the whole experience and don’t need to rush to a climax,” I said. “I think it comes from having three girlfriends to please. I have to pace myself.”
“Yes. It would have been four if my sister hadn’t been so stupid,” she said. “She told me everything and there was no way you could recover from that. She got what she deserved when her stupid show closed.”
“I hadn’t heard it closed.”
“It’s a wonder it made it for the week it ran. Seven days, ten performances and on Labor Day, they were told to clean out their dressing rooms.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It was really a terrible show. I was embarrassed to have taken Daren to it.”
“Not that it’s my business, but what is she planning to do now? Is she coming back to school? There’s only been three days of classes at DePaul.”
“No. She didn’t even come back to Chicago. Drove that hot little car of hers straight to Las Vegas. I hear she’s opening for Jack Mabee at the Palladium. I don’t think I’ll try to go to this opening.”
I moved the picture from the developer to the stop bath.
“Nate, she’s out of the picture now. And I’m not married yet. And… well, the darkroom isn’t really the same as the studio, is it?”
Damn! How was it that everyone seemed to make that jump?
“I mean, you’re still hard. I’d really like to find out how long you could last if we were fucking.”
“Do you think that wouldn’t drive me over the edge?” I laughed as I moved the picture to the fixative.
“You’d last long enough to get me over the edge, too, wouldn’t you?”
I turned and kissed her again. This time there was a kind of intensity that comes from intent. In that kiss, we declared our intent to fuck each other. I rinsed the photo and put it on a drying plate, carefully squeegeeing it as Valerie returned to sucking me. Once the print was drying, I sat in the chair and grabbed a condom from my stock.
“You do consider this a place that isn’t under studio rules,” Valerie laughed.
“Sometimes my girlfriends stop in for a little fun,” I said.
“We won’t be interrupted, will we?”
“Not this afternoon,” I said.
She rolled the condom on me and I pulled her to me. The feeling of her tight wet pussy descending over my cock was exquisite. She settled down until I was fully inside her. Almost. I looped an arm under one of her legs and around her back, then did the same with the other arm. Valerie was plenty flexible for me to hold her in this position and settled her down the last inch on my cock.
“Oh, God. You’re right against… How can I move on you in this position?”
I simply started raising and lowering her. At the top of each stroke, I paused for a moment and chewed on her nipples a little. It was actually quite a lot of work for me, even though I don’t think Valerie weighed more than 105. I still felt like I was doing a really long set of curls. She definitely got over the edge before I did, but then I settled her all the way down on my cock again. I could feel the hard ring of her cervix against the tip of my cock and started firing.
Just holding her there like that as I came, feeling the pulses against her cervix drove her over the edge again.
I held Valerie for a long time, still partially in her as I softened. Then I turned on the light and we looked at the print. It was perfect. Knowing this was for her father, I’d cropped the image so her head was mostly out of it, as were her knees and on down. The veil, held against her breast, just occluded her nipples and fell in front of her pussy, while leaving the exquisite shape of her back, butt, and arm completely exposed.
After she’d seen the picture, Valerie sucked me to another erection, knelt on the chair, and had me take her from behind. She was shocked into yet another orgasm when I pressed my thumb against her anus.
While I was running the blow dryer on the photo, Valerie decided to get another blowjob in and sucked me until I finally spurted a weak couple of shots into her mouth. Then I lifted her up on the table and ate her to another. I had to wonder if I should be envious of Daren or pity him. I didn’t know if the cock wore out with overuse or not. I had a feeling it was more in danger of atrophying for most men. I was a lucky guy.
Valerie said she was going to continue flying. The wedding wasn’t until June. And she was in this much of a rush to get her photos? I guessed society weddings took a long time to plan. I wondered how many more guys would find their way between her legs before the big day. I somehow thought she’d lose count again.
After Valerie finally left—which I wasn’t sure she’d ever do—I finished processing the black and white negative sheets and took the color transparencies down to Pro Color for processing over the weekend. I’d get them back on Monday.
On Saturday, Anna came into the studio with me and helped me put away drops and props and waited in the studio studying as I printed and processed the two dozen announcement photos and selection of black and white glossies that Valerie would want. When I finished, I left the darkroom to find Anna stretched out naked on the fainting couch behind the privacy screen. It didn’t take me long to be stretched out naked with her.
We all went back to Tenbrook for my birthday. It was on a Sunday this year, so we took a relaxing drive west on Friday. When we got to Tenbrook, we didn’t bother splitting up and going to different people’s houses. We just checked into two rooms at the revitalized hotel and found most of the rooms were occupied because the movie company was filming a street scene in Tenbrook on Saturday.
We watched from the hotel window as the street was blocked off and several of the town’s citizens were being positioned along the main block. It was an action scene and Lyle was to come around the corner, just as a semi truck lost its brakes coming down the hill into town on Main Street. I quickly grabbed my camera and started photographing from the third floor window as the truck sped into town.
People dove for doorways as the truck came through, but Lyle stood solid in the middle of the street, taking pictures of the approaching truck. At the last minute, he tumbled to the curb. The truck missed the curve and continued out of town toward the swimming hole. It pulled up short as it was coming to a Farmall tractor pulling a hay wagon loaded high with bales of hay.
I finally saw Reg and the clapper as the scene was cut. He and his crew gathered quickly as the truck maneuvered around the corner and headed up to his starting point again. This was a closure of a major highway and the film crew had to work fast. Then I got a good look at Lyle and took off at a run down the stairs and out the door. I yelled as I turned up the street.
“Reg! Reg! Don’t shoot the next take. It’s wrong!”
Someone tried to stop me from interfering with the movie, but I dodged and tore up the street to where Reg was getting ready to call the next take.
Geraldine pointed at me and Reg turned to look. I ran panting up.
“Nate! What are you doing here?”
“Just came into town to see family for my birthday,” I gasped. “Don’t start the next take yet. Lyle’s got the wrong camera.”
“What? Lyle’s not here. You mean his stunt double? None of the actual actors are here. This is all a stunt shot,” Reg said. “We don’t have much time. We promised we could do it in two takes with the street blocked off,” Reg said.
“The camera,” I repeated. “Joe can’t just walk out on the street with the Linhof camera and fire off pictures of the runaway truck. He’d only get one picture and it would be blurred beyond recognition. That camera is made for studio and landscape work. When he’s out walking around, he needs to be carrying a 35mm camera. That he could snap up and shoot a dozen pictures in the time he’s in the street. No one would believe he was seriously taking a picture of a runaway truck with that camera.”
“Shit! Props! We need a 35mm camera for Joe. Take away the box camera he’s using,” Reg yelled.
A woman came running up from the direction where the stunt double was resting.
“We don’t have a 35mm camera here, Reg. We brought the only camera we’d used so far on the soundstage,” she said.
“Here. Use mine,” I said. “Just please don’t drop it.”
She looked at Reg and he nodded.
“Nate, go show Leonard how to hold and protect your camera. After this take, we’ll need to show him taking pictures of the wreck.”
I checked the number of frames left on this roll and jogged after the props woman to replace the camera. When I saw the Linhof I cringed. The side of the metal case was scratched up where he’d hit the pavement. I showed Leonard how to hold the Nikon and where the shutter trigger was. As a last-minute thought, I removed the lens cap for him and stuck it in my pocket.
“Oh, hey. I can actually see through this.”
“Feel free to snap some pictures while you’re out there,” I said. “The film will advance automatically because I’ve got the motor drive on the camera. Just don’t hold the shutter button down or you’ll be out of film in five seconds. And please, try to protect the lens when you dive out of the way.”
“Places!” the assistant director called through the bullhorn. Leonard ran to his place coming out of the bank on the corner and the props mistress pulled me out of the line of shooting. I heard everyone moving and the calls for cameras and sound. They were shooting the scene from different angles with the cameras carefully concealed from each other.
“Could I see the Linhof?” I asked as the props mistress was trying to get it closed.
“I finally recognize you,” she said. “I’m Dolly. You’re the photo consultant, Nate. Every time I’ve seen you before, you were in a suit or nice clothes.” She handed me the camera.
I looked down at myself. I was wearing a pair of kind of worn blue jeans and a T-shirt. My shoes were all scuffed up and untied.
“I just woke up,” I said, as I examined the camera. “The lens standard jumped the track. He must have hit pretty hard when he dove to the side.”
“Leonard is great. He’s done stunts for tons of films.” I could hear the truck roaring down Main Street and people yelling to get out of the way. “This is an entire stunt team that’s doing this setup. The truck driver, the farmer on the tractor, Leonard, and a couple of dozen techs who set everything up and are waiting to clean up.”
“Clean…?”
I heard the crash and started toward the sound. Dolly grabbed my arm.
“Not until he yells cut. We only have one chance at this scene.”
Hay was flying all over and there was a cloud of black smoke rising over the building to my left where I couldn’t actually see what was going on. I tried to focus on getting the Linhof put back together. Eventually, I got it collapsed.
“This camera almost always requires a tripod. It’s just not a handheld,” I said.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Can you give me the specs on your camera. Since we’ve used it in this scene, we’ll have to buy a duplicate setup so we can use the same camera for the next time Joe is supposed to be outside.”
I wrote the specs on Dolly’s notepad as she put the camera in her props box. Her assistant took the box. Sirens came from the fire station and the trucks rolled down Main Street to where the hay was burning.
“Even the firemen are part of the stunt crew for this,” Dolly explained. “When Mr. Loras hired this crew, they guaranteed to get everything in one shot. The first one you saw was the rehearsal, but Mr. Lombardi did a take on it anyway. The cameras will all run out of film before he calls cut.”
“Cut!” I heard Reg’s voice over the bullhorn. “Print it!”
“Now we can go retrieve your camera. Lucky you were here.”
We headed toward the site where the truck had collided with the hay wagon. The town was pretty much all gathered around down there, having followed their directions. I was surprised when I saw the cameras approaching. They’d shot this from eight different directions! We found Leonard and he handed the camera back to me.
“Sweet piece of equipment. Might even have gotten some pictures,” he said.
“We’ll see. I’ll get them processed this week,” I said.
“Nate, you saved our bacon, spotting that camera problem,” Reg said, coming up to me. “What would you think about just coming out to LA for the duration so we have you right there?”
“Sounds good, Reg, but I can’t do it. I’d lose my student deferment and my draft board and I are not on good terms right now. Or ever.”
“Well, make sure Dave has you recorded as on the job today,” he said.
“Reg, you can always call when there’s a camera or photo issue. I can answer most questions over the phone.”
“We’ll do that, Nate. Join us for dinner tonight.”
“I’m headed for my family down in Sage for my birthday dinner,” I said. “I had no idea you were shooting here today.”
“We’ve been watching weather forecasts and decided this weekend looked like it would be the best. Would have been really risky running this stunt in the rain or snow. The stunt guys have been in town for two weeks plotting angles and impact. I’ve got to head to Chicago tomorrow for my flight back to LA. As it is, we’re taking Monday off shooting. Happy birthday. It’s good to see you.”
Reg spun away from me and started talking to Geraldine, who was writing down camera numbers, film canisters, and sound reels. Apparently, there were eight tape recorders up and down the route, too. What a complicated scene. I didn’t remember this scene being in the script, but I’d already learned that scripts were fluid and Bert was writing and rewriting things almost every day.
I headed back to the hotel. My family was ready to head out to Gamma and Gampa’s house, as Toni put it.
By the time we left, traffic was flowing smoothly, though slowly, through town on the highway. We took the back roads down to Sage.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
