riverviewlogs | i fight for every life

Oh, yes, of course. The film's pretty long, so you don't need to worry about ruining just a little bit. You kind of have to, so you can reel it in while you're taking pictures.

[ He leans back a little and watches as she repeats the process, nodding as she finishes up and looks between their cameras. ]

Looks good. Now, to make sure it's secured, and so you know for sure you're using unexposed film in your photographs, you close the chamber again, pull the lever to advance the film, then shoot. Couple of times, like this. [ He does exactly as he describes, the film being rolled into the spool with each pull of the lever. ]

And there, it's ready now. You have to pull the lever once for each picture, then it's ready to shoot. The setting's automatic, so you don't have to worry about exposure levels and shutter speed. I'll teach you about those later. For now you only need to learn how to focus the lens before taking the photo.

(It seems inefficient to ruin any bit of it, but if that's how it works... Lucretia shrugs, and snaps the chamber shut again, pushing the lever around with her thumb as instructed. She likes the sounds the whole process makes, as strange as that sounds. Satisfying clicks and whirrs, little clunks of everything coming together.

She takes a couple shots of nothing, and advances the film along.)

Okay. How do I do that? (She lifts the camera to look through the viewfinder, watching the river meander lazily through it for a moment. Oh, she's gonna take so many pictures of water and flowers and shit like that. Excellent.)

[ Jim watches and listens to those same telling sounds with a smile, giving her a satisfactory nod. ]

That's great. You're doing better than me during my first try, I've got to tell you.

[ He can't even remember how many films he ruined at first, not closing the chamber properly or just not locking the film into place and reeling it in safely. But everyone learns from their mistakes, and Jim's no different. ]

There's a ring on the lens— [ He reaches for the lens on her camera, shifting it around so she can see the image focusing and unfocusing. ] Called focus ring. You move it around until the image on the little circle on the center is lined up with the rest of the picture, and you're good. Usually for landscapes you don't have to change the focus, but you have to adjust it when you switch to closeups.

There are some cameras and lenses that have autofocus, too. Your phone camera can do that, for instance.

You're a good teacher.

(She isn't saying that just because she feels she should either; he is very methodical in his explanations, and it's precisely the way Lucretia likes to learn. Very helpful.)

Another point of difference between manual and digital? (She lifts the camera up to his face, peers through the viewfinder and fiddles carefully with the lens until his features come into sharp focus. There's something really satisfying about that, about doing it yourself. Lucretia has always loved working with her hands.

She lowers the camera, and smiles.)

What sort of things do you take photographs of?

Thanks. I try.

[ He's just trying to take it step by step, remembering the things he had difficulty with when he first learned how to use one of these. She's very bright and picks up on things pretty fast too, though, that definitely helps. ]

Depends on the camera, but professional digital cameras still offer you the option of focusing manually. [ He smiles when she lifts the camera up to his face. Evidently he's not shy about people taking pictures of him. ]

People, mostly. I love taking pictures of people. But other stuff, too. A little bit of everything, really.

(Oh, so he isn't! In that case–

Lucretia raises her camera back up to his smiling face and snaps a picture. Then, she has to take a moment to look down and figure out how to advance the film along again, but it only takes a few seconds before she remembers to pull the little level across. Easy.)

Sure. I'd love to have something like this so I could take pictures of things that I'd like to paint later. That way I wouldn't have to draw from memory quite so much.

[ And immediately Jim pulls off his best smile, although to be fair, it doesn't take a lot of effort for him to look good on a picture, and he damn well knows it. ]

Oh, I like drawing. Can't say I've ever actually painted anything, though. [ He gestures around them. ] So— which idea should we go with first?

[ A word, an idea, even a quote or a song. Anything would do. ]

(Aw! Lucretia beams in return, and then abruptly remembers there's no way to check what the photo looks like until she learns how to develop film. She frowns, rubbing her thumb over the back of the camera where a display would have been if it were digital.)

I love painting, (she says idly, looking up automatically for inspiration,) it's very comforting when it isn't deeply frustrating– uh, how about...

(Quotes would be nice, but she has nothing to hand to pull from. There's her journal... but that feels a little embarrassing.) Maybe a word? You could pick one for me, and I'll pick one for you.

[ That's one thing that takes a bit of getting used to, but from what little he knows about her, Jim has a feeling she'll find the same kind of thrill as he does when he develops a film and finally gets to see the pictures he took, and how they came out. Patience is a learned trait in this instance, though.

Jim nods, already starting to think of a word for her. ]

Alright. What's mine, then?

(Noooo Jim, don't make her go first. Lucretia hums, tapping her fingers on the sides of her camera.)

Okay. Your word is... telluric.

(Sure it's kinda generic, but she likes to think there's room to interpret it poetically. Or literally, whichever he'd like to choose.) Mine?

[ Jim hums and nods, sounding almost impressed. ]

Oh, I like that. Very... sophisticated.

[ Generic too, but he'll manage. He gives his own choice some thought, before deciding on a word for her. ] Threshold.

Threshold, (she echoes, smiling minutely. Yeah. She likes it.)

That's a good one. Should we set maybe a week to take our various shots?

Great. A week it is, then. We'll get together and develop the films, see what we came up with.

[ For good measure, he hands her two extra films, so she can use them throughout the week. He doubts one will be enough, once she starts to get the hang of it. ]

On the house. [ He shrugs. ] Anyway, wanna go for a walk and snap a few?

(She takes the film gratefully, surprised by his generosity.)

Thank you, Jim.

(Hopefully she can produce something from all this that won't make him regret giving it all to her!) Sounds good. I'd better get in some practice now if I'm going to beat you at this photo taking thing.

(wink!)

i fight for every life

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