"Hana, when you asked the squad for help, I thought you were really making a shitty science experiment again," Samantha said. She caught a glance of a glaring Liezel before muttering an apology. "No offense, it's just Hana's illiterate with chemistry."
"Yeah sure," Liezel said with a cackle, causing the group who heard the conversation to notice her almost odd behavior. She ignored them and went about her business.
"But then I come here, seeing that you wanted to do portrait photography with the college's designated Queen Bee," Samantha spoke, thus breaking the awkward silence that was so characteristic of Liezel sometimes.
Althea merely arched a perfect eyebrow at her.
Samantha returned to Hana. "Since when were you interested in humans as subjects?"
Hana scratched her forehead; she already had her DSLR and a hand strap around her wrist. "Uhh... Andromeda always said that photos are always more interesting with the human element included."
"Okay," Samantha rolled her eyes but then let it go. "All things Hildeidered, how can you take a bad picture with this beautiful location and a gorgeous model?"
"You don't actually believe that I can take a good photo because the location and model are good," Hana argued. "It takes skills and I'm developing that one!"
Samantha contemplated, looking a little annoyed but then accepted the fact that Hana would be hopeless without them. "Okay!" she rubbed her hands together. "Now that we're here, you got everything settled?"
"Yes."
"Uh-huh yeah?" she stared at her in disbelief; she began counting with her fingers. "You got spare batteries, chargers, extra cash, laptop, memory, and SD cards?"
"Check, check, check, check, and check!" Hana said. "Foods and drinks in courtesy of Natalya, toolbox courtesy of Hildegard, if ever I break some cameras or tech. So I have three locations in mind, first is the rose bushes, second our very own decorated tea table, and that huge tree."
Hana referred to the one where she and Althea sheltered from the rain the last time they were here.
Fallon took out a clipboard and a pen from her bag pack. "Okay, now that we are all gathered, I have our schedule and timetable here that Hana and I worked through last night." She began clicking and un-clicking her pen. "It says here, that the first location is the tea party so we have to finish fixing the table first—"
"Umm actually!" Hana interrupted. "I changed my mind."
"What?" Samantha and her group had their mouths wide open.
Hana meekly scratched her cheek before continuing. "The weather right now is good for rose garden location. Fallon, can you switch the schedules?"
"Well," Fallon stared at her clipboard, scratching her head. "I don't see any problem with that. Okay, sure!"
"Alright!" Hana was so overjoyed she nearly jumped even with the camera in her hand, so she just raised her fist.
"Umm, Althea?" Fallon ambled shyly towards her, taking initiative already as the manager. She pushed her glasses up to the bride of her nose. "Is this your outfit for the shoot or are you going to change?"
Althea smiled kindly at her. "I actually do have to change. I got my luggage with me so we have a lot of options."
"That's great!" Fallon clasped her hands together bouncily. "You should get to the dressing room in the RV. Natalya and I will catch up to see the whole style."
"You have an RV?" she asked.
"Courtesy of me, princess!" Samantha smirked, while Hana started tinkering with the camera's manual settings. "Are you impressed with me now?"
Then the sound of wheels turning and engine revving drew closer as mentioned vehicle appeared in view. Hildegard was capably driving the trailer as opposed to Hana's reckless driving.
"Call me princess one more time and you might find me unimpressed at the end of the day." Althea's voice trailed as Natalya escorted her to the dressing room.
"Oooh burn!" Hana hollered.
Samantha's lips became a thin line of displeasure. She was about to wrestle Hana when she retreated in fear. "No! Not my camera!"
Hana then retreated to scout the area for possible location finds, various new ideas forming as now that the occasion was currently happening. It was a beautiful day too. Though it may not be the golden hour, the sky was compliant. The artistic definition of photography is: painting with light. And that's what Hana's going to do. Use light in her favor. Cloudy skies were best for this works best for pictures because it's going to give her photos soft but beautiful lighting.
She was thankful that she could so easily detach herself from the environment and let her thoughts carry her wherever they pleased. It helps her get real creative.
After some time, Hildegard began moving her hands in the air in front of Hana, causing the latter to knit her brows together.
"Hilde wants to know what camera and settings are you going to use." Samantha translated.
"Uhmm..." she faltered, staring at her DSLR. "Wait I know this, Professor Andrea taught me! I'll be using two cameras; a Canon Sigma 35 millimeter 1.4 and the Canon 5d mark 3 with a 1.4 aperture, 5000 for the shutter speed, and 500 ISO. I'll hand one to you, okay?"
Hildegard nodded as she retrieved the smaller camera.
"Damn you, nerds!" Samantha snickered. "Talk English would you?"
"Hana," Fallon patted her. "In exactly 3 minutes, it will be one in the afternoon."
"Okay good!" Hana made a resounding clap. "The sun is covered by the clouds, despite the time, this is some perfect lighting really! We just need to wait for our model—"
"Hana!" Natalya called. "What do you think of her now?"
Althea emerged from the trailer. Hana gasped at the sight of her; everyone else had their attention to their model and Hana can't really blame them. Her body was supple and softly glowing from the light.
When Althea's eyes flicked over her, Hana shivered. Her face was glowing; her eyes were the color of oceans and skies. She was beautiful, but it was a fearsome kind of beauty, like the mirrored edge of a finely crafted blade.
A chic red-fitted long-sleeved blouse clung to Althea's curves and met a black skirt hugging her waist and thighs. The skirt stopped just above the knee, and below that was a pair of black high-heeled boots that reached all the way up past her calves. There was a golden crown on top of her head with ruby studded jewels that Hana and Fallon found and bought at a thrift shop two weeks ago.
Natalya added more blush on her cheeks and some purplish-red pigment on the eye sockets but of course kept it pretty natural. She was also wearing a simple gold chain necklace that rests perfectly on her chest and below the center of her collarbone.
"Beautiful," Hana almost blurted out loud. Though after her initial thought, she swore she heard Liezel scoff, making Hana think that she might have blurted that out for real. Fallon completely agreed with her statement though.
"Is this fine?" Althea asked, ambling towards her, avoiding everyone's gazes. Should you want my hair braided," Althea asked, pushing loose strands of her hair behind her ear. "Or have my entire wardrobe change, I don't mind." She was getting really closer to Hana. Way too close for Hana's sanity.
Hana wasn't aware she wasn't replying. She didn't know she prompted Althea to worry. She was brought back to her senses when she felt something warm and soft at her wrist, and the gentleness of it made her look down. What she found was something she'd never expected to see. It was Althea's hand, reaching down for hers.
How could a haughty girl like—from the duration that Hana has known her— began to constantly reach for her hand. Hana couldn't decide if she could be used to it or not. Hana could feel her cheeks and ears getting warmer.
Every time Althea does that, Hana froze. For a moment, it felt like her heart stopped beating. She didn't know what to say or how to react, so she simply didn't move.
And apparently, her lack of reaction meant something entirely different to Althea, because the girl didn't waste a second yanking her hand back and saying a soft, "Sorry."
"No, don't be sorry," Hana said quickly.
Why was she sorry? She was nice and compassionate and tender and... real.
"Ooh la la," Samantha teased in a sing-song way. "Is this?" she began to imply but didn't continue.
"Yes, it is indeed." Joshua grinned, nodding his head.
He and Samantha began to bond with an entirely different scenario in their heads.
"Thank God I'm not the only one!" Samantha playfully punched his shoulder.
"Could you two observe the virtue of silence as Hana has come forth with a decision?" Althea asked, irked by their noise.
She was too gorgeous and elegant for Hana to handle. Hana's cheeks warmed furiously at the sight of her and found her stomach suddenly freaking out. She had to turn to Natalya to feel less embarrassed.
Natalya slowly widened her eyes questioningly, revealing the hue of brown that made Hana comprehend the fact that she was asked a million questions and she still hasn't given any answers.
She trusted Natalya's instincts and eye for detail and beauty before gathering the courage to gaze back at Althea. "You look good either way." She murmured. "But I prefer any style you are comfortable with. Photographs must capture a person's character."
Althea smiled, making Hana want to capture the emotion immediately, but decided against it. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the breathtaking scenery and wanted to savor the blonde's smile.
"Are you two just going stare at each other or what?" Samantha brought her out of her daydreaming.
Althea laughed. There was a nervous quiver in her voice and a new redness in her cheeks, which Hana found to be absolutely adorable.
"Hehe, okay positions everybody!" Hana hoped to do a more professional approach to these fuzzy feelings developing. "Althea, can you stand in between the bushes? There are a lot of roses over there, we can play with the angles and see which light is the best."
Althea nodded then strutted towards the red and white rose bushes. Stopping at the desirable spot with Hana in front of her. Samantha stood beside Hana, carrying a huge white reflector; Hildegard was holding the spare camera for she was assigned as the documenter of the whole thing. Natalya had the make-up kit nearby while Joshua and Fallon and Liezel were was by the pantry and props.
"I see you're not dependent on a tripod for a steady image," Joshua spoke conversantly a few minutes in.
"Are you kidding me?" Hana asked as she peered through the viewfinder. "Tinkering with a tripod to get the best angle is troublesome! It might be good for filming but I just take photos, so a tripod isn't necessary."
Joshua made a satisfying sound as he nodded slowly.
Hana wasn't afraid to take several photos of the same scene at different exposures, angles, or apertures. She started crouching and walking forward and backward on her knees.
"That's some quality pose, Hana!" Samantha leered. "I see a frog."
Hana, who was doing a frog pose, momentarily removed her face from the camera's viewfinder to narrow her eyes at the American, "Taking a photo crouched often makes your photos look more interesting! Also, you go closer when taking your photos, rather than zooming in and zooming out because they often turn out better."
"Do we have to have a photography lesson every time we do this, Hana?" Liezel asked.
Hana shrugged, widening her eyes to show the heavy bags under her eyes. "I had to study the basics again for two days straight. My final grades are on the line. And besides, you take some serious measures when you find a good angle."
"I actually find these lessons gratifying." Joshua chimed in.
"Umm," Hana said, her nose scrunching up, making grand gestures as she spoke. "Althea, if you put your hair behind you, you get some really harsh light, so I want you to put your hair over your shoulder to make some shadows cast over your face to make good accents."
Althea nodded, keeping things professional by avoiding talking and just posing. Hana knew Althea hadn't done any modeling but the way Althea moved as she changed poses for the pictures were ethereal and soft, like being one with nature. It was almost natural to her.
"Althea?" Hana found herself calling her without knowing what to say.
"Yes?"
Hana found herself putting in the spot of awkwardness again. Her cheeks looked like a blush-on was spread on her cheeks. "T-tell me if you get too uncomfortable. We can take a break."
"Of course," Althea smiled, knowingly. "If the model gets too uncomfortable, her tense could reflect on her pose."
Hana gasped. "You get me!"
Her model stared at her mischievously, implying their little secret of Althea's secret hobby, "Definitely."