Talia's Tradition

1. It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

❆ It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like... ❆

"Beautiful!"

"You look stunning Léa. Turn to the left again...brilliant."

"Okay, I think I've got some good ones there. That's a wrap Léa, thank you." I said taking the camera away from my face and smiling at the model. I watched as she returned the smile before sauntering off and pulling on a robe.

Being a photographer meant making sacrifices every now and again. My forte was landscapes and architecture but when there wasn't a demand for that in the industry, I could always rely on photographing models in their underwear to pay the bills. As the 1st of December rapidly approached, the demand from businesses for their winter range to be shot as soon as possible had filled in all of the empty appointments in my work schedule.

"May I 'av a look at 'em?" I looked up from my camera to see Léa standing in front of me.

"Of course, I'll bring them up on the big screen for you." I signalled for her to follow me as I walked to the side of the set and uploaded the photos to my computer. I turned the screen towards Léa so she could have a closer look at the shoot. It's normally within my best interest to take the photos and then get out of there as quickly as possible, sometimes the models liked to throw tantrums about 'bad lighting' or 'bad camera angles' making them look fat. However, I had worked with Léa before and she seemed to enjoy modelling just as much as I liked photography so we got on really well.

"I look trés glamourous," She squealed, "'ese are amazing!"

I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief that she liked them.

"I 'ope we can work together again. You are a wonderful photographer." She leaned over and hugged me; the strong scent of her perfume filled my nostrils.

"Of course, it's always a pleasure to photograph you." I said saving the photos to a memory stick before shutting off the computer.

"Maybe next time we do a shoot in Paris!" She squealed excitedly. She turned around when someone tapped her on the shoulder and hinted that she needed to leave to make another booking.

"Au revoir Natalia!" She waved goodbye as she headed for her dressing room.

I quickly glanced down at my watch, crap! I'm going to be late.

"I made it down here as quickly as I could, what did I miss?" A voice said behind me. I turned around and saw my friend Eric, a fellow photographer, standing there panting.

"Just a couple of models posing in their underwear for another Winter Wonderland shoot." I said, smiling when his expression changed from hopeful to disappointment.

"Again! Natalia, I told you to inform me when these types of photoshoots are taking place." He whined, "You promised me!"

I laughed at his playful pout, "Oh was I supposed to inform you about the female model shoots I was doing and not the other ones?"

"That was not funny! I walked onto that shoot expecting hot models-"

"They were hot models," I pointed out.

"Hot female models Talia, not men posing in their underwear!" He hissed.

"I enjoyed it." I smirked at him.

"Well I didn't, now I've missed another chance at dating a hottie." He said staring off dreamily.

"In your dreams Eric!" I sang, continuing to pack away my equipment.