Bella Notte (48 page)

I got some breakfast
ready for Kelly. I was sure she was going to be the only human here
today, so I didn't make a lot of extra for everyone else. I brewed a
huge pot of coffee and put the kettle on for tea and cocoa. I brought
her the nice hot meal- which she ate thankfully and then I conveyed
what Chris had told me.

“
You don't
think the weather will ruin it all?” Her face contorted with
worry.

“
No. That's
what artificial lighting is for.” I smiled at her as she
relaxed a bit.

“
Okay.”
She slid down further into the chair.

“
Why don't you
take a little nap and I'll wake you when everyone gets here, although
I'm sure the commotion will do fine.” I laughed.

She nodded and
closed her eyes.

About twenty minutes
later, Chris's assistant- Kris- arrived. I helped her get all the
outfits out into the sun room as quietly as possible. They had all
been numbered- there were about thirty of them. I really hoped that
Kelly would not have to go through thirty different wardrobe changes
today.

I think it is so
he can have a variety of things to choose from. I've never known
anyone to go through that many in one shoot let alone a human
.
Kris said to me, her voice was very even, which made me wonder what
she would sound like when angry.

I can only hope
so, for poor Kelly's sake
.
I smiled at sleeping Kelly.

Kris and I set up
everything around Kelly that would be needed for the shoot.
Apparently, all Chris had with him was the makeup person, the
hairstylist, and all their gear. His camera was here. I was highly
tempted to take a shot of Kelly sleeping, but I had never seen a
vampire get upset, and I didn't know his temperament.

So, what happens
if someone touches his camera?
I asked Kris.

Oh, he kills them
right there
.
She laughed.

I
so
didn't think that was funny.

Just kidding. I
doubt anything. Why?

I think this
angle of Kelly sleeping would make an awesome shot. It's very
natural
.
I looked at Kris to see what she thought and she handed me Chris's
camera.

Go for it. It's
digital, so, if he hates it, he can get rid of it. Easy peasy.
Her
smile was so natural that it took the vampire chill away from her and
made her quite warming.

While Kelly silently
slumbered, I shot numerous shots of her, from varying angles, in the
hope that Chris would in fact like one. I was an artist as well, and
I knew that he would appreciate the gesture. I was surprised that she
didn't wake up from the flashes, but she slept on happily.

We're here
.
Chris's gentle voice drifted into my thoughts.

I'll get the
door,
Kris said and gestured for me to wake Kelly up.

I gently shook her
and she mumbled at me. “Hey, girlie, it's time to shake the
lead out.” I shook her again.

“
Kay. I'm
coming.” She rolled out of the chair and right onto the floor.

I started giggling.
“Um, what happened there, hun?” I giggled some more.

“
Guess I
forgot where I was.” She smiled as she got up and rubbed her
bum.

“
Well, they're
all here now.” I poured her out a cup of hot chocolate from the
thermos I had put in the room for her. “Here, some chocolate to
wake you up.”

“
Thanks!”
She beamed at me as she sipped the warm liquid.

“
Ah, there's
my model,” Chris said as he walked into the room.

“
Emma, you and
Kris did a fabulous job out here.” His compliment strangely
didn't sound as flamboyant as it should have.

“
Eh, thanks,”
I said as Kelly yawned and waved at Chris.

“
Okay, Kelly,
I need to take some of your measurements. That's when I take your
height, bust, hips, and waist size. That way, when I make you a comp
card, your information will be on the back along with the agency's
information.” He pulled out a measuring tape and got to work.

Afterwards, he
jotted everything down.

I watched as Chris
walked around the room and Kris followed him about, awaiting
instruction. It was quite entertaining to watch. I only wished that I
had thought to record the entire event to later play for Kelly when
she was famous.
Oh
well.

“
Okay. Kris,
set up some lights and flood every corner we are using. I don't want
any odd shadows unless I put them there. Now, Kelly, you need to come
with me and we'll decide on a couple of looks for you from my racks.
Afterwards we can talk about my visions for the shots and so forth.
To work.” He clapped his hands and I giggled.

Kelly stood in front
of a mirror as Chris held up dress after dress. I watched the small
frame of Kris scurrying about, carrying lights that were bigger than
her, and flooding the entire sun room with a white light. I
immediately hated it.

Is that
necessary?
I asked with my eyes squinting shut.

Unfortunately, it
is. It's something you adjust to, if you decide to stay in this
business.
Kris
answered as she lit yet another one.

Can we put a
filter on it, to soften it or something?
I was thinking about crying to get my way.

We'll see what
Chris wants to do for Kelly's look. Maybe it will all be gentle
lighting
.
She smiled at me.

We can only hope.
I
looked over at Chris, who had missed everything that had happened.

Chris was holding a
short black dress that was very simple, a replica of Kelly's prom
dress, a replica of my prom dress, and a sun dress done in yellow
plaid. He was explaining to Kelly how her feet wouldn't show in the
long dress, but, in the sun dress, he wanted bare feet. For the black
dress he produced a pair of electric blue stilettos and for my dress
he pulled out a pair of shoes similar to mine. I felt slighted
because it was my dress and shoes that she was going to be wearing.
Logic decided to intercede and explained to me that my dress and
shoes were upstairs, so I needed to take a freakin' chill pill.

After they decided
on the clothes, then they decided on the makeup. A lot of it was
really
dramatic- except the sun dress, he didn't want any makeup for that.

I watched Chris
figure out in which sequence to shoot the photos and where he wanted
to shoot them. The sun dress was going to be outside, and if it
started raining, then all for the better. The short black dress was
to be on a white background. Kelly's prom dress would need the use of
a chaise and would be shot on a black background. My dress was going
to be shot from an above angle and with a checkered floor something
we had in the kitchen.

I pulled the chaise
in for them and watched Kris get the backdrops ready; they consisted
of two metal poles holding large rolls of paper on them. The paper
could be pulled down and then was taped to the floor. For the white
paper it was important not to have anything on the bottom of your
shoes- as to not have shoe prints in the shot. I decided that if I
had been a photographer, I would love to have the prints in all my
photos- it would be my signature.

After Kris got the
shot ready, I helped her position the chaise in the right spot. Then
we sat and waited for them to finish with Kelly. She was in her prom
dress and her hair was turned into a river of cascading curls. Her
makeup was done so her eyes were surrounded by deep blues, thus
making her natural color more vivid. Her lips were barely colored.
She could have easily been a corpse, but it looked way too cool.

“
Kris, put a
blue filter on that light, please!” Chris called as he
positioned Kelly on the chaise, in a draping position. Kris rushed
off to place a piece of blue plastic over the front of one light and
Kelly was instantly tinted blue.

Her position was
beautiful. She was laying across the chaise with her curls spread all
around her, her knees were bent and angled to the left as her dress
was pulled to the right. Chris climbed up a ladder and started
snapping shots of her. She changed her facial expressions without
being asked and he smiled joyously at her.

Kris was getting the
photos instantly, on a laptop that she monitored, to make sure there
were no technical difficulties going on. I watched as my childhood
friend was turned into a Gothic pop star. Any singer would kill to
have these shots done. And then Chris called for a position change.
They sat Kelly up, curled her legs under her and handed her a book,
but they left the blue tint on. It was sad to me and when I watched
the images pop up, I realized that was what it was- lonely. She was
all dressed up with nowhere to go- alone.

Chris had Kelly do
various positions in the dress and used the chaise as a prop as
needed.

After an hour, he
decided it was time for a wardrobe change.

Next was the simple
black dress. They pulled Kelly's luscious curls into a tight bun on
her head. Cleared away all the blue makeup and did a gentle black eye
liner, with a slight pink eyeshadow and lip gloss to match. She was
placed on the white back drop this time and was told how to stand and
look.

The pictures made
her look more like a lawyer or something. I liked the ones before
better, but I knew it was important to get different looks.

I watched Kelly
closely, in case she needed a break or anything. I couldn't read her
thoughts but I could see her body language, even under all the
direction. She was holding up well.

After another hour,
Chris decided it was time for the last inside shot and directed Kris
to move the gear that would be needed into the kitchen. I helped her
as I felt it was unjust for any one person to get stuck doing all the
slave labor.

Kris tested the
lighting with the kitchen lights on and the shutters open on the
windows. After some great internal debate, she decided that two
lights would be good enough. She went about setting up an area that
Kelly could sit in and still have the right angles. I watched in
amazement as she set everything up … then did some more light
testing.

Kelly came in the
room and she looked very Gothic. She had red streaks in her hair. Her
eyeliner was thick and her shadow was bright red, as were her lips.
It looked very fierce.

She looked at me
like she finally understood who I was, and it made me want to laugh
because I was no longer that girl.

Chris came in and
sat Kelly on the floor with her legs tucked under her. He climbed up
the ladder once more and called for her to look up at him. She did.
The shot was perfect.

He had her do
various leg placements, but all the shots were from above, it was all
really interesting.

The final shot was
of her crying and looking up once more- the makeup guy came and
spritzed her eye makeup, in just the right place, so that it ran in
two perfect lines down her face. Her eyes looked filled with pain and
I wanted to cry.

After that shot I
didn't think that Chris would want to do the outside shot, but I was
wrong. Soon I was helping Kris get my backyard set up for another
shoot.

Chris had demanded
that a tree needed to be in the background, but only one. This didn't
seem like an impossible request until I realized that all our trees
were part of the forest and there weren't any singular trees sitting
about.
Damn
him!

I walked up and down
my property trying to find the perfect place to have Kelly's last
shoot done.

What if the tree
is so big that you can't see the other trees?
I asked Chris.

I suppose that
will have to do
.
He huffed.

I shook my head and
called Kris over. “This is the right spot.” I declared.
It was at the very edge of my backyard and the tree was huge. I knew
it would take most of the shot and what was along the sides could be
cropped out. Kris and I set up for the shot. There wasn't any
electricity this far from the house so the shot would be done with
the natural light- the clouds had gotten thicker and I wasn't sure if
Chris wouldn't get his wish about rain.