helping hand
@umkanghan
it’s been 2 hours of aiden trying to get through his 128 (or more) shots in lightroom, robotically applying the same adjustment settings to the client’s request. ‘more brightness, maybe? i don’t know, whatever you think looks best for our products.’ he did give them whatever he thinks looks best, but yet here he is again– going through his second round of revisions because the man doesn’t know what he wants, but he knows what he doesn’t want.
the best kind of clients, de facto.
but so be it. labor-based work was almost therapeutic, albeit somewhat distracting with his mind everywhere else but on his laptop screen. his half-empty cup of iced americano now sits idly, diluted with ice water and undrinkable. after some brief hair-grabbings and people-watching in lieu of clicking and dragging the remaining 20-whatever photos, aiden takes a brief moment to take in this cafe’s scenery: a couple sitting two tables across, affection dripping from both their eyes as they do nothing but fiddle with each other’s hands (must be nice,) and another dude like him in his 20′s struggling to get his project done with a pair of glasses too huge for his tiny face. just another mundane weekend wrap-up scene, but he finds the beauty in it in pieces.
chewing on the insides of his mouth blankly, aiden slackens his posture in his seat. the cashier by the register stands just as idly, tapping on the pos system without much vital force. aiden can’t blame him, it’s not the most exciting job out there. but hey, he’s got nice hands.
wait.
from his mental check list, the call for action comes to him rather quickly. with next week’s photoshoot in mind, he doesn’t hesitate for a second before peeling himself off his seat to make his way over to the just-as-bored-looking employee. gives him that good-person smile before spilling his words without thinking first. oh, you know, just the usual.
“hey. oh, i’m not trying to order another drink or anything. i’m uh, a local photographer and i just happened to think that you have nice hands.” smooth. not. “like, for modeling. because i take pictures that require some hands in the layout at times. would you be at all interested in helping me out? it’ll be paid, of course.”