Page 9 of The Woodcarver's Model
Up on the deck, he shot off a few more frames. In his mind he still thought in terms of frames and rolls of film as if he still used them. There was something more tactile, more romantic, in the old photographic form. He caught himself—There you go, being sentimental again.
“Excuse me. Your camera…it’s a Phase One IQ5, isn’t it?” The voice came out of nowhere and Rob jumped, almost dropping the camera.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry,” the voice from behind continued. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Rob turned around and it was him—from the observation cabin—and he was even more beautiful out here with the wind blowing his hair than he was when Rob had first noticed him.
“Oh, no problem,” Rob stuttered. “I just didn’t hear you. I was focused on those circling hawks and…”
“Ha—focused… Photography joke. Good one,” the young man quipped.
My God, he’s younger than I thought. Maybe twenty? An angelic twenty…
“So is that the Phase One IQ5?” The guy was persistent if nothing else.
“Yeah, it’s the IQ.”
The boy’s eyes glinted like they were taking in a pile of gold, which was about what the camera cost. “It’s the unicorn of cameras. You hear about them but never see them.”
Rob replied, “They’re perfect for wilderness work. Small, lightweight—”
“And they can take the shock of a falling rock,” the guy said, and laughed. A sweet, pure sound. Like a church bell, if the church was a gorgeous, five-foot-ten, white-blond-haired twenty-year-old.
“Oh—from the ads. Right.” Rob smiled. “Well, it’s true. I was caught in a minor rockslide on the side of a mountain with a camera like this a number of years ago, and it still worked. Better than I did,” he said, indicating the scar running down his left bicep which he shamelessly flexed. The boy’s eyes lingered a little too long on it, Rob noticed.
“So, you’re a pro?”
“Somewhat. More of a writer, but sometimes it’s best to take your own pictures. Your eye and your writer’s brain are on the same wavelength so it’s easier to match images to the words you’re going to write. They don’t fight each other or have to compromise.”Hey—that was pretty good,Rob thought. “Do you want to try it?” Rob handed the camera to him.
“Shit, I never thought I’d get to see one of these let alone…they’re so freakin’ expensive.”
“It’s always best not to think of that when you shoot. Go ahead. Give it a try.” Rob pointed out into the world, giving him permission to use the camera.
“Can I?”
“Fire away. And if there are any that I can use, I’ll pay you for them and give you credit.”
“Really? Fucking amazing!”
The boy took to the camera like a pro. “We have nothing like this in school.”
“And where’s that?”
“Emily Carr,” he said, focusing his attention more on the camera than on Rob. Rob focused his attention on the boy. For the first time in a long time, he felt that flutter in his chest. It wasn’t as much the looks of the guy, or the youthfulness; there was an intensity, a passion that radiated off him. It was palpable. Rob just wanted to reach out and—Grow up. Don’t touch.
“You’d better take this back or I’ll just end up filling your memory card. This thing is amazing. It’s so…intuitive. It becomes part of your hand and eye.”
Rob smiled. “I’m not kidding. If there’s something in here that works with my story, I’ll pay you for it and give you credit. Here, let me get a shot of you.” The boy posed against the railing just as the wind caught his blond hair and tossed it perfectly across his face. “I might even use that one. Now I’ll audio-record you. Just state your name, email address, then I’ll ask you another question about usage rights and if you’re okay with it, say that you agree.”
“This is wild.” The kid laughed. He introduced himself—Kyle Marshall, with two l’s—and gave his email address and his permission to use any images he had taken. “For credit and payment,” he added.
Now it was his turn. Rob took out a business card, which made him feel old enough to be his father, and passed it to Kyle. The young man glanced at it and his jaw dropped.
“You’re Rob Hanson?TheRob Hanson?One Man Against the Mountain?”
“Yeah.” Rob let out a modest giggle before catching himself. “The same.”
“I just got my picture taken by Rob Hanson, holy shit. I ate, slept and dreamt that book when it came out. That was one of the reasons I wanted to get into wilderness photography in the first place. Wait here. Please don’t move. My boyfriend’s gotta meet you. He’s gonna flip out.”
