Maria chuckled. “She’s our friend too, but she doesn’t light
up like that when Sandy or I come into the room. And from the
look on your face, I’d say you don’t mind one bit that she feels
that way.”
Claudia hadn’t realized she was smiling, and to her
consternation, she couldn’t seem to stop. “Who wouldn’t be
flattered by that?”
“Flattered, huh? Sure you don’t want to ditch that fiancé of
yours? I bet Leo would make it worth your while.” Maria arranged
the rolls in a basket and covered them with a cloth. “Especially
since it looks like Sandy’s job is going to be open next year.”
Chapter 18
Claudia heard the shutter click for the sixth time as Leo
exhaled, a signal the shot was complete. She had been studying
Leo intently all day, looking for proof of what Maria had seen.
She had watched her all afternoon on Thanksgiving Day, and
there was no mistaking that Leo had shown little interest in
anyone else. The problem today was that Leo was hard to read in
the studio, where the task at hand commanded nearly all of her
attention. “Did you get what you wanted?”
“Absolutely.” Leo stepped down from her platform and
turned off the spotlight, leaving the studio bathed only in light
from the small lamp at her feet. “We have one more to go, but it’s
the most complicated.”
“It’s hard to believe this is our last day. Not only that, the
semester’s nearly over. It’s time for Claudia Galloway to face the
real world.”
“I have news for you. You’re already in the real world.” Leo
flipped another switch, turning on a spotlight mounted by a
C-clamp to a beam overhead. “What could be more real than
working every day and then trying to do what everyone else
needs?”
“Some people might say I haven’t done too well on that last
part.”
“I wouldn’t be one of those people.” Leo climbed a ladder to
adjust the light above. “I couldn’t have done any of this without
your help.”
“I hardly did anything but show up.” She squinted upward,
curious about the objective of the final photo. “What are you
doing?”
“Lighting from the top is tricky, and I didn’t get it set up
quite right because you’re a little taller than Miss Murphy. That
wasn’t a problem when it was just a head shot because I could
adjust the height of the stool. But this photo is supposed to be
three-quarter length so you’ll have to stand.”
“Why would they want you to light from up there? Won’t my
face be in the shadows?”
“Part of it will, but I’ll also have a fill light off to the side
behind you. It’s going to hit your face with a little less intensity
than what we’ve used before. It definitely won’t be as bright as
this one up here.”
Claudia stood as still as possible, moving only when Leo
reached down to guide her pose. For the first time, she noticed
the softness of Leo’s hands, that her touch was light and
delicate…more feminine than anything else about her. It struck
her that Leo seemed to keep her sexual side hidden. She never
flirted with anyone, and in fact, seemed almost flustered by the
sexual humor that had been bandied about by Patty and Joyce
over Thanksgiving dinner. Yet she exuded sensuality, both in her
soft-spoken manner and in the self-confidence on display right
now. Claudia wondered which side of her would prevail in the
bedroom.
She shook off the reckless thought, which she blamed on
Maria’s power of suggestion. A shudder passed through her,
leaving a trail of cool sweat across her chest.
“Okay, the light’s ready. Now we have to get you into your
final pose.” Leo stepped down from the ladder and gently brushed
Claudia’s shoulders to straighten the fabric of the white shirt.
Since the attic was so warm, she had opted not to wear the
tights, so the shirt hung loosely over her white bikini briefs to the
middle of her bare thighs.
“Are you going to pin the back of my shirt again?”
“No…might have to pin the front though. I want to shoot this
one over your shoulder. That means your body will be facing the
back wall”—she spun Claudia in place—“but you’ll be looking
to the side again so I can get your profile. This is a tough angle
because I want the shadows to fall off fast.”
“What does that even mean?”
“You remember how we used the umbrella that first time to
light up both sides of your face? I don’t want to do that for this
one.” Leo touched her fingers to Claudia’s cheek. “I only want
to light the short side, which means I’ll get a sliver of your face
in the light. The rest will be shadowed. And the light overhead
is going to splash on your hair and shoulder, but not down your
back.”
Claudia allowed herself to be bent, tilted and turned for several
minutes while Leo checked her light meter and viewfinder. By the
knit of Leo’s brow, she still wasn’t happy. “What’s the problem?”
“It’s your shoulder. The collar’s catching all the light in the
wrong place and it’s making a shadow I don’t like. I think we’re
going to need the tube top instead…which means you have to
change and we have to start all over with the lights because the
tube top is black.”
With the sweat already gathering on her skin, Claudia didn’t
relish the idea of changing into something clingy. “What if I pull
this down?” With her back to Leo, she unfastened the rest of the
buttons on the shirt and pushed it off her shoulders, along with
her bra strap. “How’s that?”
“That could work. Let me see.” Leo stomped onto her
platform to check her viewfinder. “Nope, that’s not enough. I’m
still catching the collar.”
“Hold on.” Claudia reached under the shirt to unfasten the
clasp on her bra and snaked it off through a sleeve. Still facing
the backdrop, she dropped her shirt to her waist, but brought the
front up to cover up her breasts.
Leo hesitated for a moment before stepping back onto the
set. “That’s…it could work if we…” She tipped her shoulder,
chin and crown to pose her just right, systematically metering
the light. “Can you…would you drop your arms a little bit more?
Don’t worry. I can’t see anything from back here.”
Claudia did as she was asked, baring her breasts toward the
black wall. Even with Leo well behind her and out of view, it was
impossible not to feel exposed. What surprised her was the thrill
that came with doing something so bold.
“That’s going to be perfect. Now just look into the corner
and try not to move.”
A trickle of sweat started down her neck but she didn’t dare
wipe it. This was the critical moment, when Leo got the light and
look she wanted and lapsed into a zone of intense concentration
that rendered any last-minute adjustments moot.
Claudia heard
the familiar deep breath and held her pose firmly as Leo made
adjustments on her camera and clicked off the photos.
“You can relax now.” Leo stepped off her platform and pulled
the plug on the overhead light, cooling the room instantly.
Claudia spun around and pulled her shirt back in place as she
buttoned up. “For the record, this was my idea, so we don’t have
to tell Maria that you talked me out of my clothes.”
Leo chuckled as she looked away quickly. “From where I was
standing, it wasn’t any more revealing than the tube top. Besides,
no one’s going to see these but the judges.”
“Have you ever shot nude photos?”
“Once in a while.”
“Models?”
Leo shook her head as she dragged the ladder back beneath
the mounted light. “Women call me sometimes to see if I can do
something special for their husbands or boyfriends. Most of them
are pretty coy about it, but after a few minutes I can usually tell
when they’re talking about nude versus just an ordinary glamour
shot.”
“What’s the difference?”
most beautiful public side. I usually go extra on the makeup and
the hair, and then encourage her to wear something that might be
a lot more elegant than she’s used to, maybe something with satin
and lace. A nude is obviously more intimate, something probably
only the man in her life will see. We don’t do much makeup for
that, since it’s not a close-up.”
“Right, and no one’s going to be looking at her face
anyway.”
“That’s probably true. But sometimes all we do is create the
appearance of being nude. We’ll draw a sheet or something over
the strategic places and try to go for a sexy expression. Or maybe
I’ll pose them so it’s obvious they’re nude, but they’re angled so
you can’t really see anything. Magazines do that a lot.”
Claudia found herself titillated at the thought of posing nude
for Leo. In fact, it made her jealous to know Leo had done that
with other women in her studio, but not with her. “Did you ever
consider doing that for any of these photos?”
“I might have if I’d used a professional model, because the
human body casts some beautiful shadows. But I got six great
shots anyway, so I’m not complaining.”
“I’m not sure I would have had the nerve, but maybe.” It
would have been interesting to see Leo’s reaction if she had. “I
bet if someone was really modest about taking off her clothes,
she wouldn’t be here in the first place.”
Though Claudia was thinking more in personal terms, Leo
maintained her professional demeanor. “The hardest part is
always right at first, but I do things to make them feel secure
about it. It’s not all that different from what women go through
at a doctor’s office. I usually go through a big show of locking all
the doors and taking the phone off the hook so they don’t have
0
to worry about someone else interrupting. And they understand
before we ever start that this is extremely private, and that I’ll be
delivering both the photos and the negatives. I make it very clear
that I don’t keep copies, so if they ever want prints they have to
bring them back.”
“But what about when you’re actually shooting? Is it really
just another job, or do you get excited about seeing these women
naked?”
She watched intently for an unguarded reaction to her
increasingly sexual questions, but Leo persisted with formality.
“It isn’t as erotic as you might think, at least not for me. In my
opinion the very best portraits—not just nudes, but anything—
are the ones people want for themselves, because there’s only one
relationship in the room—the one between the subject and the
photographer. But most portraits are intended for someone else,
so I’m just a proxy on the other side of the camera. My job is to
coax the expressions my subjects want to convey to the people
who are going to receive the photos. Those aren’t necessarily the
expressions I think make the most interesting portraits.”
“So you’ve never actually shot a nude just for art’s sake?”
Leo shook her head. “No, I hardly ever do anything for art’s
sake, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to. One of the reasons
these photos we’ve done are so special is because I’m shooting
them the way I want.”
Claudia was still fixated on the idea of posing nude, and
wondering if she would ever have the nerve to do something so
provocative. No way would she give photos like that to Mike,
or for that matter, even a less revealing glamour shot. His first
reaction would be irritation that she had posed like that, and his
second would be to stuff it in a drawer or tear it up so no one else
would see it. “Do you ever wonder what the boyfriends do with
them? It’s not like you can set a nude photo on the mantle beside
Aunt Bess.”
Leo released the light fixture and coiled the light cord in
her hand as she descended the ladder. “I wouldn’t be surprised if
some people did.”
“More power to them. I wouldn’t have the guts to show off
something like that. I’m not even sure I could handle the posing
couldn’t do it if it was a man.”
“My dad did them all the time, but he never showed them
to anyone, not even to me. I think it all comes down to whether
or not you trust the person taking the picture, just like you have
to trust the person you give it to. I worry sometimes about these
women who want something for a boyfriend they’ve just met.
There’s always a chance those pictures are going to be circulated
through all his friends, especially if things don’t work out. I always
try to make sure she’s considered that before we ever shoot.”
“That would be so humiliating.”
“The Native Americans used to believe the camera stole their
soul, and I think there’s a little truth to that, no matter what kind
of photo it is. But your soul isn’t shared with the photographer.
It’s shared with the one who sees your portrait.”
Claudia hadn’t really considered until now that she was
posing for the judges. As far as she was concerned, she was
modeling strictly for Leo. “What about these we’ve done for the
workshop? It never occurred to me I was sharing my soul with
anybody but you.”
Leo shrugged, and then nodded, as if conceding the point.
“These are different. If I’d hired a model this would have
been just an exercise in all the mechanical aspects. But I have a
relationship with you so I don’t see just the lights and shadows in
these photos. I think of them as ours, but they’ll also belong to
anyone you share them with.”
“Nobody. I don’t need a set for myself. You didn’t take them
for me to show to someone else. It’s fine if strangers look at them
to see if you got the light right, but they won’t mean anything
to anyone but us.” The time she had spent in the attic was too
personal to share with anyone else, not even Mike. Especially not
Mike.
Leo looked taken aback. “You don’t even want copies?”
It suddenly occurred to her that presenting the completed
portfolio was the ultimate finale for Leo. Of course she would
want to share it. “I hope I didn’t just insult you. I’m dying to see
these pictures when they’re finished. It’s just that I don’t want
them lying around for somebody else to find. They’re ours, you
know? That’s what made this so special.”
“I see what you mean.”
Special wasn’t even a strong enough word. Private…intimate.
And to top it off, she had even toyed with the possibility of letting
Leo photograph her in the nude. It would almost be worth it just
to see her reaction.
Leo stepped onto the porch and drew in a lungful of
unseasonably cold air. Claudia Galloway would be the death of
her. Talking about shooting nudes had sent her heart pounding
at twice its normal pace.
And if that wasn’t enough, she now had a vivid image burned
into the space behind her eyes. That came when Claudia had
turned to fluff her shirt back into place, revealing one of her
breasts for the longest millisecond in the history of womankind.
A nipple…light pink, sitting high on a round, fleshy—
“I’m ready. Will you be warm enough in that?” Claudia joined
her, now wearing her own clothes, a heavy brown corduroy blazer
over a dark green turtleneck with khaki slacks.
Leo shook off her carnal thoughts and zipped her bomber
jacket to the neck. She needed this walk more than Claudia did,
and was plenty warm. “Three layers ought to be plenty.”
“I’m sorry I don’t have time to stay for dinner. I love it when
we go down to the wharf.”
“We can have dinner next week, my treat. We have to
celebrate the end of your internship.”
“You think I’ll get to see your portfolio then?”
“I guess I can show you what I’ve got, but I won’t make my
final choices until I’ve finished the written application. I have to
describe in detail what I did for each one.”