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Start your story with somebody taking a photo.

Posted in Adventure on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 73 stories

Picture This

Submitted to Contest #144

“Everyone in!” Darcy yelled to her family. They all lined up like little soldiers, with smiles on their faces. They knew the routine. It was Christmas and their ten-foot Christmas tree was proudly standing on a square table covered in a plaid holiday tree skirt. Darcy had set up her tripod and the countdown had already begun. Success! This was a well-rehearsed action the kids could perform without much thought.  Darcy was a fan of capturing the family moments on film, along with the staged group pictur...

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Fine Fruit, One Blemish

Submitted to Contest #144

Cameron lifted the plastic menu to his face; I couldn’t see his eyes, but I knew he was smiling big enough to make them shine. His bald head bobbed a little as he looked over the menu at his favorite breakfast spot. Most anyone else would just know what the menu said by now. We’d been coming here for three years. Every, single, day for those three years and eleven weeks. I snapped the Polaroid and pulled the picture of the back of the menu, his bald head and his fingers clutching the menu out and fanned it make it develop faster. I thought i...

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Smile for the Picture

Submitted to Contest #144

“Smile!” That was the only warning Kaoru got before a camera-flash temporarily blinded him. “What the hell are you doing?” He snapped as soon as he overcame his surprise, glaring at the culprit. Standing in front of him was a blonde boy, with a lopsided smile on his face. Upon noticing Kaoru’s anger he only laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, sorry! You had such a nice expression, I just had to take a picture.” “Has nobody told you it’s rude to do that?” Kaoru asked, through grit teeth. “Don’t just take pictures of strangers witho...

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Take a Photo

Submitted to Contest #144

Take a Photo Alan finds a glade with no overhead branches, stops and takes a photograph. If Winds continue to blow branches might come crashing down if winds blow up. Legs burning from walking in, focused on his mother’s presence. He finds it impossible to stop remembering her words. ‘Won’t be easy, but after you’ve spread my ashes, you will be caretaker for this place. Visit me, occasionally.’ Underfoot only hard ground, rough with exposed pebbles. Surface sand aright, but a clay base baked so hard he can’t drive in tent pegs. After fus...

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CM Sherman Gallery - PWND

Submitted to Contest #144

WARNING - Mentions child pornography and child abuse.Jim ‘JJ’ James sounded puzzled. “Let me get this straight – you want me to break into the gallery and take a photograph. I am sorry Mr. Collins – that isn’t the sort of thing we do. We do penetration tests of the network – we don’t remove items from the client’s business.” Marshal Collins, chairperson of the CM Sherman Gallery Society, smiled – “Sorry – poor choice of words. Not ‘take’ as in steal but just take a picture of yourself inside the gallery. Proof that you were ac...

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Empty Driveway

Submitted to Contest #144

“OK Momma’s, squish together and say HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY”. My aim is to snap the moment when most of the moms are saying ‘happy’ - trying to take advantage of the mouth formation - in hopes of capturing what looks like a smile on each of their faces. I know it’s unlikely to get a photo with all participants focused and ready; not with an edging temper tantrum, a freshly soaked diaper and the ever so loud animal companions animated on the TV screen. I snap several pictures in succession so everyone can find at least 1 Instagram approved shot. ...

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Taking the Photo Before it's Gone

Submitted to Contest #144

The ground is a long way down. But I’ve already hit rock bottom, so in contrast, it’s simply a small leap to the moss covered floor. I wonder if it’s better down there, surrounded by motherly trees that litter the forest floor with green leaves, wet with fresh rain. But I like it up here, in the trees themselves. It gives me a much better view of the world around me.  I should take a picture, I think. Old habitual thinking that is slowly creeping back. I sigh and lean my head against the rough bark and take a mental picture. This, I kn...

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Photo worth a lot

Submitted to Contest #144

Just one more picture DJ thought as she snapped the picture with the camera and it made a clicking sound. Some sessions were easy and fun but others were rough and made her doubt herself. This client was a tough one. They didn’t want to listen and wanted certain pictures. DJ was all for letting them pose whichever way they wanted however the lighting had to be right. She tried to explain that to the client but the client insisted it would be fine to just snap the picture. Oh well, they get what they asked for. “Ok great! All done! Thank you ...

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Gone in a flash.

Submitted to Contest #144

Looking at my best friend, Jess, through the camera, I see her bright smile. "Hurry! We might be late!" She rushed me, still posing for the picture. "Alright Miss Diva, smile!" First a click and then a bright white light flashes. For a moment I'm blind like I was the one who was in front of the camera. When I finally look back up, Jess is no longer there. Quickly, I look around to see if she ran off. Searching around my car to see if she was just trying to scare me. Still unable to find her, I turn to Tessa. A friend of ours who we met shor...

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A Moment To Frame

Submitted to Contest #144

Arpad Nagy Labbmwd@hotmail.com Word Count:2380 A Moment To Frame By Arpad Nagy Sandy De Luca was a sunshine girl. Cradling a mug of coffee in her small hands, Sandy stood, her eyes closed and a smile on her face basking in the heat of spring's first kiss. Like the tulip bulbs breaking the softened soil, Sandy felt the call to shed the sleep of hibernation and sprout into the new season. It was late April, and winter's chilly fingers had finally receded over the mountains. The morning sun beaming through the window warmed the room an...

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Flowers Film and Floods

Submitted to Contest #144

Flowers Film and FloodsThe Mesa Verde plateau, a sunny day, a girlfriend, a camping van, a camera -- and fields of wildflowers. The perfect day, the perfect place, and the perfect vacation. While Susan sat in the van reading and enjoying herself, I ran happily around the fields with my macro lens, taking pictures of all the different flowers. I had my pocket guide and my photo log with the will to annotate every single photograph. In the matter of a morning, I amassed several hundred Kodachrome frames of blossoms, leaves, seed pods...

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What Would You Wear?

Submitted to Contest #144

Drinking apple cider vinegar could help you lose up to thirty— Jennifer Lawrence drops jaws at met gala— Is your baby at risk for— I flipped the magazine shut, frustrated that it did nothing to stave away the boredom of my morning commute. I tossed it into the shallow, off-white plastic seat beside me. Atlanta transport is quiet this early, before the sun rises and the groggy masses come tumbling in smelling of coffee and toothpaste. I usually find this ride peaceful, a welcomed calm before the storm of red-faced customers and ringing pho...

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Third World Mona Lisa

Submitted to Contest #144

The photo took on a life of its own.  Much like the secret smile of da Vinci’s masterpiece, those piercing green eyes held a plethora of mysteries.  The subject, a twelve-year-old girl wearing a red scarf around her head, was captured on 35 mm film, rather than oil on poplar.  The film was sent off to a laboratory for processing and cleaning and finally delivered to the publication that owned all the rights to it, with no consideration taken for the rights of the girl portrayed.  Only her identity was kept hidden, an over...

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