Over Exposure

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Design by Nathan Everett

Cover photo by Richard M. Lee, ID207889336 licensed from Shutterstock.com.

ISBN 978-1-955874-73-1

 

Note: This is a work of historical fiction. As such, names of historical characters, places, products, events, movies, and music have been used to set the context and reality of the time. But the story and characters are fiction. While much of the action is based on actual events or experiences, ultimately, it is all fiction. Perhaps it will entertain. Perhaps it will take you to a similar time in your own life. Perhaps in rare instances, it will enlighten.

Cast

ALERT: This book contains content of an adult nature.

This includes explicit sexual content and characters whose beliefs may be contrary to your religious, political, or world view. Scenes in this story may be triggers for Vietnam War era vets with PTSD.

The content is inappropriate and in some cases illegal for readers under the age of 18.

These characters are continued from the first four books in the series. Minor characters who may not appear again have been excluded. When ages are given, they are as of the end of F/Stop, August 22, 1970.

Nate and Family

• Nate Hart. 20yo student at Columbia College studying photography. Operates the Attic Allure studio in a space over the top of Camera Warehouse in Chicago. Still has a lot of stuff in his space in Tenbrook. Has four girlfriends and messes around with his models.
• Kat Hart. 15yo brown-haired sister of Nate. Artist.
• Rev. Joyce “Reverend Mother Superior” Hart. Nate’s mother. United Methodist minister in Sage, IL.
• Rich Hart. Nate’s father. Heating and air conditioning specialist commuting from Sage to Huntertown for work.
• Deborah and John Lindal. 28yo sister of Nate and her husband. They have two children, Cameron and Anthony. John served with Tony in Vietnam.
• Sgt. Naomi Hart. 26yo sister of Nate, serving in the Air Force.
• Nate and Grace Mayer. Nate’s uncle and aunt. Nate is a freelancer for various people who need special services. Also acts as Nate’s agent.

Nate’s Extended Family

 

• Ronda May. 20yo blonde, former cheerleader. Nate’s girlfriend, even after Christine left them. Studying International Relations at University of Chicago
  • Dr. Joseph & Susan May. Ronda’s parents. Dr. May has supplied many Tenbrook girls with birth control pills.
  • Danny May. 16yo brother of Ronda, possibly sweet on Julie Evans.
  • Nora May. 25yo sister of Ronda, studying to be a veterinarian.
• Anna Marx. 20yo brunette. Almost 20. Nate’s first girlfriend after he moved to Tenbrook. Broke up and then returned to become a girlfriend again with the gathering family.
• Patricia Berg Kowalski. 20yo blonde classmate and model of Nate’s, and Tony’s widow. Now one of Nate’s girlfriends. Mother of Toni. Tony Kowalski was Nate’s best friend in high school and was killed in Vietnam less than a year after graduation.
  • Antonia “Toni” El Kowalski. 2yo daughter of Patricia and Tony. Nate’s goddaughter.
  • Elise & Tor Berg. Patricia’s parents. Live in Tenbrook.
  • Ellie & Jim Kowalski. Patricia’s inlaws, Tony’s parents.
  • Vanessa Kowalski. 15yo brunette. Tony’s younger sister.
• Adrienne Baudelaire. 30yo blonde model (sent by Nate’s Las Vegas patron) who wants to be involved as his mistress. Very into Marquis de Sade. Lives in Los Angeles.

The Exes

• Elizabeth “Beth” Marsh. 20yo comedienne and former girlfriend of Nate’s from Chicago. They broke up in a major tiff in Canada a couple of weeks ago.
  • Jordan & Nadia Marsh. Elizabeth’s parents. Collectors of photography. Jordan is Nate’s mentor in some things.
  • Valerie Marsh. 25yo brunette. Elizabeth’s airline stewardess sister. Now married.
  • Adele Peterson. Lesbian Domme now living with Elizabeth’s parents, Nadia and Jordan.
• Christine “Chris” Evans. 20yo dirty blonde former girlfriend of Nate and Ronda. Purging away her perversions in college and just got married.
  • Brian Evans. 16yo brother of Christine. Formerly sweet on Kat.
  • Julie Evans. 17yo blonde sister of Christine. Kat’s girlfriend.

Attic Allure Staff and Collaborators

• Judy Delap. 20yo former model, and classmate, and assistant at Attic Allure, Tenbrook. Studying costuming in St. Louis and still actively collaborating with Attic Allure in Stratford.
• Leanne Kim. 20yo member of Nate’s study group and assistant at Attic Allure Chicago. Studying makeup and costuming at Columbia. Working summer at Stratford. Photo by Hank Shiffman, ID8427988 licensed from Shutterstock.com.
• Min Chen. 21yo model for many of Leanne’s body paint projects. Photo by Mr. Tempter, ID128471603 licensed from Shutterstock.com.
• Cassie Robinson. 24yo black assistant at Attic Allure Chicago. Also works full time for Camera Warehouse.

Stratford Contacts and Models

• Kathleen Thomas. 28yo actress from England who was first client of Attic Allure in Stratford. Becomes a model and friend. Helps make lots of contacts.
• Olivia Dunn. 24yo leading actress at Stratford Festival, very body shy but stretching her limits for Macbeth.
• Damien Rogers. 31yo director at the Stratford Festival and boyfriend of Kathleen. Significant in getting Nate models.
• Dave Allen. Owner of Pro Photo Source camera store and supplier in Stratford.
• Melinda Gaston. 35yo employee who runs The Family Attic antique store during the winter for Nate.

LA cast and staff of Over Exposure

• Samuel. Older doorman working at Adrienne’s apartment building.
• Frank Loras. Producer of Over Exposure.
• Bert Slocum. Lead writer on Over Exposure.
• Reg Lombardi. Director of Over Exposure.
• Dave Mitchel. PA on set for the production company, Photosensitive Productions.
• Chrystal Carmichael. Photosensitive PA assigned to Attic Allure and Nate.
• Lyle Patterson. Leading actor playing Joe Price, a photographer, in Over Exposure.
• Fran Carter. Supporting actress playing Jenny Price, Joe’s wife.
• Jayden Fisher. Supporting actress playing Myrna Rossi, married photo model Joe seduces.
• Lorna Love. 23yo leading actress playing Sally Jane Rossi, 14yo daughter of Myrna who blackmails Joe.

Other models and friends

• Carrie (Carolyn) Lockhart. 20yo student at Columbia and in Nate’s study group.
• Devon Young. 20yo. Nate’s freshman year roommate. Quiet gay cross-dresser. Dora Devine, Devon Young’s stage name as a drag queen.
• Leslie Lewis. 20yo member of Nate’s study group. Head of the “Whore Corps” at college. Studying fashion photography.
• Yvonne Renninger Sullivan. Business teacher at Tenbrook who also poses for Nate.
• Sandra Gottschalk. 18yo blonde who has asked Nate to photograph her and record her growth and body changes over several years.

Other important people

• Clyde Warren. Former Tenbrook Constable, dismissed for racism following Nate’s photos and Rich’s impassioned address to the Village Council. He then was hired as part of the Hunter County Selective Service Board where he manipulated calls to draft minorities.
• Allen White. Attorney preparing class action suit against the draft board.
• Lowell Graves. Attorney representing Nate against the draft board.
• Edna Ludwig. Middle aged librarian in Tenbrook. Devoted to helping young women.
• Jim Stoneburner. Retired army captain and Vietnam Vet, now Constable in Tenbrook. Engaged to Lori Reynolds.
• Levi Levinson. Owner of Camera Warehouse who provides space for Nate’s studio and has always gotten him equipment and supplies.

1
Overexposed

MAY 18, 1971

I NEVER IMAGINED that I would one day spend an entire night with Fran in my bed. She was, frankly, far more suited to a fuck in the back seat of the limo. Not that I had any difficulty having sex with her a few times that night. If anything, she was an energetic lover and kept me awake longer than I intended to be.

And pumping into her well-lubricated pussy was like scaling the Matterhorn and living to tell about it. It was both exhilarating and exhausting. I think the most disconcerting thing was lying flat on her and being held away by those artificially inflated boobs. They really didn’t move around much at all.

No matter what I might say about it, though, I genuinely liked Fran and I was excited for her success in this movie. She already had a contract to play a small but good role in an upcoming thriller, to be shot in Hollywood. It turned out that an actor I had photographed recently was also in the movie and I wondered how many strings my Fifi was pulling.

Fran had also signed an option for a sequel to Over Exposure, assuming the original was a success. She would play the same role, but it was a major part in the proposed new film. And Fran credited all this to taking her clothes off for a photographer on a first class flight to Los Angeles. She was determined to show the photographer how very much she appreciated meeting him and giving him a blow job in the lavatory.

“Every coincidence is a blessing in disguise,” she said. “A connection in the eternal web of our existence. I believe that good things happen because we put ourselves in the way of them happening.”

The clenching of her pussy muscles on my cock was definitely a good thing happening. I lost my load in the condom and she got me ready for another round.

Fran was joining several others preparing for the premiere in a spa day in Hollywood, where they would not have far to go for the limos to circle from the spa to the theater at Hollywood and Vine. A limo would pick up an actress or actor or couple at the spa and then drive them to the theater for their walk on the red carpet, then cycle back for another passenger. Not all, of course. Most were arriving in their own limos and a lot of the crew would simply be walking up to the entrance and presenting their passes.

I thought a Hollywood premiere was the opening of a new movie. Turns out that it isn’t that at all. It’s an opportunity for the glamour set in Hollywood to make an appearance and make appreciative noises in the audience. And critics sit there and prepare reviews that will run before the movie actually opens a couple of days later, probably in a different theater altogether. No one was actually buying a ticket for this event.

As usual, I’ve just jumped into the middle like you already know what’s going on. I should start back in August of 1970—nine months ago. You can’t really have a movie premiere unless it gets shot and edited and all that. We’d scarcely gotten back from Stratford and I was flying to LA to be there for the first day of filming.

Don’t ask me why. I had no idea what I could possibly contribute to a Hollywood movie production.

I’m Nate Hart. I’m a twenty-year-old photography student at Columbia College Chicago. Somehow, I’ve established a photography business with studios in Chicago and in Stratford, Ontario. We’d spent a very entertaining and profitable first summer at the Canada studio and raced back to Chicago in time for me to repack and leave for LA.

We. That would be my three girlfriends, my goddaughter, and me. Until a couple of weeks ago, I had four girlfriends, but Elizabeth had abused our mistress and I couldn’t tolerate her being around anymore. Nasty breakup, but I wasn’t sorry about it.

Ronda May is girlfriend number one, by longest continuous relationship. We shared a girlfriend in high school. Christine was the sweetest and most passionate girl I’d ever met. Ronda and I both loved her and in the course of loving Christine, we fell in love with each other, too. We thought that was going to be all there was to it—happily ever after. But Christine didn’t feel that way. She’d been harboring feelings of guilt over being a pervert for having a girlfriend and a boyfriend, and screwing around with a couple of other girls as well. As soon as she could move to college in August of ’68, she broke up with both Ronda and me and took off for Peoria. Cut off all contact. It was pretty heartbreaking for both Ronda and me, but Chris was determined to purge herself of perversion. She got married last June. We didn’t attend.

Ronda’s a brilliant student, studying International Relations at the University of Chicago. She transferred here from Boston last year because it was just too hard carrying on our long-distance relationship. She surprises me with the depth of her love and devotion daily. She really missed her girl-girl relationship, but she came to love Patricia and Anna and lately, they’ve all found ways to comfort each other physically. I think they’re actually enjoying it, too.

Patricia Kowalski is number two. She was my best friend’s wife until he was killed in action in Vietnam. At first, I was just comforting her over the loss of her husband. We’d been close ever since I moved to Tenbrook and I’d considered Tony my best friend. We shed a lot of tears over that and I took photos of her pregnancy progress every week. Somehow, comfort became passion and we ended up boyfriend and girlfriend. Now, she and Toni live in Chicago with me and with Ronda. I’m Little Toni’s godfather. Lately, I’ve noticed the two-year-old sometimes calls me Daddy. I don’t mind.

Anna Marx is number three, though she was my first girlfriend when I moved to Tenbrook in ’66. When she found out I was taking sexy pictures of girls in my studio, she broke up with me. But we stayed friends and worked together on the yearbook at school. She found out the condition my accounting was in and sort of moved into the studio to help get it in shape and make sure I was paying my taxes. And the more she hung around, the more like a girlfriend she became again. After our senior prom, we became lovers as well. Unfortunately, she’s going to school out in Rockford and only lives in the Chicago apartment with us on weekends.

It wouldn’t be fair of me not to mention our mistress, Adrienne. I’m still not sure how it happened, but she’d come as a model with a photo request from a guy who had paid an exorbitant amount for a couple of my pictures. She ended up a lover, but she lives in LA. And when she met the girlfriends, she became their lover, too.

That was what got Elizabeth and me into trouble. Adrienne is a submissive and gets off on a little pain. Beth took it to an extreme and beat her half to death. She’d been out of town half the time we’d been boyfriend and girlfriend, trying to make it as a comedienne. I was too mad at her to grieve over losing her as a girlfriend. Thank goodness, her parents are still friends with me.

The LA connection is convenient because I got recruited and hired as a consultant for a movie about a photographer. They wanted to pattern the photography after my style—I call it Attic Allure—but they didn’t want to tell my story—thank goodness. It’s pretty cool to get flown first class out to LA periodically to take pictures and to review the script or the shooting. In fact, I’m heading there the last week of August.

Damn! That’s today! I’m flying out Sunday, August 23 and back on August 29, just a week before my junior year in college starts on September 8, 1970. It’s going to be a busy year.

That brings you up to date on my life. We just got back to Chicago from our summer home in Stratford, Ontario, and I have to turn right around and leave again.

AUGUST 23, 1970

WE GOT TO THE APARTMENT in Chicago and were there barely long enough to air it out a little. I repacked for Los Angeles. Sunday morning, the girls took me to the airport and then went on to Tenbrook for the week. I boarded the plane and was seated in 2A. I looked, but it wasn’t Missy in the galley.

I kept the Nikon on my person as the stewardess took my hat and suitcoat. While others boarded, the stewardess offered me a mimosa, which I accepted. A guy in a business suit sat beside me and gave up his hat, but not his jacket. He passed on the mimosa and asked for a Johnny Walker. I wasn’t sure what that was, but when the little bottles arrived, I saw it was some kind of scotch whiskey. He poured it in his glass and tipped it back before it even had a chance to get cold on the ice.

He opened the second bottle and repeated the process.

“I hate this flying stuff,” he grumbled.

“I kind of enjoy the service,” I said.

“Just wait till we hit rough weather. There are storms over the Rockies and we’ll get bounced all the way to Mexico before we manage Los Angeles.”

“You must know the route pretty well,” I said.

“I watched the weather just before I boarded. Shouldn’t have. Don’t know why the company has to have me in LA for a meeting first thing Monday morning. Cuts into my weekend,” he said.

“I can appreciate that sentiment. I’m supposed to be on the soundstage at eight in the morning. I didn’t even know they worked that early in California,” I laughed.

Might as well make the best of it. It would be a long four hours if my seat companion was a nasty drunk. It seemed like his two drinks had just relaxed him, though.

“Soundstage? You’re an actor?”

“Oh, no. Just a consultant. I’m a photographer. They want production stills and character shots of the actors.”

“Really! I used to dabble in photography a little. No time these days. Too bad. We’ve been looking for a product photographer. Seems like we are always having to test out a new guy. You do product photography?” he asked.

“No. Mostly all portrait and glamour photos. I know a good product photographer in Chicago, though,” I said, thinking of Jim Lehman from my composition class.

“Really? I’d like the referral. You have his number?”

“I don’t have it with me. I can give you my card, though, and I’ll look up his info. He’s pretty new in the business and has been working out of Pro Color in Chicago while he gets established.” I dug in my pocket for a business card and handed it to him.

“Attic Allure,” he read. “Ontario, Chicago, and LA? You’ve got three studios? How many photographers do you have?”

“There are only actually studios in Ontario and Chicago,” I laughed. “LA, like I said, is soundstage work. It happens the set they’re using this week is a copy of my studio, so it will be like home. Otherwise, I’d be doing location work.”

He dug in a pocket to give me his business card and our stewardess, Candy, came around to offer us another drink. I asked for coffee, and after a pause to consider, my seatmate did the same. While we were talking, the plane had taken off and we were above the clouds. He finally found what he was looking for and handed me his card.

“Bill Harris,” he said, offering his hand.

“Nate Hart,” I answered. Candy arrived with our coffee and a sweet roll for each of us.

“You seem young to have so many irons in the fire, if I may say so,” he said.

“I am. You’re right about that. I guess I’ve just been in the right places at the right times,” I said.

“That’s a good attitude,” Bill said. “You take a professional ball player for example. He might be a Mickey Mantle, but if he doesn’t get to bat just when that fast ball is coming across the plate, he’s nobody and gets traded to the minors. People underestimate how much of success is being in the right place at the right time. But when you’re in that place, you still need the talent to capitalize on it.”

“I’ve met some pretty incredible people along the way,” I said. “An uncle showed my pictures to a camera pro. He wanted to see what I could do with a better camera. The pro showed the pictures to some people who had money and they stepped up to back me. My life is full of things like that happening to me.”

“Don’t underestimate your own role in making them happen,” Bill said. “You know that if the photos weren’t good, your uncle wouldn’t have shown them, or if he had, the camera guy wouldn’t have been interested. Even then, if you weren’t producing consistently good images, the backers wouldn’t have stepped up. It speaks well for you that you produce something that gets these people excited about it.”

“Sometimes I feel like I’m just along for the ride,” I laughed. “But what a great ride!”

We had a companionable chat all the way to LA. The predicted turbulence over the Rockies proved to be pretty minor. Bill forgot about ordering another drink. The food, as always, was great. He promised to give me a call for Jim’s phone number.

When we got off the plane, I was surprised and delighted to see Adrienne waiting to pick me up. When she greeted me with a big kiss, I heard Bill breathe, “Definitely the right place at the right time.”

“What would you like this evening, my master?” Adrienne asked in the limo as we were driven to her apartment.

“It would be nice to have a relaxing night in front of the fire, but I suppose it’s a little warm in LA for a fireplace,” I laughed. I’d been trying to decide if there was a way we could add a fireplace to our home in Stratford. It would extend the pleasantness of the season by at least a month on either side.

“I could probably find a picture of a fireplace,” Adrienne laughed. “Or I could be your warm and cuddly blaze.”

“I think we hit on a solution to the problem. Can we just order something to be delivered for dinner?”

“I’ll tell Samuel to get us sandwiches from the deli. Pastrami?”

“Perfect. And if he can get it, I’d like some ice cream and chocolate syrup.”

“Oh, my dear master, I have that in my freezer just for you.”

We had a relaxing time at Adrienne’s apartment. I called my girls at Anna’s house where they were camping out for the night. Anna reminded me that I should check Adrienne’s wounds from the beating, which I intended to do as soon as I could get her undressed.

We ate and shortly thereafter, I did get her undressed. While we kissed and loved, I inspected every bit of her body.

“Master?”

“There is still a mark here that has not healed completely,” I said. “Give me your cream and let me rub it in.”

“Yes, master. It will fade. That was the deepest of the cuts and took a while to heal. It will go away. I promise,” she said anxiously.

“Honey, I don’t care about what you promise. I promised. No permanent marks. Every time I see these, I get angry.”

“Oh, master, please. I hope you can forgive Beth and continue to love her.”

“There are three different issues there, Fifi. I don’t know how to stop loving her, but that just makes what she did hurt more. We broke up. She left us with her apologies and admitted that our family just wasn’t right for her,” I said. “As to forgiveness… Reverend Mother Superior summed it up: If you can’t forget, you can’t forgive. Maybe one day, I’ll forget what she did to you and then I won’t worry about forgiving.”

“I am so sad to have brought this on your family,” Adrienne sobbed.

“No, my Fifi. You did not bring this on us. As I have found from other breakups, the final reason isn’t usually the reason at all. It’s something else entirely. Honestly? I think Beth was feeling trapped by a decision she made in the heat of the moment. She thought she would be in college for four years and I would be her college boyfriend. She didn’t expect to have the opportunity to go on tour before her sophomore year, or to be invited back to Vegas to perform that spring, or to be opening on Broadway in two weeks before her junior year would have begun. Having even an exclusive boyfriend in Chicago would have been too much for her, let alone sharing a boyfriend with three other girlfriends and an incredibly sexy pet. Come here, my pet. I want to pet you all over.”

Adrienne let the topic drop and we spent the next hour making love before we got up to have ice cream and chocolate.

I had far more equipment on this trip than on any before. I had all three cameras, their lenses, film carriers for the 4x5, both Pan-X and Ektachrome film, and three tripods. The tripods were packed in a duffle bag, but Dave in Stratford had found me a couple of good Zero Halliburton aluminum camera cases. I figured most of my black and white work would be with the Hasselblad, while I’d be shooting standard color transparencies with the Nikon. Standard for me now was Ektachrome. It was just too undependable to have access to enough light for Kodachrome. I loved its fine-grain characteristics, but 35ASA needed halogen or carbon arc lighting.

I’d use either black and white or Ektachrome sheets in the Linhof, depending on what was appropriate. I loved the color work I was doing with it, but I also loved the black and white prints the camera produced. Though I shot fewer photos with it than with either of the other two cameras, the photos were fantastic.

Samuel came up to help carry the equipment down to the limo at seven in the morning. This time schedule was almost like being in school again. Adrienne had packed a bag for us as well. She said I could dress down during the day because I’d be working as a professional photographer. The evening would require nicer clothes. She chose black slacks, a black T-shirt, and my gray blazer for the daytime. I wasn’t sure what she’d packed for the evening. I had visions of working around the clock.

The soundstage was a different one than we’d worked at for screen tests. It was larger and there were already two sets on it. My equipment was loaded onto a cart and I was told not to touch the cart. That was a union job and the guy followed us into the massive soundstage. The studio set, I was told, would be the primary set used during the beginning of the shoot. Interestingly, they were jumping right in with most of the nude scenes, which took place in the studio.

The other set was a kind of standard kitchen and living room like you’d see on almost any sitcom or soap opera. In fact, I wasn’t sure but what it was from a sitcom. It looked almost familiar.

There was almost nothing for me to do for the first two hours we were there. I snapped a lot of pictures with the Nikon, but the rest of my equipment remained on the trolley with the grip guarding it. It looked like that was his job assignment for the day.

The actors were still in makeup. Twenty or thirty people on cameras and lighting and sound were moving equipment around the set to determine the best angles. I got a glance at a shooting script and it looked nothing at all like the script I’d read.

It had several columns with the ‘shots’ numbered for Day one. Each shot had a column describing what the camera would see and/or how it would move. Then there was a column with the script/audio that would be in that shot. There was a column indicating what props were needed and a column for the setting. The most confusing thing was that the scenes weren’t in the order they’d be shown in the movie. To read the shooting script, you’d never know what the movie was about.

All this was explained to me by Geraldine Norman, a nice woman about forty years old, if I was to guess. She explained a little of what was going on.

“I’m the script supervisor. We appear in the credits down toward the end of the production crew,” she said. “Truth is, they’d never sort out all the film when it came time to edit without me. My responsibilities include making sure the clapper has the right information on it and it’s spoken clearly for the audio. I’ll get a reading about the footage on the tape recorder before we clap and after the director yells cut. I need to make sure any changes the director or writer make on the fly, or ad libs an actor makes, are recorded in the script. That way, if we need to come back for a cutaway, we know exactly what the audio is.”

“It sounds like you have an impossible job!” I said as Adrienne and I settled into chairs that had our names stenciled on the backs.

“I have a couple of assistants who will be charged with watching and recording specific things, like the number of takes, and little details like the axis of action.”

“What’s the axis of action?” I asked.

“If you imagine a line running from one character to another in a scene, the camera will be on one side or the other of that line. If we come back to shoot a closeup of one of the actors later, it has to be from the same side of the axis. There are a very few movies that use jumping the axis as a dramatic technique, usually by rotating around one actor from left to right, but mostly, directors follow the cardinal rule of not jumping the axis.”

“I had no idea this was so complicated.”

“That brings me to the first task I have for you. The first scenes we are shooting, as you see from my script, are in the studio with Joe photographing Myrna. That’s Lyle and Jayden as the actors. The director has indicated the left side as we look at it here as the camera side of the axis. The scene will open looking over Lyle’s left shoulder at Jayden. There will be a couple of lines and then the camera will switch focus from Jayden to the photographer’s lens. We need you to check the camera and make sure it’s in focus and ready to shoot,” Geraldine said.

“Okay. I see,” I said.

She led me to the setting and I looked at the camera. It was identical to mine. I couldn’t believe they just went out and bought a Linhof for the movie. Or maybe there was a place they could rent one. I opened the back of the camera and looked through the ground glass. Of course, the image was upside down on the glass. I tinkered a little and thought I had it about right.

“Adrienne? Could you give me a hand, love?”

She hurried to me and I positioned her on the stool, then returned to the camera to fuss with it.

“Geraldine, is the distance here set in stone? This would look better if we moved the camera and tripod forward about four feet.”

“Grip!” Geraldine called. “We need the tripod forward four feet. Keep it exactly on the same axis.”

“I could move it,” I said.

“No! We’d have a general walkout if you moved scenery or props. It’s a union shop.”

“Oh! I see.”

“Now how does it look?”

“I can focus, right?”

“Yes. But thank you for asking.”

I adjusted the focus and the bellows, then stepped away. Geraldine glanced at it and had the grip measure the exact distance from the stool to the tripod. Adrienne returned to her chair beside me.

“I don’t know for sure. It might not have been legal for me to use you to focus on,” I whispered.

“I have a card. We need to get you registered before the day is over. I’ll have Chrystal work on it,” Adrienne said, making a note on her own steno pad.

“Card?”

“Union card. You won’t be a full member right away, but you’ll have the right to work at a basic level. Like moving props.”

“Thanks. I think.”

Reg, Jayden, and Lyle appeared from the dressing rooms and headed for the stage. Reg gave them whispered instructions and they went to their places.

“Focus rehearsal,” Another guy called out.

It was a pretty complex shot when it was all set up. The camera was looking past Lyle’s left ear at Jayden, then it pulled back to focus on the ground glass in the back of the camera. He was pretty smooth. They did it three times before they said they were ready.

“Ready to shoot. Places everyone!” the guy called out. Adrienne whispered to me that he was the assistant director.

Jayden leaned back on the stool and shrugged her left shoulder out of her robe so it fell below her breast. Wow! Starting right at the hot stuff. Lyle took his position slightly to the right of the Linhof so the movie camera could see the ground glass over his shoulder.

“Sound!”

“Speed!”

“Camera!”

“Rolling.”

“Slate it!”

The clapper took his place and read out the movie name, director, shot number, scene number and ‘Take one!’ He clapped the board and stepped out of the way.

“And action!” Reg called. The actors waited a beat and then Jayden started.

“Are you sure this is okay, Joe?” Myrna, Jayden’s character, asked. I finally saw how they were framing the shot. It started with a close-up of Myrna’s face, then as the camera pulled back, she went into soft focus, so you could only really see her nudity upside down on the ground glass.

“Baby, this is just perfect. You look fabulous. And it’s only for you and me. You don’t have a thing to worry about.” Then he clicked the shutter on the camera.

“Cut!” Reg yelled. “That’s real good. I think we’ll see exactly what is going on. Now Jayden, honey, I need you to sound a little more anxious about this. Joe has just pulled your robe aside to expose you like no one but your husband has seen you before. You need to give me a smile, but it should be weak.”

Then he walked over to Lyle.

“Joe, you lying son-of-a-bitch. You know very well you have buyers for her picture. Lay it on a little thicker.”

Reg turned to address the whole crew.

“Good first take. Issues?”

“There’s a shadow on Myrna’s left shoulder. We need to adjust a fill light,” a guy up on a catwalk called.

“Get it done. Jayden, honey, hold the position for the nice guys who light you. Camera?” Reg asked.

“I think I can be smoother on that. Lyle needs to move just another inch to the right so I can get a clear view of the camera lens.”

“Okay. We can handle that as long as you’ve got his silhouette in the opening when Jayden speaks. Anything else?”

“Am I permitted to say something?” I asked.

“Nate! You were so quiet I didn’t even see you there. Yes. That’s why you’re here. What did we miss?”

“The camera doesn’t work that way. Joe can’t take a picture with the gate open and no film in the camera.”

“He doesn’t have to actually take a photo,” Reg said. “As long as it looks like he does.”

“That’s the problem. You see this slot? The film carrier goes into it. Once the film carrier is in place, the ground glass goes dark and you close the gate. Then you can take the picture. In the odd case that an actual photographer sees the movie, they’d shoot that down right away,” I said.

“We’re using that bit as a repeating motif as he takes pictures. What would it look like to do what you’re describing? Do we need to replot the whole motif?”

“If you can go with the screen just going black, there’s a nice satisfying click when the film carrier is inserted,” I said. “I wouldn’t usually put it in until I closed the gate, but it could go in first.”

“What would that look like? Can you show me?”

“Do you have a film carrier?”

“Props?”

“We can get one. We thought all we needed was the camera since he isn’t actually taking pictures.”

“Not to worry, I have one. Um… If I can get into my case.”

It took a moment to show the grip on my trolley which case I needed to open and once he had it off the cart, I was free to move it and open it. I got back to the camera and checked the lens setting since I actually had film loaded.

“Okay,” Reg said. “Jayden, give us your yummy pose, please?”

I had the impression they were using any excuse to keep Jayden’s boobs exposed. I couldn’t object. They were really nice. We set up the shot and Lyle watched carefully. The camera pulled back and I slotted the carrier in. It makes a very satisfying click when it drops into place. As long as I was there, I closed the gate, pulled the shield, and snapped the picture. Jayden was still in her pose and I don’t think she even realized I’d taken a picture. I put the shield back in place and pulled the carrier.

“I don’t see why that won’t work,” Reg said. “How do you feel about it, Dom?”

“I think it works better than clicking the shutter. We were going to do post-processing to black out the screen when it was shot.”

“Okay, Let’s try it,” Reg said.

“Give me half a minute to pull the film from this carrier so we don’t get any accidental exposures. They’re expensive.”

I rushed to my dark bag and put a film envelope in it to receive the two sheets I’d just exposed. Then I took the empty carrier to Lyle and made sure he remembered how to insert it. I opened the gate and checked the focus, then stepped back to my seat beside Adrienne.

“Did you take it?” she whispered.

“Twice. I think it will be great.”

They slated the scene again and shot take two. Then takes three, four, and five. They finally agreed they had this one right and everyone took a break while the grips changed the setting for shot two.

That’s the way the day went. At least food was served at lunch and in the afternoon for the crew. At seven o’clock, and the end of shot eight, Reg called an end to the day. The last few had gone faster, but there were scene changes between each of them. With the scene change, there was a lighting change. Jayden was the only one of the actresses I recognized. Lyle was a constant with each of them and there were a couple of scenes where he was actively with the actress, seducing her. There were other cameras involved as he freely petted and stripped his models before going to the camera for the zoom and shoot motif.

These actresses were obviously there for the sex. Jayden had been comparably tastefully displayed compared to a couple of the girls who were splayed out on a bed or a sofa, or against a different kind of backdrop.

The thing was that I recognized some of the poses. These guys had bought prints of nearly everything we shot in Las Vegas the year before, and were setting up the models in the exact same poses. They were doing a pretty good job of it.

Adrienne and I went into an empty dressing room and changed clothes for dinner. When we emerged, Chrystal was waiting for us.

“Have a fun day?” she asked.

“It was very interesting.”

“Well, we won’t work you in the soundstage tonight, but tomorrow night, I’ll whisk you away for an early dinner so you can come back and actually do some photography. Anything to process from today?”

“I did take a couple,” I said. “They’re 4x5 Ektachrome transparencies. I’d like to get an 8x10 Cibachrome print of each.”

“Couriers are just getting ready to leave. Let me get it marked and over to them.”

When she got back, she took us out to the limo, and my trolley grip rolled my equipment out and put it in the limo. Then we headed to the restaurant where Reg, Bert, and Frank were waiting for us.

“I thought we might not see you on this trip,” I said in the limo.

“Oh, I live in Vegas and didn’t get in until this afternoon. When Adrienne said she’d pick you up at the airport, all I had to do was get a limo for you and then come over this afternoon.”

“Nate needs a union card,” Adrienne said. “He can be registered as an apprentice grip, but at least then he can move his camera equipment around.”

“Is that what was going on with the porter? Got it. I’ll arrange everything and he should have it before the day is over tomorrow,” Chrystal said.

“So, what’s this evening all about?” I asked.

“Debrief on what went well and what went poorly. They have the stats regarding how long it took for each shot. These were all pretty easy and a lot of them are potential throwaways if we need to cut. It was mostly to get the team working together and work out any obstacles.”

“And they need me why?”

“I heard you made some significant contributions today. Nate, you have to understand and accept that these guys value your opinion. Especially regarding Lyle’s character, which is why every scene today included him.”

“Okay. I’ll go with it.”

It was a small group. Chrystal said she’d see us after dinner and went into a different part of the restaurant. Adrienne and I met Bert, the writer, Reg, the director, and Frank, the producer. This time, I accepted a martini before dinner and we all toasted the first day of production.

“Well, let’s order food first and then get right into it,” Frank said. We got food orders out of the way and sat with our drinks waiting for someone to start. “Okay, top level assessment, Reg.”

“Top level, as good as any first day of shooting I’ve had on a film. We stacked the deck, though. Five of the women we shot are extras we’ll use for filler to show that Joe actually does talk a lot of women out of their clothes. We learned a lot about the tech side of actually operating the camera, thanks to Nate. We should have thought to have someone come in and teach Lyle the basics, at least. Bert?”

“There’s no real script notes to speak of. In seduction scenes, we’re bound to get some ad libs. He’s pawing her boobs; she’ll probably say something. I’d like to know what Nate thinks of the characterization,” Bert said. They turned to me.

“Um… It’s a little hard to tell, since I think the longest scene today was about forty-five seconds. It feels like you’re building the empire State Building out of Lincoln Logs. It’s hard to imagine enough of them to actually reach that high,” I said.

“No feeling for what you saw developing with Joe overall, though? You saw him in six short cuts,” Frank said.

“I can only give the impression I have of him. He’s not very nice.”

“He’s a seducer and a murderer,” Bert jumped in. “He can’t be very nice.”

“But he’ll never succeed if no one likes him. I mean succeed with all those women. He treats them like rags to wipe his feet with. If he went into an unscripted session with one of those women and treated her like that, she’d walk out on him—or maybe call the police. He can seduce them, but he has to be nice about it.”

I could see Bert start to object, but he just put his hand on his forehead and sighed.

“It’s not the script, Bert,” Reg said. “I let him get away with that. I need to direct him into a different attitude. That’s a good point, Nate. You’re a nice guy. You get a lot of girls. If you were an asshole, no girls. I get it.”

“Do you think we need to reshoot today?” Frank asked.

“No. The dialog was really incidental,” Bert said. “If we watch for the attitude showing up, we can make it a silent piece, can’t we Reg?”

“Yes. I think I can salvage even these scenes. I’ll want to look at the rushes, but I know where to take tomorrow’s scenes,” Reg said. “It will be a good day for developing the characters of Joe and Myrna. I’ll do some work with them before we ever turn the cameras on.”

They continued through sheets of paper indicating how many takes had been required for each shot and how long it took. They analyzed the cost and set goals for what they wanted to achieve next. They asked my opinion a couple of times and asked Adrienne about what she saw. She said she thought I dressed better than Joe.

I pushed back a little and lit my pipe. Adrienne pushed her chair up next to mine and leaned against me as they ordered another round of drinks. They asked me how my summer had been and what I was doing up in Stratford. It seemed I was mostly getting jobs for my friends, but I took some good pictures, too.

Eventually, we were allowed to leave. Chrystal picked us up and I dozed on Adrienne’s shoulder as she and Chrystal talked about the schedule for the week. Something about needing meals catered to the soundstage so I could work late.

I would definitely be working on Tuesday. Reg started the day working with Lyle on his interpretation of the role. Geraldine asked me to please set up for shooting stills before or after takes. We decided that 35mm slides would be best for production shooting.

Jayden arrived from the dressing room at the same time my package arrived from the lab. In it were two transparencies and two 8x10 Cibachromes of Jayden.

“Oh, my god! When did you take these?” she demanded.

“These are literally what Joe saw through the camera lens. When we were rehearsing, I had film in the carrier, so I took the shot just as Reg called ‘cut.’ You’re really beautiful, Jayden. No wonder Joe wants to get it on with Myrna,” I said.

“The damned robe kept sliding open farther each time,” she said. “If we’d rehearsed that one more time, the short hairs would be showing. I like this, though. Can I get a print of that one?”

“I have to ask my PA what the rules are. I think technically these belong to the company,” I said.

“Maybe we could arrange a private session and you could show me how a real pro talks a girl out of her clothes,” Jayden suggested.

“Nate has a slot open this evening if you aren’t too tired to pose for him,” Adrienne said. She had an appointment book open and was keeping a log of all my hours.

“I think I’ll be able to do that,” Jayden said. “I reserve the right to cancel if they really exhaust me today. I don’t expect that, though.”

“You’ll need a wardrobe that is not associated with the show,” Adrienne said. “If the clothes are the ones you wear in the movie, the pictures belong to the production company.”

“Oh, clever. What about the set and all the scenery?”

“Nate has clearance with one grip who will supervise changing the backdrops and setting the studio lights. Nate will have his union apprentice card by this evening, so he’ll be able to move props and help with the backdrops. None of the movie lights will be used. We even have a different stool, so the camera and stool from the production will be cleared from the stage. Don’t worry, Nate, I have some alternate furniture we can use without using anything that’s in the movie.”

“Adrienne, did you set all this up?” I asked.

“I had Chrystal’s help over the past couple of weeks. She negotiated with the production company. The company will want to purchase some shots from you for publicity, but mostly your work for them will be between the shooting of scenes during the day,” Adrienne said.

“I guess you have the word,” I said to Jayden.

“Lovely,” she responded.

2
Hooray for Hollywood

WE WERE SHOOTING the first seduction scene between Joe and Myrna today. Geraldine had it broken into ten shots. Some of them were simply marked as ‘Reaction’ and she told me that while one person was in focus on the camera, they might need to cut away to a different take of the same scene. In those cases, there would be a brief cut to the other character for a reaction, then back to the speaker. It kept the scene from appearing to jump around. It might sound like we were not shooting much film, but the camera speed was twenty-four frames per second, which means we shot the equivalent of a roll of film a second, about ninety feet of 35mm film a minute.

This movie business appeared more complicated every day.

Every so often during the day, Reg would call a ‘hold places’ command and get me in to take a still. I had the Nikon on a tripod and was able to move in quickly, take a couple shots, and sometimes adjust the position of the actors slightly. These were all shots with Lyle and Jayden. Frank was looking for a publicity photo of two of his leading actors. I was told that the next two days would feature Lorna and Fran with Lyle. Those were the three principal women with the male lead.

I didn’t even realize how long we’d been working when Reg called an end to shooting.

Adrienne quickly led me to a dressing room where a light dinner was waiting for me.

“We’ve got Jayden first,” Adrienne said. “When we’re done with her, probably around eight o’clock, we have Sue Fletcher. It’s possible you’ll recognize her, but that is the only name you will ever be able to release a photo under, no matter who you assume she is.”

“You know I have special releases that cover that,” I said.

“I anticipated the need and had Levi air mail me copies of the standing releases. He also had me talk to a Mr. Mayer, who explained how to structure the releases. I had to go down and get a notary license,” she laughed.

“Adrienne, you amaze me. I love you.”

“As your dear little pet, Fifi,” she said, kissing me. “Let’s go deal with Jayden.”

I really only knew Jayden from a distance on the set. I’d seen her work and I certainly appreciated what I saw of her boobs and the shape of her legs. That Lyle handled her so much was a little disturbing. But she signed up for the role, knowing she would be stripped and even made love to (simulated) on camera. Still, she seemed like a nice person.

“Nate, I’ve talked to Jayden and have her release. It’s a blanket release for the photos you take and she’s hoping you will get a shot that lands her on the pages of Chevalier magazine. Not a bad goal for you, either.”

“You’ll need to guide me on this a bit. I haven’t actually picked up a copy of Chevalier,” I said.

“Let us just say gently teasing to non-explicit tasteful nudes,” Jayden said. “Basically, what I’m doing on set.”

“Okay, we can work with that,” I said. “I want to work first with a stool, similar to the way we work on set. Oh, Gary, it’s nice to have you working as our grip. We’re going to start with the red backdrop, and I’d like it pulled out so it is on the floor. It should be long enough to get a nice sweep behind our stool.”

“Sure, Nate. We’re not actually on union time tonight. I won’t complain about you moving props or your camera. I’m just picking up a few extra bucks as a pair of hands,” the grip said. Geraldine had called him the best boy, which I thought was a little demeaning, but he really knew his stuff.

“What about the lights?”

“The photo studio lights have been disconnected from all the electrics associated with the movie. You turn them on and dim them the same way I’m told you would in a photo studio. When you’re ready to switch to photo lighting, I’ll turn off the generals,” he said.

“That works.”

I grabbed the stool and my cameras to set up all three cameras. Initially, I’d mostly work with the Nikon, the same way I did with the production shots. I also had the Hasselblad set up with black and white film. I just knew I was going to get some good black and whites, and since Jayden gave us an immediate release, I was definitely going for an art print. If there was something that I thought was particularly perfect, I’d set up the Linhof and decide on the spot if it would be color or black and white. Of course, all the shots I’d taken during the day had already been shipped off to be processed.

I started with a simple portrait. Jayden wore a nice dress and I thought that was a good place to start. It was a little surprising to see her without the brown wig she wore in the movie. Her hair was blonde and kind of wispy. And her makeup was more glamorous than what she wore in the movie. Well, in the movie, they had to emphasize the idea of her being nearly forty with a fourteen-year-old daughter. It was really hard to tell her real age from the way she looked. I suppose that in Hollywood, women have to give off the impression of being young and glamorous forever.

“We’re going to get some really good photos like this,” I said, leading her to the stool. She automatically started into the same pose she used in the movie and I quickly covered her back up. “We won’t copy the movie poses. We’ll get your nudes eventually, but we’re not in a hurry to see your luscious breasts and ass. You know our best boy, Gary, is here. Do you want me to send him away?”

“Gary’s seen it all before and I’m sure he’ll see it again before the filming is done. Didn’t you see how they kept me naked as long as possible on Monday? Shadow on my shoulder? Please!” she said.

“I’m not going to misuse you like that,” I said, tilting her shoulder a little. “We’ll start clothed and work our way down from there. First, let’s have that nice sweet smile I know you have.”

I stroked up her cheek and she smiled at me.

“That’s it. Hold it.”

I ran to the camera and we started taking pictures. After her portrait poses, I had her slip into a robe that we could loosen and work with.

I adjusted her poses and got her positioned facing three-quarters away from the camera, looking back over her shoulder. I pulled the robe down off her shoulders and ran back to the camera. I’d always liked that pose or a variation of it, ever since I posed Christine like that.

“Let’s get rid of the stool now and see what I have in props,” I suggested.

What I found was an apple. I brought it to her and had her hold it in a contemplative gaze. Then I pulled the robe all the way down to her elbows. I reached around her and pulled the robe up slightly to make sure her nipples were still covered and had her turn to several different angles as I took pictures.

I gently pulled her robe the rest of the way off and left it on the floor at her feet. I stroked her ass and moved her arms to just hide her nipples from the camera. I did take one full frontal that showed everything, but mostly they were tasteful nudes. I turned her three-quarters away from me and stroked down her back and ass again.

“Do you know what I see that I really like?” I asked.

“You have paid some very nice attention to my boobs,” she said. “In fact, your touch is very pleasant.”

“I’m glad you like it, but here, just above your bottom, you have two beautiful dimples. I love them.”

“That’s caused by uncontrolled fat,” she laughed. “Why would you like those?”

“Because I imagine it is where my thumbs would be if I were making love to you from behind,” I whispered as I stepped close and blew in her ear as I placed my hands on her hips with my thumbs in the dimples.

“I don’t usually, but we could,” she whispered.

“Oh, Jayden. Didn’t Adrienne explain my rule of no fucking in the studio or with models?”

“I guess she did mention it. I thought…”

“It’s a pleasant thought, though,” I whispered. I kissed the back of her neck and she stretched it to give me better access. I tilted her head slightly down, softened her mouth with a light kiss and went back to take the picture.

We worked through a number of poses, using flowers and fruit as props and different colored backdrops when I was shooting color film. Eventually, with Jayden completely naked in front of me, I took the last photo.

“That’s it,” I whispered when I was next to Jayden. “We got some beautiful shots and it was a pleasure to work with a professional. I almost wish I didn’t have that rule.”

As was my custom, I picked her up in my arms and carried her to the dressing room.

“Are you sure?” she asked, guiding my hand to her moist center and stroking my erection at the same time.

“Oh, my sweet Jayden. How it pains me to say, I’m sure.” I lingered in her wet spot a moment, then kissed her softly and left the dressing room.

I had about half an hour’s break before Sue Fletcher was scheduled for her photo session. We reset the stage and I put aside a chair and table from the props area for later use. I put a vase of flowers on the table with a small framed photo. I had no idea what Sue was like, but I thought this would be a good place to start, even for a portrait.

She arrived at eight-thirty, about the time I was thinking we should pack up and leave. She was blonde with kind of curly chin-length hair. I guessed she was about five-eight, though it didn’t really matter. She was thin and perfectly made up. It looked like she had had her hair, makeup, and nails all professionally done just before arriving. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how likely that was. I didn’t recognize her, but from Adrienne’s description, I assumed she was a fairly popular actress.

“Adrienne, dear, how nice to see you,” Sue said when she came in.

“Sue, it’s always a pleasure. May I present your photographer, Nate Hart.”

“Welcome to Attic Allure, Miss Fletcher,” I said, extending a hand. Well, that’s the way we do it in the Midwest. She looked at it a moment and then offered her hand as if just realizing that was what it was for.

“Mr. Hart, I hope we will quickly progress to first names. It would be such a tedious evening otherwise.”

A definite British accent. I immediately supposed she was in foreign films and not American. I suppose that was really presumptuous. Adrienne took her fur cape and purse and I saw she was in a sparkly wrap dress, belted at the waist with a neckline plunge that showed some modest cleavage. The hem was a couple of inches above her knees, but not far enough to call a real miniskirt. The sleeves were full and had elastic at the wrist. Finally, she wore beige satin open-toe heels about three inches high. They showed her toenails matched the pearlescent fingernail polish.

“Beautiful, Sue. Just beautiful. Do you have some ideas of what you would like to have in your photo session tonight?”

“Oh, yes. Very much so. I hope you will discover them or that your ideas will be even better,” she said.

Hmm. Not going to tell me. Okay.

“Not only beautiful, but mysterious. I like to do a simple portrait to start things off. It helps us to get to know each other a bit. Perhaps I’ll discover some of your mystery,” I said.

I took her hand and led her to my portrait stool. We paused and I called out, “Hey, Gary, I’m going to want the deep blue backdrop for this instead of the red. Can we switch it out, please?”

“You’ve got it, boss.”

He and Adrienne made the switch while I explained to Sue the differences in the cameras and what I used each for. It turned out that I shot a couple of rolls of black and white and a couple of rolls of transparencies with Jayden, but I’d never touched the Linhof. I was already seeing a possible shot in my mind’s eye that would require the 4x5 for this shoot.

When the initial portrait was done, I seated Sue in the chair and examined the setting closely. She kept hold of my hand and turned it over to look at the palm.

“Such strong and lovely hands,” she said. “You will live long and pleasure many women.”

“Are you a palm-reader, Sue?”

“No. I just have a good feeling from your hands.”

“Now turn just so,” I said, as I used the hand she’d held to shift her shoulders and raise her chin. “Chin up. Let’s turn the picture on the table so it faces you instead of the camera. We’ll set a mystique around who you’re looking at. Or is that supposed to be whom? For all the audience knows, you are looking at a picture of yourself.”

“Or of you,” she said.

I stepped back to the camera and began taking the pictures, giving her directions about her smile.

“This is a very pretty dress with all the sequins,” I said as I adjusted her position again.

“The very latest in dance dresses. No one dances anymore. The music has taken a turn toward songs that are completely undanceable. Do you dance, Nate?”

“Yes. I love to dance. And I agree. The newest music is hard to dance to. It’s like you have to ignore the music in order to dance,” I said.

I took her hand to help her from the chair and moved it out of the way. Gary rushed to take the table.

“Dance with me, Nate.”

“That’s not exactly taking pictures, but maybe we’ll find a nice natural pose for you,” I said.

It was hard to resist dancing with a willing partner and Sue was certainly willing. I took her in my arms and established a rhythm so we could move. She picked it up quickly and followed as I danced her around the stage. I spun her under my arm and at the extension, I stepped in to hold her in exactly that position.

“Perfect,” I said. “Can you hold this position while I adjust the lights and take the picture?”

“It’s much easier when I’m holding you,” she said. “But I feel I can do anything for you, Nate. I’ll hold very still.”

I adjusted the lights and moved back to the camera. I took both 35mm color transparencies and 2x2 black and whites. I hadn’t yet seen what I wanted to get with the 4x5.

“My dear Sue, your belt has come loose as we were dancing,” I said as I approached her again. “Shall I tighten it? Or loosen it more?”

“The belt is so slippery against the sequins. Might as well let it fall.”

“That was my opinion as well,” I said.

I untied the belt and let it drop. The dress began to part and I caught it to slow the progress and keep her breasts covered.

“So gallant. Perhaps you could remove your belt as well, or at least unbutton your shirt so I’m not the only one getting undressed.”

As she spoke, her hands worked quickly to unbutton my shirt and unfasten my belt.

“But no one would be interested in a picture of my chest, Sue. They will clamor to see yours.”

“Oh, most have seen it. You haven’t?”

“I’m afraid not. I’m not familiar with your movies.” She pulled my shirt out of my pants and stroked along my chest.

“This helps put me in the mood,” she whispered. “I did my first nude scene ten years ago. I will probably be taking my clothes off on camera for my entire career. I would like to think it will be a long one, but we change, you know?”

I took pictures as I moved her through a few dance steps and her dress loosened further until her breasts were still covered, but I could see a strip of her beige panties and the inside of her thigh through the gap.

“I think you will only change for the better,” I said.

I grabbed a flower from the vase and took it to her. Instead of handing it to her, I ran it down the gap in her dress from her chin to her panties and back.

“Yes, but already things are beginning to shift.”

She pulled the dress to the right so that her breast was fully exposed and I traced the flower over her nipple.

“This one is still the best. They’ve begun to sag just a bit. No longer the pert teenage breasts that made directors salivate.”

I handed her the flower and she returned the gesture of stroking down my chest and circling my nipple. I moved her hand so the flower was positioned just to cover her nipple. I went to take the picture.

“You don’t even want to see them,” she sighed.

“Oh, I do,” I said. “But I want to tease the viewer a bit first. Much as you are teasing me.”

“My game is revealed?” she said.

I took another picture and then moved her hand so the nipple was just barely revealed. I stroked the nipple lightly to make sure it was fully erect. As I did so, Sue’s other hand was on my chest, showing me exactly how she liked her breast touched.

“I think our game is to use the fantasy you want to create the photo you will love,” I said.

I continued taking pictures, changing film, and adjusting her pose. The dress fell away from her left shoulder and down her arm, opening her fully.

“You know, in the movies, they never show my front bits. We could show them in the photo, though, if you took my knickers. You’d like to take my knickers, wouldn’t you, Nate.”

“Yes. I think that is a very good idea,” I said.

I pushed her panties down over her round bottom and they fell to the floor. She stepped out of them and gave them a kick off the stage. While doing so, she slipped a hand into my trousers and stroked my cock. I froze for a moment and then replied by stroking through the neatly trimmed bush between her legs.

“So much better this way, isn’t it?” she whispered.

“Let me pose you for the picture before we get carried away.”

We shot a couple of photos, including where she attempted to hide her pubes behind the flower, but it wasn’t large enough. I took the picture for the humor in it. Then I positioned her with the flower between her breasts and made sure the dress was stable, caught on her right shoulder and her left elbow.

She kissed me.

“Let me enjoy this sweet moment, Nate,” she whispered, playing our lips together. I took the opportunity to be sure her nipples were erect. She continued to stroke my cock through my briefs. My trousers were completely unzipped.

“Keep that wistful, ready-to-kiss look on your face. I believe this is the photo I’ve been waiting for,” I said.

I slotted a 4x5 transparency in the Linhof and moved in so I could see from the top of her head to just below her pussy. I had to adjust her left hand slightly to make it look like she was about to reach for her lover. I paused to brush her lips with mine again and saw them part slightly as her eyes drifted half shut. She knew the exact expression.

I took the picture, shifted her slightly, and took the second. Then I had to capture it in 35mm and in black and white, too.

I went back to her and took the flower, then pulled her dress all the way off. I turned her so I could see that beautiful butt, which I spent a bit of time just holding while I kissed her again and she pressed her breasts against my bare chest. Her pelvis was rocking against my cock and I was peeking out over the elastic waistband. Her hand found that and smeared the pre-come over the head of my cock.

I returned to the camera and took more 35s and a couple more black and whites.

“That’s it,” I said as I picked her up and carried her to the dressing room. Adrienne had already taken her fur, her purse, her dress, and panties there. “You were wonderful.”

As I carried her, she returned to kissing me.

I settled with her in my lap and let my hand drift down to her wet pussy as hers stroked my cock.

“This is as good as any love scene I’ve played. Better. I think I’m actually going to come, and I’ll feel your cock exploding in my hand. That happened to me once on set—that I came during a scene. I was supposed to fake an orgasm as a woman frigged me. It was all supposed to be faked, but what they couldn’t see beneath the blanket was that her hand was in my quim and she’d found my sweet spot. I grabbed her head and kissed her as I came. The director made us do it again because it didn’t look real.”

“You are a very sexual woman, Sue.”

“You bring out the best in me. And I think I’m about to bring out the best in you.”

Her hand slid over the head of my cock and then down to the root as I exploded between us. I slid two fingers into her vagina and rubbed the top as she cried out and slammed her mouth against mine for a deep kiss that lasted through another orgasm.

“You discovered my ideas for the photo session and came up with a few good ones of your own,” she said. “I hope the photos are as good as the experience has been.”

She sat up, allowing me to kiss her titties as I grabbed a towel to clean the semen off her side, all the way up under her arm. Then she slipped into her panties and I held her dress for her and belted it. She looked into the mirror and grabbed a tissue to wipe her lips. She opened her purse and refreshed her lipstick, then fluffed her hair a bit. I helped her into her stole and she turned to look at me.

“You should put yourself back together, as well,” she said. My shirt was still hanging open and my briefs were pulled down below my softened cock. “I’ll say goodnight to Adrienne and be on my way. Goodnight, Nate.”

She gave me the lightest of kisses and left the dressing room. I quickly wiped myself up and pulled my clothes together. I glanced in the mirror and wiped my face with a tissue to get her lipstick off it. Then I took a deep breath and left the dressing room.

Sue was gone. Adrienne gave me a deep kiss and we got the film rolls together. It was well after ten o’clock, so I figured we’d get them sent off in the morning.

“Courier’s on his way,” Gary said as he took the pouch from Adrienne. “I’ll wait for him. You can take off.”

“Thank you for all your help tonight, Gary,” I said.

“Anytime. Gaffers and grips get to see things other crew members don’t, but tonight was pretty special.”

“We’ll need you tomorrow night, too,” Adrienne said. “Okay?”

“Great!”

We left and got in the waiting limo. I settled back into Adrienne’s arms.

“You know what?” I said. “I think I was seduced.”

Wednesday, I saw the first conflict on the set. Wouldn’t you know, Fran was at the center of it. I hadn’t seen her yet, but this was her day. Reg and Frank were arranging the shooting so that I’d see each of the four principals and be able to get photos of them individually and as couples. Monday, of course, had been a warm-up day, as Reg called it. Tuesday was Jayden, Wednesday was Fran, and Thursday was Lorna. Lyle was all four days. We’d be taking time out on Friday to view ‘rushes.’ That meant the film that had been shot all week would be viewed and analyzed to determine if the film was on track and if we were getting the quality we wanted.

Geraldine, who did as much teaching of me as she did making notes on the continuity, told me that the 35mm film shot in the cameras was color negative film from Kodak. At the end of each day’s shooting, the shots she marked as ‘print’ shots were printed in positive after the audio tape was synchronized and printed in an optical format. Usually, those ‘daily rushes’ were viewed early in the morning by the director, but they wanted a solid sample of the first week’s work viewed by the actors and crew. It would be shown in a room at the studio that was basically a complete movie theatre, but with only about fifty seats.

We met first thing Wednesday morning to go over the shooting plan for the day and I got my instructions of what Reg and Frank were looking for in the way of production shots. We looked at the slides from the previous day and Reg pointed out additional things he’d like to see in the pictures. I was really beginning to appreciate his eye as a director and was learning more from him every day.

The scenes to be shot this day were between Fran and Lyle as Jenny and Joe Price. There is only one big scene between them that takes place in the studio and this one was the one where she confronts him about knowing he cheats on her. It was an intense scene and Fran was getting worked up in her part. They were close together and just before Reg called for the next take, Fran blew up.

“If you do that again, I will strip you naked and rip your balls out by the root!” she yelled at him. “I’ve had it with you constantly copping a feel when we’re on together. And now not even when we’re live! You keep your fucking hands out of my crotch, you perverted sadistic bastard!”

Lyle stepped back from her with his mouth open. I’m sure he never expected to be called out at all, let alone loudly in front of the entire crew. He stuttered for a minute and I thought at first, he was going to hit her.

“You’re just a piece brought in for your tits. You need to learn who’s important in this film.”

“It certainly can’t be you! You aren’t even making an effort to be real. You’re so intent on feeling up all the women who come on set with you, you can hardly remember your lines.”

“It’s the character. It’s exactly what Nate does. I’ve watched him,” Lyle yelled. I think he was happy to have the focus taken off of him groping the actresses.

“It is not what Nate does. He never does anything with a model that she doesn’t want. He finds where her access points are and that’s what he does. He touches her face, shifts her shoulders, always asks what she wants next. You act like it’s just your right to fuck everyone who walks in.”

“It is!”

“Cut, cut, cut!” Reg yelled. “I wish I’d had the cameras running. Fran that was beautiful. That’s the kind of edge I want Jenny to have when she confronts her husband. Don’t let him close to you. Step around the stool to put it between you. Lyle, that moment of uncertainty. You’ve been found out and denounced. What are you going to do? You might consider silencing your wife. Understand?” Reg looked around to make sure his crew was with him. “Places everyone. Camera!”

“Rolling.”

“Sound!”

“Speed.”

“Slate it.”

The clapper got up in front of the camera, read out the slate and clapped the board to start the scene. He jumped out of the way.

“And action!”

“You think you’re so smart and clever,” Jenny said. The same edge Fran had just shown in reading Lyle the riot act. “You think no one knows how many women come into your studio for private portfolio pictures? How they start out innocently and you talk them out of their clothes? How you touch them and convince them it’s all for the photo? You’re not so clever. I know who you’ve been fucking. And when I’m done with you, the entire town will know. You’ll never get another private sitting for as long as you’re in business.”

“Jenny, Jenny. Calm down. It’s not as bad as you think. Maybe I touch a woman occasionally, but that’s what they come here for. They come to be shown how beautiful and desirable they are. Without that business, we’d be in poverty. Think of the family, Jenny.”

The scene went on and the two circled the stool. Reg had three cameras focused on them and he let the scene go a full three minutes—some kind of record for this. Then Lyle’s hand struck out and grabbed Fran by the neck and dragged her to him. He smashed his lips against hers, holding her by the neck so she couldn’t move away.

“Cut! Print it!” Reg yelled. “Freeze right there so Nate can get that photo. Nate!”

“I’m on it.” I had my camera ready and jumped into the set. I took pictures from several angles, then pushed the two apart. “On opposite sides of the stool now. Circle each other like you did in the scene. That’s it. Right there!” I took the last shot and stepped away. They backed away from each other like fighters going to their corners.

“That could be the defining moment of the film,” Reg said. “Now both of you go to your dressing rooms and cool off. Don’t speak to each other. The next time you are in contact with each other, it will be a cold shoulder that gets offered. Don’t spoil the mood. Joe, take a fifteen-minute break and get into your next costume. We’ll film the scene of you spending the night alone in the studio. Makeup, see that he looks like he hasn’t slept all night.”

Fran and Lyle left the set and Lyle was intercepted by the costume and makeup people to get ready for his next scene.

“Nate,” Reg said. “I don’t think we’ll need you for the rest of the day and Fran is finished. For today. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. She’s wonderful. Why don’t you take her out for a drink or something. She always responds well to you. And I know she’s coming back for photos with you tonight. Get her in the mood for some great shots.”

“That was all kind of unexpected,” I said.

“Sometimes unusual things spark exactly the right emotion for the scene. A director has to capitalize on it,” Reg said. “Did you see what we did? In that one scene, we set Jenny up as a potential victim. The audience thinks Sally Jane is the likely victim, but now they won’t be so sure. If I can get the audience to suspect that he’ll kill Jenny and Myrna, as well as Sally Jane, so much the better.”

“I had no idea,” I said. “This is really a dark film, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but not without redeeming qualities. Thanks for your help.”

He turned to consult with Geraldine and get the next scene set. I turned to Adrienne.

“We have time for a little afternoon relaxation,” she said. “I’ll call the limo. Fran could use a break.”

I had an equipment room where I could lock my cameras. I stowed them until I’d need them again at seven o’clock. Reg planned to get a lot of solo work done with Joe in the next four hours. I knocked on Fran’s dressing room door and she said to come in. She was in just a robe and was taking off her makeup. That makeup was an awful lot of work for six hours of shooting. Jenny was supposed to be a thirty-year-old mother of two, not a fresh twenty-three-year-old single girl. It was interesting that Fran was acting up in age by seven years and Lorna was acting down in age almost ten. And Lyle, down by at least five.

As soon as I closed the door behind me, Fran ran to me and wrapped me in her arms to kiss. I welcomed her.

“Oh, Nate! Thank you for helping me come down. That man just infuriates me.”

“Is he really that bad?”

“It started in rehearsals three weeks ago. At first it was just a gentle touch on the shoulder and then it was stroking my arm. Then a sort of accidental brush across my boobs or my butt. Then he’d slip up behind me and kiss me on the neck and give my boobs a squeeze. I didn’t know what to do. Today, he actually just put his hand on my pussy and tried to stroke me.”

“Well, you really let him know it wasn’t acceptable.”

“You can put your hand there,” she whispered. “I wouldn’t mind.” Her robe opened and I could see she was wearing nothing under it. I did softly pet her breast.

“I’m supposed to whisk you out of here for a drink or dinner before we come back for our seven o’clock photo shoot. Better get dressed. Adrienne has gone to call our limo.”

“Oh, boy. I have happy memories of riding in a limo with you and Adrienne,” she said, hurrying to pull casual clothes on.

She put her sunglasses on and we headed out. Gary handed me my hat as I passed and I thanked him. The guy knew where every prop and scenery piece in the studio was. Adrienne was already in the car and the driver was standing by the door waiting for us. I ushered Fran in and crawled in behind her. That was tempting. The door was no more than just closed when Fran and Adrienne were in a clinch.

“You were very dramatic today. Well-played,” Adrienne said.

That was a preview of Over Exposure. To read the rest purchase the book.

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