ALEXIS KING

I tidy up the small studio, adding more white wall coverings to sell that I'm not a dying business owner. I prepare music, something upbeat and techno, to produce a glam shoot and chill vibe. Jason munches on cookies as he opens the program on a Mac. I play the music when I hear the door open, which rings with a bell that notifies us of entries.

PLAY MYSIC PLS

Claire Underwood's freckles are the only striking thing about her. Other than that, she's a three...maybe a four with more makeup. Jason, a tall, brown boy with dreads in a bun, operates a 50-inch computer, adding filters, airbrushing, highlighting, shadowing, black pointing, and contrasting. I capture pictures of Claire using a Kodak and an iPhone simultaneously.

"Raise your chin a bit." I direct the chestnut-haired woman. "Straight posture, tilt your head to the right." The woman complies to my orders. "Okay...look to the side." I snap ten pictures of her side profile, then back up to show the white lace dress she has on. Pretty and simple. Nice for her curvy appearance. "Beautiful, now outstretch your hip, suck in your stomach, twist towards the camera." My subject obeys. Jason drinks the remaining of his coffee as dozens of new pictures upload to LightRoom. "Give a side glance, part your lips, stand straight, round your shoulders." My directing soothes the stress I have and distracts me from money issues and a father who's dodging my calls. "Okay...costume change." I lower the cameras in my hands. "Help yourself to refreshments. You're doing great!" My tone goes chipper.

"Aww, thank you," Claire replies with a dazzling smile and makes her way down a narrow hallway.

I scoot a chair up to Jason's station. "Any luck with your task?"

"You mean me spamming Instagram girls? Nope. Most of them are either clients of a competitor or are self-made photographers. One chick trolled me about offering something that comes with her iPhone." He doesn't take his eyes off the screen. "Maybe Snapchat, Tumblr, and TikTok could be a better source. Insta is full of stuck-up snobs."

"Okay, try those; target fashion keywords."

"Alright, I'll include other tags like selfie, no filter, and beauty ones too."

Claire returns with a yellow off-the-shoulder blouse and white washed jeans. "I'm back."

I stand and grin. "Perfect choice; it's very complimentary to your skin." The woman gains confidence from my words and now walks with more pep in her step. "You can freestyle this shoot if you want; uniform has too many boundaries."

"Oh, cool!!" The subject celebrates as she steps back into the booth. "I want to hop, and spin, OH...and lay down. Could you photoshop me laying in orange lilies?"

"Sure."

The woman hops high, tucking her legs behind her back and reaching her arms high. A very candid shot. She does this five times; out of breath, she asks, "Was that enough?"

"Yes." I eye the computer. "The third and last one are a go."

"Awesome!" Claire huffs, then spins slowly, arching her back, her brown hair whipping around.

SNAP, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP! My cameras go. The last photo is of Claire lying down. This session is finished in one snap. Claire's hair forms a river underneath her head. My artistic side feeds off her dreamy gaze, her cozy smirk, and her calm body. I don't ask her to fix her posture because it's perfectly aligned yet slightly loose.

Claire checks out afterward, paying $150. As she leaves, I allow the music to play on to force nostalgia, so when she thinks back to her experience here, she'll remember the music. It's desperate, I know...but it's all I have.

The delivery is usually five 4K pictures, but I'll throw in eight for marketing reasons.