fic: "Snapshots", Teen Wolf, Derek Hale, Gen
A quick little something I did for beacon_hills, in a challenge called Picture inspiration.
The pic I chose is
And it turned onto a Derek centric moody piece. I wrote 2300 words in 6 days, and tonight I edited it down to 650 words (there is more, stuff I like, I might revisit it).
For now, I'll put it under the cut, roughly edited and unbetaed. Sorry for that. Maybe it could be turned into something, though I don't think there would be much interest for it.
Title: Snapshots
Fandom/Characters: Teen Wolf, Derek Hale
Word count: 650
Derek received a small point-and-shoot camera the last Christmas before the fire.
It didn't get much use, though. Mostly he took a couple of pictures on a team field trip for a basketball tournament. Sacramento, early January, he felt on top of the world then.
It turns out that Derek had a good eye for composition. His mom had even printed out several pictures that she meant to put in an album.
They burned with the rest.
**
After, Derek was blind to the wonders that were right outside the window as he crossed the country with Laura.
Everything was out of focus, anyway.
**
Derek sees a quote one day that is a punch to the gut:
"If You Don’t Think Photographs Are Important, Just Wait Until They Are All You Have Left"
He doesn't even have that. Or not enough, anyway, not of the important people.
(There are a couple of shots of his family in the vault. Erica, Boyd, Allison and Isaac are gone without a trace.)
**
The Internet says that Derek's new camera is good value for the money. He goes through the owner manual from cover to cover. There are more options that he can even think of needing.
His loft is his first subject, but he's soon brought outside.
The Preserve is predictably photogenic. But shooting wildlife is tricky and Derek stays clear of the ruins of the Hale House, for now.
**
Surprisingly, what he prefers is photographing people. No one he knows, not yet, and Derek always asks permission first because he doesn't want to get in trouble.
They generally say yes.
(Too often they think it's a come on. It never is.)
**
The Beacon Hills Youth Center is in the scruffiest part of Beacon Hills (which is frankly just shy of regular suburbia, but with more apartment complexes and a bit of graffiti). It soon becomes one of Derek's favorite spot. The kids there seem less stiff, rowdier. They sure seem to smile more than those who hang out in the richer neighborhood.
Annie has worked there for 23 years, and the kids call her Mom. She gives Derek permission to take shots of basketball games played in the back.
She's skeptical at first, but becomes animated when Derek shows her the images on his viewer.
Annie even asks Derek to come back.
**
He goes to the Youth Center every day for a week.
The kids alternate between hamming up for the camera - there are a couple of portraits that are pretty nice, though - and forgetting he's there altogether.
Derek plays with the settings, even when he has no idea what he's doing (sometimes he manages happy surprises). He shows up at different times of the day to experiment with the light. He buys a new lens. He fills his memory card.
He feels good about something. (It's been a while.)
**
Derek reads about editing and it leads to a better laptop and Photoshop.
Suddenly, he spends more time fiddling with the pictures on the computer than he does outside with the actual camera.
What Derek prefers is originality when he frames or crops a subject. He tries to avoid doctoring the pictures too much, to keep them as natural as possible.
**
He brings Annie his favorite shots printed as glossy 8 by 10's.
She tears up and he gets a hug. Later, as they show them to the kids, their enthusiasm is palpable. A couple of them look at Derek with wide impressed eyes.
(He cannot remember the last time admiration was not for his looks, strength or related to the supernatural).
**
Soon, Derek will feel ready to take picture of the pack. Start to document them in stills, just in case.
But for now photography is something that is his and his alone. That makes him feel pride in himself.
Maybe he deserves that, after all.
This entry was originally posted here on DW, where it has
comments. Comment here or there
The pic I chose is
And it turned onto a Derek centric moody piece. I wrote 2300 words in 6 days, and tonight I edited it down to 650 words (there is more, stuff I like, I might revisit it).
For now, I'll put it under the cut, roughly edited and unbetaed. Sorry for that. Maybe it could be turned into something, though I don't think there would be much interest for it.
Title: Snapshots
Fandom/Characters: Teen Wolf, Derek Hale
Word count: 650
Derek received a small point-and-shoot camera the last Christmas before the fire.
It didn't get much use, though. Mostly he took a couple of pictures on a team field trip for a basketball tournament. Sacramento, early January, he felt on top of the world then.
It turns out that Derek had a good eye for composition. His mom had even printed out several pictures that she meant to put in an album.
They burned with the rest.
**
After, Derek was blind to the wonders that were right outside the window as he crossed the country with Laura.
Everything was out of focus, anyway.
**
Derek sees a quote one day that is a punch to the gut:
"If You Don’t Think Photographs Are Important, Just Wait Until They Are All You Have Left"
He doesn't even have that. Or not enough, anyway, not of the important people.
(There are a couple of shots of his family in the vault. Erica, Boyd, Allison and Isaac are gone without a trace.)
**
The Internet says that Derek's new camera is good value for the money. He goes through the owner manual from cover to cover. There are more options that he can even think of needing.
His loft is his first subject, but he's soon brought outside.
The Preserve is predictably photogenic. But shooting wildlife is tricky and Derek stays clear of the ruins of the Hale House, for now.
**
Surprisingly, what he prefers is photographing people. No one he knows, not yet, and Derek always asks permission first because he doesn't want to get in trouble.
They generally say yes.
(Too often they think it's a come on. It never is.)
**
The Beacon Hills Youth Center is in the scruffiest part of Beacon Hills (which is frankly just shy of regular suburbia, but with more apartment complexes and a bit of graffiti). It soon becomes one of Derek's favorite spot. The kids there seem less stiff, rowdier. They sure seem to smile more than those who hang out in the richer neighborhood.
Annie has worked there for 23 years, and the kids call her Mom. She gives Derek permission to take shots of basketball games played in the back.
She's skeptical at first, but becomes animated when Derek shows her the images on his viewer.
Annie even asks Derek to come back.
**
He goes to the Youth Center every day for a week.
The kids alternate between hamming up for the camera - there are a couple of portraits that are pretty nice, though - and forgetting he's there altogether.
Derek plays with the settings, even when he has no idea what he's doing (sometimes he manages happy surprises). He shows up at different times of the day to experiment with the light. He buys a new lens. He fills his memory card.
He feels good about something. (It's been a while.)
**
Derek reads about editing and it leads to a better laptop and Photoshop.
Suddenly, he spends more time fiddling with the pictures on the computer than he does outside with the actual camera.
What Derek prefers is originality when he frames or crops a subject. He tries to avoid doctoring the pictures too much, to keep them as natural as possible.
**
He brings Annie his favorite shots printed as glossy 8 by 10's.
She tears up and he gets a hug. Later, as they show them to the kids, their enthusiasm is palpable. A couple of them look at Derek with wide impressed eyes.
(He cannot remember the last time admiration was not for his looks, strength or related to the supernatural).
**
Soon, Derek will feel ready to take picture of the pack. Start to document them in stills, just in case.
But for now photography is something that is his and his alone. That makes him feel pride in himself.
Maybe he deserves that, after all.
This entry was originally posted here on DW, where it has
comments. Comment here or there