Capturing Savannah (10 page)

“The twist is. You are going to pair off into partners and both take photos on the same subject matter.
But the photos can’t look like they go together. They just need to be taken in the same place or of the same thing or person.” She says.

“Ok now everyone find a partner.” She says.

I sit in my chair not moving and not looking forward to this.

“Hey Thea
want to be partners?” says Grayson, the guy from the party awhile back.

“Ya. Sure.” I say to him.

“So where or what were you thinking of doing for this?” he asks.

“I am pretty open. But what about Forsyth park?” I say.

“Ya that is perfect. There is a lot to pull from there.” He says. “ I have been wanting to take some images in the park. We could do the fountain or the trees?”

“Great.
I like the idea of focusing on the oak trees.” I say.

After a few minutes the teacher dismisses us to go work with our partner on the assig
nment. Luckily Grayson has a car so we don’t have to spend too much time walking by the alleyways. He parks a few streets over from the park and we both get out and head to the middle of the park down the side walked path.

He takes a seat in the middle of the sidewalk a good distance back from the fountain.
I like that he is sitting lower like that, it adds an interesting viewpoint.

“I am just going to sit here for awhile. I think all my shots will be of this spot and all the people that walk by it.” He says.

“Awesome. I like it.” I say back. “I am going to find a spot on the grass. I think I will do the same and just shot the same spot, the same angle. Just the people will change each time.”

I wonder off but it doesn’t take long and I don’t have to go too far off to find a breathtaking oak tree draped in Spanish moss.
I sit with my back against one tree facing another tree that will be the center depiction of my project. The tree is huge. The branches are huge too making remarkable cascading canopies. I take tons of shots. But in every shot I just see a tree very much like the one from David’s drawing.

“Stop yelling.” I say to Emily.

“Thea. I am whispering. And it’s time to get up.
You don’t want to be late for the festival.” Emily says.

I blink open my eyes to a spinning room.
My head is pounding. I try to focus on David’s drawing hanging by my bed. The drawing of the Savannah Oak tree draped in Spanish moss. The one that I have woken up to everyday for more than three and half years. I am most likely going to upchuck so I stumble as quickly as I can out of bed and into the bathroom. This is pretty bad. I haven’t felt this hung-over since freshman year. Since the party that Emily dragged me out to. The same party that Dax and I kissed at. I haven’t talked to Dax now since freshman year either and tomorrow is graduation.

Emily opens the door and I am sure she is struck by the sight of me flung over the toilet.
I can almost hear her chuckling.

“You gonna make it Thea?”
Emily says. This time I can hear the mocking tone in her voice.

“Yes mom.” I say back with my typical
sarcasm banter. “Do I have time to take a shower?”

I don’t wait for her to answer, I just get up.
Bush my teeth and I gulp down a glass of water. Then I start the shower water turning the lever so it’s pointed halfway to the cold side. Once I am in I start to feel a little better. I start remembering flashes of the night before. It was a big bash for graduating Seniors. A one last hooray type of thing. Hence why I gave into my no more then three drinks rule. The gang all went together. Emily, Darren, Remy, Micah, Dean, Lilah, and Grayson. Despite my pretty bad hangover I was able to walk on my own two feet by the end of the night. And there was absolutely no kissing involved for me anyways.

Emily and Darren
however couldn’t keep their lips off of each other last night. Which is typical of most nights for them really. Darren cut his hair, so he is no longer black haired pony tail guy to me. The two of them go together well. They do actually talk and argue and comfort each other, so it’s not just constant kissing. I think they are going to do well together in New York. And they are excited about moving there together this weekend.

Remy is still just Remy. A fun-loving, dancing, party animal from
Brazil. We all are going to miss him and promise that if we are ever near Brazil we will look him up. I remember dancing with him a few times at the party last night. Once or twice doing the lindy hop and once or twice just breaking it down to Sir-Mix-A-Lot. When I wasn’t dancing with Remy he was dancing with some other girls. I don’t think he took much of a break from all that dancing. Except maybe to get in a few beer toasts with all of us. Which happened throughout the night. One toast was a “Cheers to college” like we had done together that first week in Savannah at the
Velvet Elvis
. Another toast was “Cheers to graduation.”, “Cheers to reality.” And “Cheers to us.”

Dean and Lilah are now an item so they stayed joined at the hip at the party.
I didn’t much care for Lilah before but she has grown on me. And I think the two make a nice pair. And I am happy they are staying in Savannah and getting a studio apartment together.

As usual the gang also gave Micah crap
at the party about his Canadian accent. Mimicking his “Eh’s” and “Don’t ya knows”. Micah reminisced with us about the history of our town and all the sights we all have seen here together. And how the apartment him, Grayson, and I are moving into together this weekend is right overtop the sealed catacombs. He went on and on about how there were so many yellow fever victims that they had to be put underground. Despite that thought, I am looking forward to the new place we are getting. It is also close to both of my jobs. I am keeping my job from the last two years servicing at
The Tea Room
but cutting back to a few days a week. My second job is working part time as a photographer for a wedding and special events studio with a storefront in the historic downtown. I will be in the shop some days but some events will be on other locations throughout the city.

Stepping out of the shower I rapidly towel dry my hair and wrap it up into the towel.
I wrap another towel around my middle section. Even though the water was set on the cold side I already feel the Savannah warmth. I can tell it’s going to be a shorts and tank top kind of day. I get dressed quickly into chocolate brown shorts and a pale light yellow, thick strapped tank top. I brush my teeth again really, really well getting rid of the remaining regurgitated alcohol taste.

I brush my short black hair parting the purple
and blue streaks to one side. I lightly blow dry it and tuck one side behind my ear. I grab my camera and gear, slip on my flip flops and scoot out the door with Emily behind me. We rush past the stoop and I briefly think of David, missing him like always.

Downstairs
Emily and I both grab a few muffins to go. We walk to the car and I make a quick detour to the square where Sam and his dog sit on their bench. I say hi to them and give them both a muffin. Emily and I eat ours in her car while she drives us to
Forsyth Park
.

“Do you think I will get fired on my first phot
o shoot for being late?” I ask Emily in a bit of a panic.

“Nah. You will be fine.
” Emily says.

She parks
the car on Gwinnett Street, one of the side streets right off of the park. We both get out and I hurry into the park. The festival is just barely getting started so I don’t worry anymore about being too late. There are only a few entrants that have gotten started. The
Sidewalk Arts Festival
is an annual tradition that’s been around almost as long as the university. SCAD Students, alumni, and prospective students compete to create temporary chalk masterpieces along the sidewalk squares in
Forsyth Park
. The studio I work for has been hired to cover the photography for the event. It’s an exciting day. Not only do I get to capture the artwork that gets created but I also get to capture images of the people as they create it.

As I am messing with the
f-stop settings of the camera, Kyle the other photographer at our studio walks up beside me.

“Hey there Thea.” He
says nudging my shoulder playfully.

“Hey Kyle.” I say back.

I don’t know Kyle too well yet. But he has been nice and he is very good looking. He has light brown eyes and thick light brown hair that has a few waves in it. He has facial hair that he keeps shorter that extends around his cheeks, mouth, chin, and neck.

I finish playing with the settings and am ready to snap some images
when I spot some good potential shots.

“You ready for the hot day?” Kyle says.

“I guess. Although I don’t think I will ever get used to this Savannah heat.” I say. I clumsily drop the lens cap probably because my hands are already getting sweaty and clammy. Before I can attempt to pick it up Kyle has already grabbed it and is handing it back to me.

“Here. I’ll just put it in your bag.” He says as he drops
it into the bag I have side strapped over my chest and back. As he does it he brushes against my arm with his hand. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and gives me goose bumps. I have to remind myself that we work together so flirting is probably not the best idea. I don’t want to mess up this job.

“Thanks Kyle. See you around.” I say to him heading off to another section of the sidewalk.

“Ok Thea.” He says. “Maybe I will see you after.”

I rush off not wanting to confirm anything with him.
The event is really getting started now. There is a crowd walking along the edge of the sidewalk and several artists at work on their sidewalk square. There is also a pretty good line at the check in table where you get your chalk supplies. Everyone uses the same chalk but some choose to apply it with a paint brush and water and some choose to apply it as is.

I start snapping images of the people.
The ones that are hard at work and focusing on their masterpiece. The ones that are walking and admiring them along with their children or families. Seeing this makes me feel homesick for my family, the one when my brother Jacks was still around. But I am glad my parents and sister will be here tomorrow morning for graduation.

I move away from the close up personal shots and change gears into showing more of the whole event, the whole picture.
I capture some images while sitting on the base of the fountain in the middle of the park. This angle shows a long line of people cascading back into the other side of the park. The people are framed by trees following them all the way down to the end of the park.

“Tired already.” I hear a voice from behind me say.
And it happens to be Kyle.

“No. Just getting a shot.” I say back.

“Beautiful.” He says.

I look back at him a little confused by his comment.

“The angle you picked to use. It’s beautiful the way the green and moss of the trees makes a canopy over the people.” He says.

“Ya. It’s nice.” I say.

“Thea. You really have an eye for this.” He says.

“Thanks.” I say. “How are your photos going?” I ask trying to shift the attention off of me.

“I have got some good ones. I’m gonna take a break and grab a sandwich. Then come back and see how much a little time does for the chalk artists.” He says. “Wanna grab a bite with me?”

I am hungry but I hesitate. We work together though so
there can’t be anything wrong with getting a sandwich together.

“Alright.” I say. “There is a great little coffee shop right at the end of the park we can go to.”

“Ya. The Sentient Bean. Ok.” Kyle says.

We walk both taking a few photos along the way.
We each order a panini and a coffee and take it outside to eat closer to the park on one of the benches.

“Coffee is pretty tasty.” Kyle says. “But The Tea Room is more my brew.”

“Really?” I say. “And what do you get there?” I ask surprised a guy like him has been there.

I know the menu pretty well since I work there.
The shop is very quaint and has a formal sit down tea area.

“I am kind of addicted to their Earl Grey tea.” He says. “Ever since the waitress there recommended it to me.”

He looks at me waiting for me to say something.

“Wait. Have I waited on you there before?” I ask embarrassed for not realizing.

“
You waited on me my first few times there. But not lately.” He says.

“Oh. Sorry Kyle. I think I am on autopilot sometimes.
”

“Well you seem to be pretty busy. Two jobs. Plus school.
So autopilot is necessary sometimes.” He says.

“Ya. I’ll be glad when graduation is officially over tomorrow.” I say.
“What about you? Looking forward to graduation?”

“I guess. I already feel done with it though.
So I have been picking up a few extra events here and there for the studio.” He says.

“That’s great. It’s nice to find something you enjoy doing
and make it into a career.” I say.

We
finish eating up our sandwiches and sit silently drinking up the rest of our coffee.

“Guess it’s time to get back in there.
I’ll cover the right hand side, if you want to cover the left.” He says.

We both get up and walk closer to the ongoing festival.

“I’ll see ya Thea.” He says once again making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“Ok. See ya then.
” I say waving to him and splitting off to the left.

Walking closer
, the colors of the chalk really jump out at me. I get some shots of the colorful squares of sidewalk extending into the distance as I walk closer and closer to it. Once I am upon the artists I go crazy with my camera. Kneeling down in the grass beside them to get shots from their point of view too.

I take close-ups of their hands that are smeared and dusted with chalk as their fingers rub the colors onto the concrete.
Some artists are barefoot. Some artists have chalk dust covering their shorts or pants and shirts. Their chalk masterpieces are works of art but so are they. There is one girl creating a detailed Chinese dragon with black outlines and bright reds and purples and oranges. In the shot I show part of the chalk work but frame it so she is more the focus. One of her elbows is bent out to the side resting next to the drawing. Her other arm is extended as she uses two fingers to mix the colors together to create shading. Her eyes are focused down and she is smiling from ear to ear. Her long wavy brown hair is loosely tied back and hair strands are flinging about with each movement of her arms. Slivers or end pieces of chalk lay at her knees.

Some of the squares have groups of people working together and combining their squares into one larger image. There is one that is copy of a cover of Time Magazine
so it has the red border and “TIME” letter styling along the top above a photo realistic image of a man.