fandomhigh | Pet Photography; Monday, Second Period [07/08].

Boy, sometimes, Fandom really didn't give you a whole lot of time to breath in between one thing and the other, did it? Granted, it hadn't been the first time Prompto had experienced something like the last weekend, suddenly thrust twenty years into the future for a glimpse of What Might Be, and it was interesting to compare what the differences were (fewer kids, for one! He had a feeling most people went the opposite way than that, and Vampire!Iggy was...uh, something!, but seriously? Chocobo farm? Back on Eos? Be still his heart!), but he didn't really have time for that, because he had a class to get to, and he would just have to ruminate on all of that later!

Either way, information had been sent out to make sure the students of Prompto's class knew to meet at the animal shelter, for this and pretty much every class, unless he specified otherwise ahead of time. There, they would find the usual menagerie of animals, from the puppy pen by the window facing the street, to the cats roaming around like they owned the place, to the rows of pet product shelves and the tanks and cages for their rodent, reptile, and feathered friends, and, of course, to the massive collection of impressive fishtanks taking up the majority of the back wall.

And a small little area set up like a photography studio, and a eagerly bouncing instructor waiting for them there.

"Hey, guys!" Prompto greeted them with a big grin and a little notch of his hand in a finger gun toward the students, slightly covering up his disappointment that, once again, photography didn't seem like a big catch for the students right now. He thought for sure adding pets to the mix would spark a little more people to sing up, but alas. Oh well. Fine. It was fine! This just meant getting to work more one-on-one with the students he did have!

"And welcome back to more photography! As you probably guessed by where we are and the name of the class itself, we're doing a special focus on animal photography, specifically pets, and so get ready for some really cute, really adorable challenges. Because it's one thing to be able to take pictures of stationary things, but when you've got models with a mind of their own, it turns photography into a whole new adventure! It's not quite the same as wildlife photography, either, which can sometimes be a lot about waiting for that right shot, although there are some similarities. But we'll get into all of that eventually. And I know everyone here knows how to use a camera already from previous classes, so we're good there, and I have rentals if you need to borrow one still. We already know each other from the last session, but I'd like to do some quick introductions, mostly to know what your experiences working with animals might be, since I already know your experience with photography, and then we're going to pop right into some general rules, guidelines, and essential tips for getting your best photography with your pets! Now, this is going to be structured a little differently than the last class, too, most of our picture-taking is going to be just here in the shelter without as much homework, but if you do have any shots you want to show off on any given week, you know I'm not going to say no.

"If there isn't any questions before we begin," he concluded, "let's just go ahead and get started."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

With a pet!

Stewart

Arden Finch

Stark

Well, the introduction, anyway! The lecture part is still coming up, but that doesn't meant Prompto won't still babble at you for a bit while getting things started.

Professor Argentum was welcome to talk as long as he wished. In fact, if he wanted to, like, have one of Professor Vess's super-lectures, that would be great and she would support him wholeheartedly. That would give her plenty of time to disassociate in peace, staring at the top of her desk as it could possibly have the answers to the universe engraved on it. Or, even more importantly, answers to how she could avoid thinking about the weekend. Or her wakeup. Or literally anything at all.

Stewart still wasn't entirely certain if he had even made it through whatever weird drug haze he'd been in over the weekend that made him think he was in his 40s and was some kind of record producer? That part hadn't been so bad, really, but the sobriety...

Was his subconscious trying to tell him something?

And now he was squinting at the room around him and wondering how he was expected to pay any attention to anything Argentum was saying when there was an adorable little bull mastiff pup sniffing his boots right now.

He should have brought treats.

He was definitely going to bring treats next time.

Should be pretty short and sweet since everyone pretty much knew each other already and there's so few of them! And Prompto was ready to go in leading the charge:

"So, to kick things off with myself," he said, hand on his chest, "I'm Prompto Argentum, me and my wife run the Photo Hut here in town and I'm a freelance photographer on the side as well, and I also help keep this animal shelter here running, too. And, of course, teaching you guys all about taking cool ass pictures when I'm not doing teamwork classes with my best buddies! I have one pet, currently, a really beautiful grey tiger cat named Rain, which has been great. She's technically my wife's cat, but she lets me in on it. I never really had any pets growing up, but I've always loved animals, right along with always loving photography! So this class is a good merger of two of my biggest loves, and I think we're going to have a lot of fun. If I had to pick a favorite animal, it would definitely be chocobos, which we don't really have here, but they're these really large birds that you can ride on, and they're seriously the best. Outside of chocobos, though, I'd go with puppies, but please don't tell my cat I said that."

He grinned a little bit. "Alright, then. Your turn!"

"I'm Stark," he said quietly. Yes, he definitely still had paint on him. That was fine.

"Sometimes I teach, but not right now, and I work at the clinic. I'll be going there after this. I'm not sure I have a favorite animal? I do like cats. And dogs."

He was absolutely going to be cuddling a puppy immediately after this.

Prompto nodded, with a little bit of a smile. He knew sometimes these weekends could be hard on people, so he definitely understood why there was a particular vibe in the air today, and why it made him a little extra glad he'd decided to do this class now, so there could be both pet and photography therapy today.

"Hey, Stark," he said. "Good to have you in class again. Who knows? Maybe by the end of this class, you will have found definite favorite!"

Arden, also still paint spattered, also subdued, would have been happy to spend the rest of the class whistling eerily accurate bird noises to the various birds that Furnado was home to. But apparently it was still introductions, so.

"I'm Arden, just a student. Never had a pet but I really like birds. Especially kes--" Ignore that momentary verbal stumble, please and thank you. "kestrels. I officially took the last name 'Finch' at eight because I love birds so much and I didn't have one anyway." She hesitated. "Are we allowed to take the birds out of their cages? Like the puppies and kittens?"

"Good to have you in class again, Arden," said Prompto, with a nod, and the softest of smiles. "And, yeah, sure, definitely. Do you have a good idea already how to properly handle a bird, or do you want me or the vet to go over some good tips and pointers?"

Arden had already opened the closest cage holding a pair of parakeets, but at his question, she hesitated. "So, um, I never learned, exactly?" she said. "I guess that being told some stuff would be good." A pause. "I mean, yes please. I don't know and I would like to get that explanation."

She might have hesitated, but the birds did not, immediately flying out. One landed on her shoulder and immediately started nuzzling her cheek, the other landing on her outstretched hand, and chattering at her.

"Now, for future lessons," said Prompto, once they were ready to move on from the intros, "we'll be focusing on specific animals or techniques, but today, I just wanted to go over the basics. You both already know how to use a camera and some good basic techniques already, so I just want to talk a little bit about pet-specific tips. And since we're working with live but unprofessional models, and we're such a small class already, I really encourage working together when it'll be helpful."

So, after running through a few tips and tricks, he asked if there were any questions, and then moved on with what they'd be doing with the rest of the class period.

"Awesome," he said. "So that's the basics, pretty simple right out the gate, and today, I just want the two of you to explore the shelter a little with your cameras, snapping some nice casual photos of what you find interesting, or any of the pets who really stand out to you or are really particularly friendly, or just think about what might come in use later on in the session! And, of course, ask any questions, and if you end up just finding a friend and enjoying their company, that's fine, too, these guys love the attention."

Well, most of them, anyway.

"And it's good to work up a good report with your models anyway!"

Stark headed right for the puppies. He was going to take pictures of puppies. He was also going to snuggle a puppy right now. He needed it.

He'll probably be sticking around a bit after class, even, to take care of a few things while he's already here at the Shelter, so he's definitely around!

Pet Photography; Monday, Second Period [07/08].

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