deernet | video | un: degurechaff

[ A young girl sits at a table in an otherwise nondescript room, her hands folded in front of her in a picture of perfect professionalism. Her white button-down shirt is similarly perfect, not a wrinkle in sight, and tailored to her thin frame. Her gaze into her omni is expressionless — some might call it cold — and her high, childish voice is tempered with the assured enunciation of an adult. ]

Good evening. My name is Tanya von Degurechaff. I'm new here, so I have a couple questions for anyone willing to answer.

First, what kind of job do you currently have? If you don't have one, then I'm also interested in hearing what you did before you arrived here.

Second, are there any jobs or businesses you'd like to see here? I recognize that this is a broad question, but since we come from a broad range of backgrounds, any feedback is welcome.

[ A pause, a stray thought seeming to flicker through her head before she continues. ]

As for myself, I have experience with personnel management, various air-based operations, tactical field research, and administrative work. More broadly, I'm an aerial mage. The business I'd like to see is a coffee shop.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She's being generous and interpreting portraiture as carefully composed depictions of other people... may she never be disappointed by the truth. ]

It's true that it's especially important to be mindful of morale in bad circumstances. And it sounds like the rate of attrition is pretty serious... A dedicated documentation of the good that's happened may end up being very important.

[ After all, the world is dangerous enough without her needing to worry about her allies falling into despair and stabbing her in the back. The mental health of Trench could very well correlate to her own physical health. ]

I haven't been here for very long myself, but let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I don't have much experience with artistic photography, but I can at least help with any shots you want to take at height.

[ That makes him all the more eager to get the wheels on this project going, because who knows how soon someone might need it, given the way he's heard things go here. He might've only been here a handful of days, but it didn't take him long to understand this world is an unforgiving one. ]

Oh man, taking pics from the air? Love that idea! You're like your own personal drone! Wish I could do that. Could be neat to get some wide shots of areas of the city. Gloomy as this place can be, it's got some killer architecture!

[ And that too is worth preserving, in case anything happens to it. Though if something were to destroy parts of the city, they would proooobably have bigger things to worry about than photographs. ]

[ Wide shots? Architecture? Personal drone? What an interesting combination of words... The beginnings of an idea start to turn in her head. ]

I have some experience with cameras, but only in a straightforward, point-and-click sense. If you have any pointers to give me, I'm willing to try my hand at more sophisticated compositions.

Oh! Pointers? Well...yeah! I bet I can come up with some.

[ For all he loves to take pictures, and all his experience, he still doesn't quite feel qualified to teach others, like his knowledge is all that special or useful. Still, she asked, so he should try, right? ]

You mentioned the Omni, but got access to any other cameras? Gonna be real, I still don't really know how widespread that kind of tech is here.

... I do have a device called a computation orb. It can record images and videos by magical means, but it comes with the same setbacks as the Omni in terms of printing. Aside from that, I haven't run across any other types of cameras here.

[ The magical technology that makes up an Omni must surely allow for the existence of a magical printer as well?? Though the rules of the world being what they are, the magical printer would frequently be out of magical ink. ]

For the record, the non-magical cameras of my world were... [ She mimics holding a camera in one hand and extending the lens far out front with the other. ] Like an accordion, I guess you'd say.

[ He has absolutely no idea what a computation orb is, but he makes note of the name just in case he comes across one himself. The more camera-adjacent tools he's aware of here, the better. ]

Ooooh, you mean, like, those really, really old-fashioned kind? Or - uh, old-fashioned compared with what I'm used to, anyway! No offense.

[ Though if the Trench has taught him anything so far, it's that the technology he's used to means very little when you're in a different world. ]

Mine's pretty different from both that and the Omni. Check it!

[ He holds up his camera for her to see - it's a fairly standard digital camera with a detachable lens, if a little well-loved for the adventures it has accompanied him on. ]

[ The appearance of the digital camera is a small shock to her system. It's completely nostalgic... which is strange to say about something that should come from the future. ]

W... wow! That's definitely more convenient-looking than what I'm used to. Though... does it run on batteries? Or is it also magical?

Batteries, for now...buuuut I haven't found a way to recharge it yet, so I gotta be careful! So, if you talk to anyone who's passion is to open, like, a magical battery store, let me know. I'll be first in line.

[ There's probably some way he could use his blood magic to do it, but that is way beyond him for now. ]

... Roger.

[ She does understand the pain of humble commodities suddenly being inaccessible. If she finds some scavenged AA batteries up for sale, she'll think about snatching them up for him. ]

I suppose the complications of technology will always be an obstacle here, but aren't there certain rules about photography that should be universal? Regarding lighting and subject framing, for example...?

[ She will wring him for any drop of information she can get... ]

[ Fortunately for her, he loves to talk, especially about something he's passionate about! ]

Well, sure, composition is super important if you wanna look at a picture and go "yeah, that's exactly how it felt to be there in that moment." You dig? But I dunno, I kinda like the real candid photos, too. Sure, they might not look as nice and things are shadowy and unfocused, but that's true to life in another way, too. And the only way to learn what looks good is to shoot a lot of pics that look really, really bad. Take my word for it.

[ ...Is this actually helpful at all? Because now he's just kind of rambling. He's no teacher, he just loves what he does. ]

[ Shadowy?? Unfocused?? Real to life?? She stares at him blankly for most of his ramble. Aren't photographers supposed to be obsessed with achieving the most perfect pictures possible? Sure, conditions can't always be ideal, but photojournalists, for example, must have some things they keep in mind... The last bit makes sense, though. It's true of any skill. ]

The obligatory tuition of experience, huh? I guess it was too much to hope for easy shortcuts.

Nope! Can't make it too easy, right?

[ He chuckles. At least he's absolutely sure about that one thing - practice makes perfect. ]

But if you ever want someone with, uh, an experienced eye to take a look at your shots, hit me up! I'm happy to help, any day, any time.

... Understood. I'll be sure to let you know if I end up taking anything decent.

[ Who knows? Maybe she has a hidden talent for photography. She'll have to explore every avenue available to her. ]

Thank you for the advice.

video | un: degurechaff

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject