Prologue

I struggled frantically to remove the camera from the bag, thanked the stars that the correct lens was attached, flicked the power switch, raised it to my eye and set everything as best I could, very quickly.

Looking through the viewfinder, I'd suddenly lost them, and waved the lens randomly before panning luckily past the three of them, and returning to zoom and frame them properly.

My God, how many self-made rules had I broken already, and I hadn't taken the picture yet. My father would kill me if he knew how I was treating my Christmas present. I knew how hard it was for them to find the money in the first place. Here I was, two days later, at the beach, first off, standing in the first few inches of water, swinging the fragile machine like a madman, and taking photos of girls. Hardly serious photography, is it?

Screw that. This was important. As I calmed down a little, and framed the girls in the shot, I was surprised at the symmetry involved. Determined to make the best of this, I focused carefully, stood as steadily as I could manage, checked the corners of the frame, the level horizon, the light, angle, shadows. I rechecked the composition, and squeezed gently on the shutter to take the picture. Then something happened, and my finger muscles closed on the little button, hard. The power winder kicked in, and some part of my mind was concerned, a little, at the waste as I pumped through the entire film without even considering stopping.