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He turned toward the stairs when he heard Sydney coming down them. “So far, the heater is cooperating.”
“Good.”
He picked up a roll of film from Sydney’s camera. “Let’s see how you did.”
She sucked in a breath. “Are you sure? I’m a little nervous.”
“You won’t know until we take a look.” He took the film into the dark booth he used to load the film into the developing tank. He came out a few minutes later and went to a sink. He poured the chemicals into the lightproof container and waited the allotted time for the developer to work. When it was done, he removed the film strip and rinsed it in the sink. Then he hung it in the dryer.
“I could use some coffee.”
“I’ll go make some.”
“I wasn’t suggesting you—”
“It’s fine, Gage. Coffee sounds good.” She went upstairs and returned several minutes later with two cups of coffee. Gage had a favorite mug he used at the office. It was left by his Great-uncle Lawerence. It was an oversized ceramic mug withThe Calaway Report Established 1975on the side of it. Someone had made it. And as far as Gage knew, it was one of a kind. It was the official editor’s mug and had been passed down to Duncan, and then to Gage.
He took a sip of coffee, then set the cup down and picked up the strip of negative film. He cut it into sections of five images each, then switched on the red light while Sydney turned off the overhead lights. A few minutes later, they had a contact sheet sitting in the final rinse.
He turned a light on over the counter and picked up a magnifying glass. “Okay. Let’s see what we got here.” He studied the pictures and picked out a few he wanted to develop, then glanced at Sydney. He handed the magnifying glass to her. “Take a look.” He was very curious if she would pick the same images he did.
“Wow. It’s hard to tell.”
“Pick five.” He wrote down five numbers on a piece of paper and folded it so she couldn’t see it. “Let’s see if we pick the same images.”
She blew out a breath. “No pressure.”
“No pressure. And quite often, something will look really good. Then you blow it up and it’s not what you thought. Or there’s a flaw. Or someone or something in the background that ruins the shot.”
She took several minutes writing down numbers as she picked them out. When she had five, she looked at him. “Okay. I have my five.” She handed him her list, and he smiled as he read it.
He held up his. “All but one.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
She picked up the magnifying glass again and looked at the image he’d selected and she overlooked. “Why that one?”
“First off, it is artistically composed with the fire in the background.”
“Total luck.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.”
“Right. I totally planned it that way.”
“Let’s develop that one first, and see what we got.”
They switched to the red light again, then put the negative in the enlarger. He transferred the image to an eight by ten piece of photo paper. He developed the print, set it, then put it in the final rinse.
Sydney was right next to him, peering into the tub of water. “How does it look?”
Gage turned on the light and studied the image. “It’s really good.”
She glanced at him. “Are you just saying that?”
He smiled. “Have you ever known me to shine someone on? Especially you?”
