After a long drove from civilization, Jeanette and Roberta found themselves up in the mountains above Los Angeles. They got parked at a visitors center, and Jeanette hung her camera around her neck, anticipating a relaxing day of photographing the wonders of mother nature as opposed to news coverage. Roberta anticipated an opportunity that this would allow them to bond again as she carried Jeanette's tripod like a golfer's caddy. After hiking along a dirt trail for awhile, Jeanette was astounded at finding an incredibly large amount of fungus growing along the underside of an overturned tree, the mushrooms was about half the size of both her and Roberta.
"Can you believe the size of these mushrooms?" Jeanette asked, as she focuses her camera.
"That certainly is some tall toadstool alright!" Roberta joked.
Jeanette knelt down and snapped a couple of shots, and in doing so, she noticed on the upperside of the tree a small lizard resting on the trunk. Jeanette stood up, quietly moved in closer to get a good shot of the lizard. After she snapped the camera, the startled lizard scurried under the tree and into a pile of leaves.
"Somebody seems a little camera shy, don't they?" Roberta asked.
"Yeah, but look at the detail I was able to get!" Jeanette said, as she showed Roberta the shot she snapped, which was so clear that one could see all of the individual scales on the lizard.
"Incredible!" Roberta said. "You have a great eye, Jeanette!"
"Come on, let's go!" Jeanette said as she and Roberta resumed their hike.
After more time had passed, the two came into a large clearing, giving them a sweeping view of the surrounding mountains around them.
"This is amazing!" Roberta said.
"No kidding!" Jeanette said.
The two scaled a smaller hill off to the side, giving them a better view of the surrounding mountains and ridges, of which Jeanette began taking a number of wide angle shots. Still wanting the chance to bond, Roberta decided to put herself into Jeanette's attention after she finished shooting the mountains.
"You know what?" Roberta asked.
"What?" Jeanette asked.
"I really think it's time I changed my profile picture on Facebook..." Roberta said.
"Oh, I can take a good picture of you!" Jeanette offered.
Roberta smiled. "Great!"
Jeanette pointed out a large rock they were close to. "Have a seat, I can get a good shot of you with the mountains in the background, that'll make for a great picture."
"Oh boy, my first professional photoshoot!" Roberta joked, as she sat atop the large rock, removing her hat, and straightening up her hair.
Jeanette moved in on Roberta, and framed her shot, but it wasn't to her satisfactory as she let out an audible hum.
"What's wrong?" Roberta asked.
"This angle," Jeanette said, looking through her camera, "with sun coming in behind you, it puts you in a silohuette."
"That's not good." Roberta said.
"No, it's not," Jeanette said, "let's try it from the opposite direction, I think this angle would provide a better shot anyway. Looking down the hill behind us with the mountains in the back, you'll look like you're on top of the world!"
"How romantic!" Roberta said, before quickly changing her choice of words, "I mean, how spectular!"
Roberta shifted her position atop the rock to face the opposite direction, while Jeanette circled around to get the shot. Jeanette focused her camera, but found another problem with the shot, which didn't go unoticed by Roberta.
"What's wrong now?" Roberta asked.
"Now with the sun shining directly on you," Jeanette said, "you're washed out, you're all white. I need to adjust the exposure in a way that we can see you, but without darkening the surroundings too much."
Jeanette adjusted the exposure on her camera, while Roberta quietly sighed from her patience being tested. Finally, Jeanette brought her exposure down to a desired level.
"I think that'll do it," Jeanette said, focusing the camera, "oh, this is going to be a beautiful shot!"
Roberta smiled. Just as Jeanette was about to snap the shot, she noticed what looked like something moving back in the distance. She peered over the camera to get a better look at what it was.
"Now what?" Roberta moaned, growing more impatient.
"There's something out there..." Jeanette said. She ventured out to the edge of the hill and peered out into the wilderness. "Robbie! Look!"
"What is it?" Roberta asked, peering over her shoulder.
"A moose!" Jeanette said, pointing out a large moose that was slowly making its way through the thicket, grazing on the leaves of the bushes it was passing.
Roberta took notice of the moose Jeanette had pointed out, while Jeanette slowly crept down the hill. "Where are you going?"
Jeanette lowered her voice, "I'd love to get some shots of the moose."
Jeanette quietly made her way down the hill, while Roberta rolled her eyes, "so much for my photo session," she mumbled.
Once Jeanette made it to the foot of the hill, she was only several yards away from where the moose was grazing. Readjusting the exposure of her camera down in the more shaded area, she zoomed in and snapped a shot, but wanted a better shot. Not wanting to spook the moose, she quietly inched closer. The moose took notice of the chipette, so she paused in her tracks, not wanting to make any sudden moves. The moose went back to grazing, so Jeanette inched closer. She wanted to get just close enough to take a decent clear shot of the moose without zooming in and distorting the quality. She picked up her pace a little when she saw the moose began shifting the direction of its grazing, but without looking, she tripped over and large tree root protruding out of the ground. Her exclamation of shock as well as the sound of her tripping startled the moose as it took off into the woods. Up on the hill, Roberta shook her head. Grabbing the tripod, she descended the hill to meet up with Jeanette, who picked herself off the ground, observing her camera to make sure she didn't damage it.
"You okay?" Roberta asked.
"Yeah," Jeanette said, "been a long time since I had a big trip like that. I didn't mean to scare that moose away. I was hoping to get some wildlife shots."
"Tough luck." Roberta said.
"Uh, where were we?" Jeanette asked, forgetting that she was previously trying to take a shot of Roberta.
"We were continuing with our hike." Roberta said dejectedly, as she lead the way.
The two chipettes continued with their hike through the mountains until the sun began to set. Knowing they were running out of daylight, they decided to return to the rest area and call it a night. During the day, in addition to the mountain scenery, fungus, lizard, and moose, Jeanette had managed to get some shots of a pair of deers drinking at a creak, an eagle soaring overhead, a pair of snails on a large leaf, and part of a rainbow she spotted in the clouds. Making their way back down the trail, Roberta hoped that trip had bonded them, as she offered Jeanette some suggestions on her new hobby.
"You know what you ought to do?" Roberta asked. "Start selling your photos."
"Sell them?" Jeanette asked.
"Yeah," Roberta continued, "start a portfolio for yourself, catalogue your work, sell them on Shutterstock or something like that."
"Hmm," Jeanette responded, "that would be a nice way to bring in a little extra income on the side."
"You could turn your hobby into a second career." Roberta suggested.
"I suppose I could." Jeanette said. After walking a little more, Jeanette stopped. "Let me have the tripod."
"Here you go." Roberta said, handing the tripod to her.
Jeanette setup the tripod and fixed the camera to it.
"See another tree that looks it has personality?" Roberta asked.
"No," Jeanette said, setting the timer, "we need to document our trip!"
Roberta quickly smiled, as Jeanette motioned her into position. Jeanette then dashed over next to Roberta, and the two wrapped their arms around each other, the first physical contact they shared in a long time. They smiled as the timer ticked away. The ground wasn't very level, and the tripod was off balance, just before the shot was about to be snapped, the tripod started leaning forward. "No!" Jeanette shrieked, but it was too late, the tripod toppled over and the camera smashed onto the ground. Jeanette dashed over to her wrecked camera, scooping it up and observing it. It was damaged goods. The lens was cracked, and the view screen was blackened. Roberta gritted her teeth, not saying anything about being disappointed not to get her picture taken at all, as Jeanette stressed over her camera.
"Oh, gee, it's broken!" Jeanette said. "It's not working at all!"
"You still got the memory card, don't you?" Roberta asked.
"Yeah," Jeanette said, "but my camera's busted, I can't use it!"
"Don't you still have warranty?" Roberta asked.
"I don't think so," Jeanette said, "I've had it for a couple of years, and the warranty was only good for one."
"Maybe you can get it fixed." Roberta suggested.
"It'd probably cost more to fix it than it would to get a new one." Jeanette sighed.
"Well, get a new one." Roberta said.
Jeanette sadly nodded. "I guess I will sometime when we don't have a bunch of bills to pay."
Jeanette grabbed her tripod and replaced it in its bag as she and Roberta pressed onward for their car at the rest stop.