Minimum Focus Distance

Forgive me as I don't know much about photography no matter how much I wish I did. This chapter has no Edward in it, but he will arrive soon so worry not! If there is anything that I did or wrote wrong in here about photography or otherwise please let me know and I will change it to fit :)

Disclaimer: DOT (Don't Own Twilight) or NatGeo

Minimum Focus Distance.

The close focus distance or the closest a camera lens can focus.

Click. Click. Click.

The soft noises from my camera shuttering always made me feel right at home. The soothing sound always relaxed me, even since I was very little, and so I resumed my work, snapping away at the rich green forest in front of me.

A tiny, vibrant frog jumped from a small plant onto the tree just to my right. Click.

A bird flew over-head, its wings making a loud echo that seemed, somehow, able to fit in with the rest of the not-so-noisy surroundings. Click.

The sun shone through the canopy, causing such a gorgeous reflection off the small pond and into the trees. Such a marvel should only be allowed in dreamlands. Click. Click.

I looked around me, taking in the wonderful scene that was Amazon rain forest. The colors were breathtaking, the animals intriguing and calmness and peace just undulated from the place. I sighed in deep contentment. This is what I lived for.

My life, love and passion are nature photography. The scenes never cease to amaze me as they get more and more vibrant and unique, and the unusual, quiet workplace was something that suited me so perfectly.

With that being said, I was never one for large crowds or the hustle-bustle of the city. There was art, sure, but nothing that compared to the natural beauties of life. Man-made came second, and that's how I've viewed things for the last twenty-two years of my life.

I made my way back to my small tent just ten minutes from where I was. Occasionally I would snap a picture of some thing or another, but my main focus was to get back to my makeshift base.

I wasn't here in Brazil all alone, of course. My company sent another photographer with me so we could cover more ground for their up coming documentary of the place. As I weaved and dodged through the vegetation I couldn't stop myself from thinking about him. Emmett McCarty: Possibly the funniest and most loveable 'big brother' on Earth. Emmett, standing taller than six feet and with muscles that would put even the most serious of body-builders to shame, seemed rough, angry and intimidating at first. But the instant you saw his smile, or the moment when that first something slipped out of his mouth, you saw the big, soft, loveable, laughable teddy bear that he was.

It was strange seeing Emmett with a camera in the natural world; it was impossible to get him to shut up. Usually he would ramble on and on about anything and everything that he thought about, not caring about who heard or how loud he was being. But when he was in photography mode, it was certainly a sight to see his massive frame search his surroundings so…delicately(? I'm not sure of the exact word I should use here) with a small black camera in tow. I remember when we started out in Bolivia, the first time I saw Emmett at work. He bent down next to a small bush and started talking to it. Low comforting words were coming out of his mouth, but to whom they were directed to? Not a clue.

Apparently, even photography wasn't enough to get Emmett to shut up, just enough to get him to lower the volume.

Once I got back to my tent and removed my camera from my neck, I threw myself on my makeshift cot. Spending eight hours in a hot and humid rainforest was exhausting. Emmett wasn't back yet, and so I decided to take a quick nap before we headed out for our night rounds. I heard my walkie-talkie beep and heard someone on the other line.

"Bella?"

I picked up my walkie-talkie, not recognizing the voice.

"Uhm…who is this?"

"B-Bella Swa-an?" The connection was horrible.

"Yes, that's me. Go."

"Justin Meyer."

Oh! He's my boss! Crap…"Oh! Sir, yes what can I do for you?"

"Uhm, Bella someone called the main office for you from New York yesterday. They said that it was of upmost importance you get home as soon as possible," he said to me. "She sounded stressed. I'm sorry that I couldn't reach you yesterday."

What? What happened? Why would I need to be home? "Sir, who called?" I asked.

"One…Alice…Bra-"

"Alice! Oh my God what happened?"

There was awful loud fuzz from the background noise before he voiced anything.

"I'm not sure, Bella. Just that you need to get back to the U.S. You're scheduled to leave in five hours from the airport in Sao Paulo."

"But I haven't even finished the trip yet! I still have four days! And what about Emmett? You can't leave him here alone!" I protested. Of course I wanted to be there for Alice, no matter what happened, but I also dreaded leaving my personal heaven out here.

Justin sighed on the other line. "You have nothing to worry about, Miss Swan. Your plane expenses are taken care of, and Mr. McCarty and his new partner will be able to handle the last few days."

I paused before answering. Sitting on my bed I ran through all the possibilities in my mind of what happened back home and why I needed to be there. Mr. Meyer started to talk on the other side.

"Miss Swa-" I pushed the button on the side of my walkie-talkie so he wouldn't interrupt my thinking.

I was told at the beginning of this trip that I would be in South America for two weeks. I would travel through three different countries and take pictures along the way at every stop, once in the morning through the afternoon and again from sunset to ten PM (or differing depending on the rest of the crew). There would be a camera crew and a medical expert on board with us. The camera crew would shoot around the clock, alternating teams every few hours. We wouldn't be in any of the shots except for outtakes or when we were all just hanging around. We were to return to America after the journey with out footage/film in hand. Once they were taken in, we would be paid for our work and then would be off on our merry way to do whatever the hell we wanted. We had to turn in two weeks of work, no matter what. Every photo we took was recorded on our cameras so that the editors at home would be able to sort through all of our stuff.

Something hit me then. If I didn't turn in all of my work, I wouldn't get paid. If I left early, I wouldn't get paid. Shit! I needed the money really and truly badly, and if I left early all of that would go down the drain. And, if anyone needs any further clarification of the matter, National Geographic offered to pay a freaking lot of money for this documentary footage. I needed this money badly.

I released the button and stammered into the device, "Mr. Meyer?"

"Swan! What the hell was that about?"

"Oh, uhm sorry sir, I didn't realize my finger was on the button." I lied, uncaring towards whether or not he believed me. "Uh, if I left early I would still get paid, right? I mean no hard feelings or anything since I have no control over the matter…" I figured it was worth a shot.

"No, I'm sorry, dear Bella, but you would not get paid." Bam. Shot and missed.

I couldn't believe this. I wouldn't get paid because Alice decided that now, four days before I was scheduled to come home, to have a crisis? She thought that now was a good time to pick up the phone and drag Bella back into reality? Did she seriously forget me talking to her about this?

I sighed. It probably wasn't her fault that something happened, so I couldn't really be mad at her, could I? Granted, I'll force her to pay my rent for a few months but nothing too serious could happen if I left now, right?

I tried to convince myself that leaving here wouldn't be too bad, but only half of me was agreeing. This opportunity was way too good to have passed up. Getting published by NG was one of my big goals I life.

"Will my pictures still be used in the documentary?" I asked warily.

"Only if you give us consent to, but Bella we'll need to talk this over further, and I don't feel that it is the best idea to have it on such a public device." This relieved me some.

"Oh," I stammered, "o-of course not."

"Pack your bags and get in the Jeep Bella. See you soon," was his generous and well-thought-out parting line.

I dropped the thing onto my bed and played with the ends of my long hair. Justin wasn't really giving me a choice in the matter, which aggravated the crap outta me. Regardless of my ill feelings towards my boss right now, I did start to feel concerned for Alice now. If anything happed to her I would personally kill the person responsible.

Alice was my best friend and roommate. I met her three years ago through a friend and found that we were both attending college in New York; her for dance at Juilliard and myself for photography at RIT. We became fast friends and decided to move in together once I was done with school considering she was a year younger. I adopted her as a sister, basically, and now she was my rock and very best friend.

I rummaged through my tent for all of my things and threw them into my suitcase. I ran around the small space a few more times as panic started to overcome me, and I checked every nook and cranny for something that I might've forgotten.

I grabbed my camera, pillow, iPod and suitcase and walked out of the tent, knowing in the back of my head I forgot something but unable to figure out exactly what.

As I headed towards the Jeep, I saw Emmett emerge from the forest to my right. The small clearing we were in allowed him just enough space to fit between the trees and the tent.

"Emmett!" I exclaimed. I ran over to hug him after dropping my bag on the ground. I hugged as much of him as I could manage before pulling back and explaining. Once I finished, Emmett looked horrified.

"You're…leaving?" he asked. I shook my head and looked at the ground.

Emmett grabbed me in a huge bear hug. "Well, have fun!" He set me down. "Don't get into too much trouble," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I stuck my tongue out at Emmett, gave him one last hug and made him promise to call me as soon as he got back to the States. We had become so close over these past days; it was hard to imagine not seeing my 'brother' again.

"Oh, Emmett!" I wheeled. "I have this strange feeling I forgot something, so if you find whatever it is would you mind bringing it to me when you're in New York?"

Emmett smiled his goofy grin, "Sure thing, Bells." He waved as I hopped into the Jeep and one of the camera guys started to drive away. Someone had to take the thing back once I was gone.

We made our way down the small trail and I waved back to Emmett and my own little haven until no longer in sight.

And so we have chapter one! Please review and let me know what you're thinking about it. Hope you liked :)