How to Take the Perfect Shot

A photographer and a sniper accidentally meet in a bar, not knowing each other's profession, they start talking about how to ‘take the perfect shot’. The perfect mind game, disguised as a short story.

Prompt

A photographer and a sniper accidentally meet in a bar, not knowing each other's profession, they start talking about how to 'take the perfect shot'.

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ENJOY!

Hank took a seat on the worn down bar stool and signaled for the bartender. Scratching his thick beard and sighing, the bartender could tell he had a rough day. His eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were dry.

"This isn't a popular tourist spot for no reason. Take a load off, relax, make a friend." Hank simply gave a weak smile and scanned the room quick. Nobody caught his eye, and not really thinking he'd be able to hold a conversation with anyone in the room, he diverted his attention back to the bartender.

"American whiskey, do you have it?" The bartender nodded, noticing he completely ignored him. "Bourbon, neat, maybe a drop of malt scotch, I don't know, surprise me. Oh, and easy on the ice."

"Sure." Hank watched him walk away to take another order. He hated working late nights. It was uncommon in his line of work, a bright sunny day was preferred by most of his colleagues, including him. Sometimes it was nice to switch it up though, rain and snow made things a bit more challenging but definitely switched things up.

"Specific order." Said the man sitting to his left. Hank looked at him from the corner of his eye. Mentally sighing, he wasn't looking for to start a conversation, especially with the kind of person this guy looked like. Lanky, small, almost rodent-like. Hank noticed he was balding a bit, something he was always afraid of.

"In my line of work, specifics count." Hank chuckled dryly.

"Tell me about it. It's always the little things. Jonah." Jonah reached out to Hank with an open hand. Hank looked at it briefly, ignoring it.

"Rough day at home?"

"Work actually-" Hank wondered to himself why people can't take a hint, he wasn't in the mood to talk but still, he decided to take the bartender's advice. "-looks like you had a rougher one, by the looks of it, three times worse." Hank tilted his head towards the three empty shot glasses in front of Jonah. The bartender returned, putting a glass down in front of both men.

"Make it four shots." Jonah joked before picking up the small glass.

"Four more shots than I got at work today." Hank mumbled to himself before sipping his drink.

"Really? What's your record?"

"In a day?" Hank rested his elbows on the counter and turned his head entirely towards Jonah, intrigued.

"Sure."

"Well it was definitely easier when I was younger, I had better eyes. Back in '07, I had about 13 clear shots, easy." Hank noticed Jonah trying to hold back a grin. "You're familiar with this line of work?"

Jonah nodded, "Did a couple shots today actually."

Hank was amusingly surprised, "S**t, never would've pegged you for the type."

"You can never really tell these days can you?" They both let out a hearty laugh. Jonah ordered two more shots, one for Hank and himself.

"I missed an important shot today, it was just one, but it was big," Hank said.

"In this weather? It's never easy doing a good job when it's pouring rain, f***s up the lens." Jonah got up slightly and moved his stool about an inch closer to Hank, sliding his now five shot glasses a little over.

Hank sighed, "Yeah, well, it's not an excuse my boss is gonna like."

"I do more freelance work myself."

"Really? I tried it on my own for a couple months, I don't know I guess I just prefer taking orders, being given locations and names."

"Want some tips?" Jonah felt confident, he always loved sharing his tricks. "Try to get as many shots as you can at once, catch them in a natural state, works every time." The bartender returned, expertly sliding the two glasses towards the men who were chatting away. He gave a quick smile to Hank as if telling him 'I told you so.' "What's your best shot?" Jonah asked.

Hank coughed, and looked upwards, sorting through a catalog of memories in his head. "Kentucky, '09. Shot a man in the army, and his wife. About twenty yards away, but it was a clean shot, perfect, and it sent a message."

"You're proud of that?" Jonah asked, utterly bewildered.

Hank felt a little self-conscious as if he was missing something, "Well, yeah. It was important, big deal. It was talked about for weeks. My boss loved it, he said it was one of the cleanest shots he's ever seen." He felt a little offended. "What about you Mr. Hot Shot?"

Jonah paused for a moment, "It was actually a line of shots-"

"Panoramic?" Hank asked, and knocked on the countertop signaling that he wanted another round of shots. "Those don't count."

"Fine." Jonah took another pause, "It was a friend of mine actually. Almost a mile and a half away. It was my longest shot to date." He pulled out his phone and quickly scrolled to a picture of a man, maybe late thirties.

"Wow!" Hank exclaimed.

"Yeah, but with technology improving nowadays it looked like they were right in front of me. Perfect shot."

"How do you take the perfect shot? It's taken me years to perfect mine." Hank paused to take a sip from his whiskey. "For me, you got to have you're set up in a good area, not too low or you won't be able to see, not too high, or you risk shaking the vision. Once it's lined up perfectly, you only got a couple seconds of breathing room before you have to brace yourself for the shot. Otherwise, you miss it, and you gotta start all over again."

"Agreed, you also gotta make sure you're in a comfortable position, it sometimes takes awhile doesn't it?-"

"Oh, trust me I know." Hank interrupted.

"- Prepare the lens, line it up, and check the angle, you don't want to go through all of that work just to miss the mark. Once everything is aligned perfectly and you've done your calculations, I always count to three and then take the shot. Simple."

"Wow, sounds like you've been doing this for awhile."

"I have, I'm good at what I do. What about angles? I feel like overhead is a little overrated." Jonah questioned.

"I know, but it's what everyone seems to want. Gets kinda boring. I prefer a level battlefield." Hank joked. "So, what was your first shot? It's always the most memorable."

Jonah bit his lip lightly, thinking back to his first one. "A CEO hired me actually, pretty big deal for my first gig. He wanted me to shoot at a press conference, an important guy actually."

"Mine was a middle-aged man. I'll never forget it. It wasn't the greatest of pay, but it was fast, clean, easy. I took the shot and went home. Had a nice meal for once."

"Congrats man." Jonah raised his glass towards him.

"Equipment?" Hank questioned, "I use a tripod a lot."

"Bipod. Much more stable."

"Really?" Hank scratched his beard, "Never thought of that, steadiness is important, you never want to ruin a shot at the last moment."

Jonah nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I hate it. When your subject moves unexpectedly right when you're about to take it."

"Wildlife?"

"Sometimes, mostly people now."

"Yeah, me too." Hank agreed.

"There's surprisingly a lot of similarities with the two. They don't know how to stay still." Jonah joked, earning a laugh from Hank.

"That's the skill isn't it? You gotta trust your gut and know exactly when to take the shot. When you execute the perfect shot, you know it instantly."

Jonah eagerly nodded, "So satisfying."

"Despite the missed shots, I love what I do. Capturing life in that single moment, you feel so powerful. Everything just freezes, the essence of the person just snatched and caught, and it's frozen forever. Their essence, in a way, is frozen irrevocably. The thought that was running through their minds, the expression on their face, it stopped in that one moment for the rest of eternity." Hank said with passion.

"I feel you. Our jobs aren't easy, I like to think I'm making a difference in the world. It's certainly not world-changing, but someday the stigmas around our jobs will disappear. I love this job, wanted to do is since I was a kid."

"No better feeling of reward than when you perfect the art of shot taking, huh?" Hank laughed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, man, that rush you feel when the wind is just right and everything lines up perfectly. Then boom, headshot. That s**t is orgasmic." Jonah let out a small chuckle, his fingertips circling the top of the small shot glass in front of him.

"Really? All that work for a headshot? Personally, I don't prefer them. I do more full body shots on a typical day."

"Full body shots? What the hell are you using?" Jonah considered himself the best at what he did, but he never once heard of a body shot.

"Canon G7X."

"Oh."

Author's Note

Any feedback is appreciated, thank you!