You weren’t sure what to expect when you signed up for the photography workshop. Your camera still felt too new in your hands, your shots clumsy compared to the polished portfolios you saw online. But when you walked into the airy loft studio, lit by strings of warm bulbs and the soft glow of afternoon sun, your nerves tangled for a different reason—Crystal Reed was standing at the front of the room.

She smiled as she welcomed everyone, her voice calm but full of passion. “Photography isn’t about perfection,” she said. “It’s about truth. About seeing something others don’t.”

Through the first exercises, you kept mostly quiet, trying to blend in. But Crystal’s gaze swept the room, and for some reason, it lingered on you. When she stopped at your table to check your photos, you braced for critique. Instead, her brow arched and her lips curved.

“You’ve got an eye,” she murmured, tilting the camera screen toward herself. “See here? Most people would’ve centered the subject. But you… you found the story in the space around them.”

Your cheeks warmed. “I… I wasn’t sure it was good.”

Crystal leaned closer, her perfume soft and distracting. “It’s better than good. You just don’t trust yourself yet.”