Peter landed a bit clumsily on the ledge of the apartment building. He almost fell, but it was worth it- the shot of the bridge was perfect. Unfortunately, he couldn't really share them with many people. The angle was impossible normally.
"Hey Pete," a voice called. Peter looked up, seeing Miles several feet above him "You getting back into photography?"
Miles landed next to him, much more gracefully. It was still a bit weird running into another person up here
"A bit... too bad I can't post them anywhere" Peter pulled up the picture on the camera to show Miles
"Just post them as Spidey online"
"I don't think that's a good idea," Peter said, Peter Parker was a photographer, and given his history with the Bugle, it was a little too close.
Miles nodded, not pushing the issue
"By the way, I heard you finally met Herman" Peter teased "You even knocked down a few buildings"
"That was all him and you know it" Miles pulled up the news looking for the article
"I don't know, from what I hear, the new Spider-Man is a menace just like the old one"
Miles ignored his jab as he read the article, pausing to take a look at the attached photos. All of them were shot from far away, barely catching the dark suit. If the lighting had been just a bit darker, it would have been impossible to tell which Spider-Man it was.
"Speaking of photography, no one ever gets good shots of me. At this point in your career, you had dozens of iconic pictures. I don't mean to complain- I just don't get it."
"Iconic huh?" Peter grinned, without the mask, Miles would have caught on right away
Miles shrugged "Maybe it's because I'm not the first Spidey? But it looks like people are trying, they're just all blurry or far away"
Peter had to keep himself from laughing "You ever feel like you're missing vital information?"
"Huh, what?" Miles looked up from his phone, clearly distracted
"Nothing. What pictures do you like? Start with that, you might find a pattern" Peter was both messing with Miles and trying to see what styles he liked while he still had his unbiased opinion
"Well this one was my background for years" Miles pulled up a picture "Uhh I hope that's not weird"
"Nah, that's fine. Norman has a whole bulletin board- that's weird"
"That is weird... think I'm on it yet?"
"Guaranteed"
Miles pulled up a picture of Peter swinging toward the camera in a classic Spider-Man pose. Peter remembered setting up the camera dozens and dozens of times to get it right. It took hours, it was going to be much easier just being the photographer this time.
"Nice! Any others you're a fan of?"
Miles searched pictures online picking one of Peter jumping off a building. Seemed he liked action shots- those were hard, but also the most fun to shoot. To the side of the picture was the usual credit 'Photo by Peter Parker'. Peter waited for Miles to notice, but the kid just moved on to the next image.
"I like the movement of this one too" Miles pulled up a picture of Peter several stories up, mid-swing. The sun was reflecting off windows, causing a nice glowing effect to the shot. "I'm not really seeing a pattern though"
Peter glanced beneath the picture "Try looking outside the box"
It was the only hint Miles would need, time to come clean.
Miles paused, taking a moment to zoom in on the 'Peter Parker' before playfully shoving him
"You took pictures of Spider-Man??"
"It was weird, he never held still for anyone else" Peter put a hand to his head like he was running a hand through his hair
"Isn't that risky?"
"It goes deeper than that- check out the article it's attached to" Peter once made a scrapbook of all of MJ's work, he'd recognize her articles anywhere
"A bunch of con-artists" Miles shook his head, going back to the other photos he'd brought up "This one's by Jameson"
"Oh yeah, he was the one I took photos for, but they weren't always for his work. His articles are much harsher but-"
"Working for Jameson? That's bold"
"Oh it was a terrible idea" Peter laughed
"I don't know... It's kind of like hiding in plain sight- I like it"
Peter held up his camera "Ready for a photo shoot, or do you need to fix your hair first?"
"What, now?" Miles ignored his quip, disappointing
"Yeah, lights perfect, why not?"
"What do I do?"
"Follow me," he really only had one shot at this, so he wanted to make it count.
Peter found a rooftop that met his requirements. He wanted it to be relatively open to allow for movement but still needed to have a lot of options to swing from. He adjusted the camera for close-range shots, remembering the settings he found worked best back in the day. This camera was quite a bit different, but he should be able to adjust pretty quickly.
"What do I do?" Miles looked a little lost
"You seem to like action shots, so just swing towards me. Don't do anything special, that's my job"
As Miles swung past, Peter took as many photos as the camera could process. Miles came back to look at the shots. They were okay but caught too much of the air conditioning units. Peter took a few steps to the left
"Ok, go again"
It was better, but the angle wasn't right. Peter laid down on the roof
"Do it again"
Miles watched the camera as he swung by resulting in odd body language
"Again, but don't look at the camera this time"
"You get bossy with that thing."
"Don't talk to me either!"
They went through nearly a dozen rounds before Peter was satisfied. Peter then worked on getting shots of Miles flipping through the air. Peter himself preferred to be precise in his swinging while Miles was much more carefree. He showed so much personality in his movements it was easy to capture on camera. Peter particularly liked the one of Miles swinging upside-down and backward.
"I'm not even sure how you managed to learn that- I certainly didn't teach you"
"Gotta be me" Miles was smiling, Peter could hear it
The last shot was easy, just Miles perched on the corner of the building, shot from below to catch the mask design and the spider. A still-shot to balance everything and show off the suit design in proper lighting
Peter sat on the ledge with Miles showing him all the shots they had
"Ok, I was giving you a hard time before, but these pictures are awesome"
"That's why Jonah paid me the big bucks," Peter said, "I'll get them posted tomorrow. I have a long history of Spider-Man photos"
"It won't be suspicious?"
"It's been awhile since you started, it's reasonable. People will assume I've had months of failed attempts"
"How long until I can snag one for my profile pic?"
"Hmm... that depends, if they get a lot of traction, probably after just a few days. If not, you'll want to wait awhile unless someone sends them to you" Peter shrugged "I'll leave the overthinking to you"
Peter handed the camera to Miles, letting him go through the pictures for any specific shots he liked
"So all the Spidey photos are staged?"
"Not all of them, but the best shots are," Peter said "I should show you the selfies I've taken with villains- definitely not staged, those guys are mean"
"Villian selfies? Like when they're being arrested?"
"Nah, in the middle of a fight," Peter laughed when Miles lowered the camera to stare at him "I like a challenge, but I definitely can't post those anytime soon"
"You are strait up crazy"
"All the best people are"
Miles went back to the pictures "Why'd you stop taking these?"
"Jameson blamed me for the death of a police officer. I'd worked with the guy a bit- he didn't like me but he was a good cop. I did everything I could. When Jameson ran that article, I quit. I was tired of helping spread lies about myself."
"Yeah, that's fair. If it helps, Jameson's people are just the loudest. You have fans everywhere."
"We" Peter corrected sternly. If Miles was inheriting the bad with villains and Jameson, he needed to know he was inheriting the good too.
"Right, we" Miles was probably rolling his eyes, but that wasn't important
"Does it count if I tag myself?" Miles asked cautiously "I've been a Spidey fan for years..."
"I told you I'm leaving the overthinking to you. I trust you... I also don't want to think about it so it's your problem now"
"Rude!"