The Elska Disaster... with Dan P
- LIAM C.
- Sep 15, 2016
- 2 min read
On the sixth day of Cardiff shoot week the worst thing that could happen happened. My computer broke. I was in a café at the St David's Centre waiting for Wes S to arrive for his shoot, turned on my laptop to upload the pics from the previous shoot of Bruce B, and it wouldn't fully boot up. A little image of a file folder with a question mark superimposed on it flashed on the screen. This wasn't good.

I headed over to the nearby Apple Store and begged for help. Then I left the macbook with them as I left to shoot Wes S, trying to hide my panic. By the time the shoot was over I already had a Genius messaging me to return. There was nothing they could do. It was beyond repair and the files were inaccessible. He recommended a file recovery service in Penarth, so I headed straight there, handed off the dead laptop and hoped, but it would be a few days until I got any answer. The problem was that I hadn't done a backup since Shoot Day 2, and there were eight Elska boys shot between then and the disaster.
I only had three days left in Cardiff, hardly enough time to shoot the few guys I had remaining plus replace the eight I'd lost, but I was going to try. I wouldn't abandon the Cardiff issue, so onto the gay apps I went to try and find some willing soul to help out.
It worked. First I found Dan P who seemed a bit shell-shocked at what he was agreeing to do, but he was apparently feeling brave. Usually these last minute searches yield poor results, since there's no time to build a rapport between the boy and Elska, but with Dan, it was easy. I really liked him and if I lived in Cardiff I think I'd like to be his mate. Actually I kinda do want to live in Cardiff. I got on with the guys here better perhaps than the boys of any issue. Their friendliness definitely helped ease the pain of losing a computer.

In the end, the data was saved, at huge expense that practically wiped Elska out, but I can only hope that Elska keeps growing, the the Cardiff issue and beyond sell well, and that the future is filled with lovely guys like Dan who make the hard parts easier to cope with.
Elska Boy: Dan P
Photographer: Liam Campbell
Location: Cardiff, Wales
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