Crystal's not-quite-senior portraits

Last Summer I got to visit my parents in Connecticut for three weeks.  Since I was there for so long, I took my girls and drove up to Maine for a few days.  When I was first married, my husband and I lived in Portland, Maine while he finished his schooling there.  While he had grown up in various areas of the state, I'd never visited until I met him.  I fell in love, not just with him, but with the state.  I lived there only about 18 months, but I'd move back in a heartbeat if he could find competitive work there.  I'm not sure what it is about the state.  It's beautiful, even in the winter, but it's more than that.  The people are good and kind in their hearts, but it's more than that, too.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  Maybe it's my association with the newlywed stage of my life.  In any case, Maine is a little bit magical.  It casts a spell on all who visit or live there, even if for just a short period of time.  I will always have a fondness for the time I spent there.  When I visited, it was as though time had stopped.  I visited with old friends, and though their kids were older than when I left (and way older than they should be allowed to be), it didn't feel like there were five years between our last visits.  Some people are like that.

Crystal and her family are those kind of people.  A friend of my mom's says, "There are two kinds of family: family you're born with, and family you choose."  Crystal and her family are the kind of people that you choose as family.  I got to visit with them for a couple of days in August.  They live near a beautiful lake in Maine, so Crystal and I took some time to go down and take some pictures.  While she's not a senior yet, this was my first real foray into senior photography.

I don't normally do a lot of black-and-white conversions, but despite the beautiful light and scenery, so many of these images seemed even more striking in the classic look than in color.

Let me tell you a little bit about Crystal.  She's 15 years old, and has her hand in a variety of activities.  She sings in the chamber choir at her school.  She also plays volleyball.  She's actively involved in the youth group at her church.  Crystal also has a fondness for collecting sea glass from the lake near her home.  She makes custom jewelry pieces from her findings -- necklaces pendants, earrings, etc.  She has all her own tools, and is quite talented.  She babysits local kids, and is just about the kindest person in the world.  And she's beautiful to boot!