Threshold

Jade | Class of 2024 | Mount Baldy, California

I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful young high school senior this week. Carrying three cameras, in the grandeur of the this place, Jade didn’t seem to mind the gray-haired, 63 year old lady in fatigues, nor did she mind when I joked, “don’t let me fall over the cliff or down into the stream.” She was too busy smiling in her favorite surroundings.., the mountains above her high school.

Mount Baldy represents a new leaf. It was the beginning of my marriage to John. He grew up on this mountain where people wander down one lane roads devoted to old stone homes, as pinecones fall crackle into the sounds of children playing, smoke shooting from chimneys. Where a mountain dog joins you on a hike and leads you back to his home to say goodbye.

At 20, I learned some hard relationship lessons, worked a few different jobs, wished I had gone to college, rescued a cat, lost a cat, rescued another cat, met John, dated him for a year, then decided to pack my bags, my tabby, my Subaru and meet him there. Life was glorious. Vivaldi played on a tape recorder as we said our vows, threw the forgotten rice out for the birds and glided down the hill to our three day honeymoon.

That’s our mountain. There are no gas stations, stores or corporate takeovers. Just two original eateries from long ago, the old church and the Baldy School, where our niece is principal.

On weekends we’d climb the ridge where the curves of the mountains stretched into the valley below and went on forever, crisp air in our lungs.

I have covered hundreds of high school senior portraits in my career. As they are fewer and farther between, I realize the impact the camera has in capturing this season. In the space of working time, which I have never counted, I am constantly thinking about creating something special. Timeless to both parent and child. Lasting glimpses of 18 years in the circumference of home, before stepping over the…

T ender goes the day my 
H eart watched you blossom
R esilient in our misgivings
E bullient dreamer
S weet child of my youth
H allowed baby in arms
O verwhelmed by Grace
L oved like sweet melody
D ancing on the threshold

- deborah t. hewitt

In this special season, may parents and guardians find brave joy, in the letting go, and may God direct a beautiful purpose for each graduate about to walk over the threshold…

Happy Graduation to the Class of 2024. ox