Teen face: Heather Littlefield

Personal: Heather Littlefield is a 16-year-old junior attending Sonoma Academy. She lives in Petaluma with her mom, Carissa. Her dad is Ed, and she has a half brother, Keith, 26. There are three pets at home: a golden retriever named Chester and two tabby cats, Emily and Riley.

Life in focus: She says she grew up around cameras and developed an easy, natural consideration of framing and light. So when a school assignment offered an opportunity to create a unique photographic image, she decided to give it her best effort.

"Our teacher assigned us this thing to do, to come up with a poster design for the school play, 'Hamlet.' I wanted to get a good grade, and I knew I could do a good photo," said the teen, whose photo became the poster for the play.

"My inspiration was the idea of a modern version of an old play . . . modern and old-style fusion. Instead of a lake or pond, I put her in a bathtub," she said of the striking tableau made possible with help from her model, Linea Sablosky, a fellow Sonoma Academy student. The shoot took place in Littlefield's back yard.

"The light was perfect," Littlefield recalled.

Best effort wins major accolades: Her teacher encouraged her to send the poster off to an Alliance for Young Artists & Writers competition hosted by the Department of Education.

"When I entered, I had no idea what it was all about. When I found out I was chosen for the annual exhibit, I realized a lot of amazing people had been in this before me," she said.

Some of the past teen recipients of Scholastic Art Awards include Robert Redford, Andy Warhol, Richard Avedon, Joyce Carol Oates, John Lithgow and Sylvia Plath.

Littlefield's award-winning piece, titled "Ophelia," won in the category of design/graphics. The honor includes a trip to Washington to witness the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the show, which will run through next August.

Talent, talent, talent: When she's not working with her Leica camera, she enjoys writing novels, painting and mixed-media art, and playing any instrument with strings.

"I've been musical my entire life, and I've been singing since I've been able to talk," she said.

Her musical heroes include The Clash frontman Joe Strummer and Otis Redding.

"They're amazing musicians. I have pictures of them up in my room. I love them," she said.

Her favorite authors include Kurt Vonnegut and George Orwell. Favorite film directors? Alex Cox and Quentin Tarantino.

What she's known for: She's the girl whose hair is green today, purple tomorrow. She said she dyes her hair so much because she gets bored with it otherwise.

"I'm known for being funny, really loud, having a good voice and not being afraid to speak my mind," she said.

Turning point: Now that she's a junior, she's feeling that the stakes have increased. There's more homework, more scrutiny and more pressure to make decisions about career paths.

"I don't really have a big plan, and I'm comfortable with that. I want to study philosophy or literature. I envision a nontraditional path," she said.

Her role in the world includes endeavoring to communicate through her art.

"I would never want to hold back and regret anything. I see myself doing what I want to do in life instead of following the mainstream," she said.

That will likely include a break between high school and college for travel and exploration, or factoring in some time to get to know her new college community.

"I won't be staying in a dorm, so time to settle into my new community will be important. I'm not a very sentimental person. I'll just pack up and head off into a new adventure," she said.

-- Rayne Wolfe