Week 30: Growing Up Digital

It absolutely amazes me to watch Jonah interact with technology; it just makes sense to him. iPhone - not a problem. Remote for the television - not a problem. DVD player - not a problem. I know it makes me sound old, but technology has advanced so much during my lifetime, let alone Jonah's grandparents' lifetimes. I can't fathom what he'll be using when he reflects back and has these same thoughts some day.

One of the beautiful things, technology-wise, that we take advantage of is Skype and video conferencing. I was a bit concerned when Jonah was born. I spent every weekend at my Grandparents' house as a child; how was Jonah going to get to know his Grandparents living halfway across the country? Well, Skype to the rescue! The wonderful people at Apple had the foresight to build video cameras into their laptops; install some free software; buy a webcam for the Grandparents' computer and away we go! We Skype often enough that Jonah often goes to the laptop and asks to talk to Grandma and Grandpa. In fact, when we call them on the (gasp) cell phone to see if they are available to Skype, Jonah gets upset and lets us know that he doesn't want to talk on the phone - he wants to talk on the computer!

Jonah certainly knows his Grandparents well, despite my early fears. Skype has certainly been a large part of that. I knew that this photo needed to find its way into this project.

Photo: This is a small Canon Speedlight in a 28" softbox on a boom stand out over the computer, camera right. This is that wonderful rented 35mm 1.4L lens (which sadly has to go back to its rightful owners in the morning) at f/5.6.