December 5, 2008

“Whatsthat?”

When our grandson was but one year old, his grandmother would carry him all over and he would point to something and utter:  “whatsthat?”   He is still very curious about everything, but, he no longer asked his question in such a unique manner—he now uses the Queen’s English to asked his questions, after all, he is SIX!

This summer we were visiting the mother of a life-long friend, when our grandson spotted the telephone and asked: “whatsthat?”  At first, I did not know what he was asking about; he then went over and pointed directly at the telephone and repeated his question.   I had grown-up with this type of telephone (and party lines), so I was quite dumb-founded that he did not know what it was.  I told him that it was a telephone; he was not sure of my answer and gave me a very skeptical look.   I pulled out my cell phone (a real phone!) and called the number.  It rang and we got him to answer it.  He was shocked that it really was a telephone.

As we drove home, I discovered that my son did not know what a “party line” was.  It is easy to forget about how much has changed in our lifetimes.  I wanted the photo to look like it is from an era long ago—like me!


Camera settings:  Nikon D3, 28-70 f/2.8 at 45mm, shot at ISO 720, f/2.8 and 1/30 of a second

Post Processing: 

Lightroom—set white and black point, and added mid-tone contrast. 

Photoshop—converted to black and white using nik Silver Efex Pro and antique preset with a few minor changes to the preset.


2 comments:

  1. Funny story! My son always had a pacifier in his mouth and would just point and grunt! But kind of scary that your grandson doesn't recognize an older telephone...what else will that generation grow up never knowing???

    Cindi

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  2. Larry,
    For someone, like your grandson, to go back in time is the same as you or I going to a foreign country where we do not understand their language or customs. Time travel is the same as geographical travel. The image does a very good job demonstrating how things have changed. Your choice of media was excellent.
    The Professor

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