When we think of the typical teenager in today's American society, thumb wagging, finger texting zombies come to mind. The 21^st century generation of youth is entrenched in technology: phones, games, tablets, laptops, e-books, and the mother of them all – internet. 

So, I was surprised when I visited a farm in Brooklyn. Teens, looking like teens do with t-shirts, skirts, shorts and jeans, kneel down near farm beds, pull weeds, do cooking demos for the public, participate in the farmer's market, and smile with each other. Farming? Hanging out on a farm? Teenagers nationwide would be appalled.

When we think of farms, we picture open fields, lots of grass, a few cows, a male farmer with a Southern accent, straw hat, and overalls, and a red barn somewhere in the distance. But real farms don't always look like that. BK Farmyards partnered with the High School for Public Service to create a youth farm program right on school grounds. I can tell you, there is a small, red, barn-like structure, but there are no cows and it certainly isn't situated within large, open fields – only large fields of buildings. I like to note that the person in charge is a lady in a tank top and shorts with no straw hat: the Youth Coordinator, Stacey Murphy. A group of teenagers take care of the one acre farm. They plant the crops, prepare and maintain the farm beds as well as harvest and wash the crops for the farmer's market that happens every Wednesday.

But the youth farm hasn't abandoned technology completely. This program has been running for two years with 2011 being the second. This year, cameras are being incorporated. Teens walk around the farmer's market and interview all types of people, from the sellers to the buyers to their peers, using cameras. The program has been seeking used camera donations, but for the time being they are using Flip Cams. The teens also take advantage of the internet by writing blog posts about their experiences on the farm. 

I had a huge problem with lighting on this shoot. It was during the afternoon and the sun was shining in all its glory. Some interviews ended up with dark faces. I had to fix it post production but it definitely would have been better had I done it right the first time. Lesson learned: don't shoot toward the sky and light shouldn't be coming from behind a person during an interview (unless the interview was intended to be anonymous, in which case you might want to distort the interviewee's voice in addition to darkening their visage). But all in all, it went pretty well!

Some believe that technology is going to destroy us. I say let's use it to promote sustainable behavior. The youth farm is just a step, but imagine what's possible when we all take a step. We'd go pretty far. Even if some us, including moi, have stubby legs.