A Wedding, Bar, and Winery….with Glass

I took Glass to a couple of places that I was on the fence about (in terms of appropriateness). Surprisingly, all turned out well.

Two weekends ago we were invited to a small wedding of our friends Clara and Scott. As I’ve grown as a photographer, I’ve begun to stop bringing a camera to weddings (I’ll bring a PAS but I don’t take DSLR(s) with me unless I’m paid). These days, between the paid photographers and cell phones, there really isn’t a huge need for me to bringing a nicer camera. However, that was my thought process before I could have a camera by my face. Did it change the experience?

 

Yes and no.

 

I could take pictures/video discreetly (especially when we had to all hold hands). Personally, I didn’t want to miss the ceremony so I ignored any notifications (but I’ll admit this is slightly(?) better than checking your phone during a wedding). But do I need to capture stuff from my viewpoint? Frankly, the options for people who are part of the ceremony are tremendous. For people just attending, it really depends. Based on how I flail dance, it could be interesting to capture us…but do I really want to?

 

That question has nagged me for the last couple of weeks. When you are able to capture so much of your life quickly, the question of importance really begins to surface. Yeah, its cool I’m sharing a (slightly crooked) photo of the Golden Gate bridge #throughglass- but do I want to? Are others really missing out? Am I only adding noise?

 

I don’t have an answer to that yet. It’s a line that everyone straddles, and it varies from person to person. Personally, I started noticing themes over the weekend. While we were at the bar, it was great for Jules to record me (and Johnny) totally bombing at karaoke. I didn’t care to keep my POV of karaoke (plus there were lasers, which don’t play nice with camera sensors). But, the more places I wear it, the more people who ask me about it. For instance, a couple of ladies asked to try on Glass at the bar. Turns out (later) that one of them I already follow on Twitter! (small world, right?) You never know who will ask to try them on.

Which leads me to a very interesting trend I’ve noticed. Roughly 98% of people who ask about Glass want to try them on. Of that 98%, 99% of them want a picture wearing them (usually with an ear to ear smile). As someone who is a techie, that’s huge. Think about it, when was the last time someone wanted a picture wearing your FuelBand, Fitbit, or Jawbone Up? Seriously, if you think about it, its kinda amazing that people want a picture wearing it. No matter what the reason (new, cool, exciting, etc), I think that speak volumes about the interest in the device. Will that translate into sales later? Probably.

On Sunday, we rounded up a couple of our friends and headed up to Sonoma for some wine tasting. The Sebastiani winery has a great (genius, really) perk of being a wine club members- 4 of our friends can taste for free. Not only is the tasting room (and the wine) awesome, but they are also very active on social media as well (turns out their social media manager for them is also a Glass user). Both my friends Alex and Olivia hadn’t gotten to try Glass on yet, so they enjoyed the new experience. We also had our friend Tony (fellow photog/Glass user) and Robyn join us to learn how to *really* taste wine. It was quite refreshing to have someone else wearing Glass with me (for once, haha). That being said, my experience that day didn’t seem different from without Glass. I used it quite it bit that day, it didn’t “get in the way”, and only one person asked about it.

 

Even 3 weeks in, my hunt to fully integrate Glass (well, minus the shower) continues. That isn’t meant as a dig- it’s a new way to interact with the internet. But I’m sure grateful I get to tag along for the ride!