Dreamforce 2014

Last week, I boarded a plane with a few of my coworkers and flew back to my former home (San Francisco) for one of the largest conferences that city can hold- Dreamforce. This was an culmination of months of top-secret work that a variety of coworkers and I worked on to build something completely new. It is called Prototype Playground- a place where the enterprise could see what we are learning about and creating when it comes to wearable technology. During the conference, it was a huge hit. As the dust settles, we discovered what we pulled off was nothing short of astonishing.

However, let’s talk about photography- not Dreamforce- right now.

 

There were a few things about this Dreamforce that were different for me. One of the most unexpected things was due to space constraints, I left my DSLR at home and only brought the EOS-M as a “real camera”*. While I expected to miss my DSLR a ton, I ended up not missing it at all (this could have been related to my workload there). The size of the EOS-M allowed me to stash it at the booth, where I could (ok, tried) bring it out to snap a quick photo here and there.

 

The other real difference I noticed this year was the fact I relied on my smartphone camera more than I ever had. True to the mantra “The best camera is the one with you”, I took over 90% of my shots on my LG G3 during the past week. Ranging from a sunrise shot out a window (plane or hotel), to taking a selfie with Kid President**,  to taking a 360 pano of the show floor, my smartphone camera was used a lot more than I expected. While the quality isn’t near what you would get from a mirrorless or even a DSLR sensor, it’s getting more and more passible for most mediums(which more of them are digital only). In light of Apple’s announcement last week, the entire smartphone/mobile device industry is headed that way***.

(Not Bono)

Just like my good friend Zach has started testing out the mirrorless side, I think this conference finally pushed me past any reservations I had about really exploring that gear. As a (admittedly) part-time gear head, part of me is really excited about the prospects. There will always be a need for long glass and a big sensor, but these days, more and more can be accomplished with less. (Yay progress!)

(Yes, that IS Kid President. Yup, I took a selfie of course)

 

 

 

 

*This is the first conference that I have ever done this. Not a trivial deal.

** 100% legit here. (Unlike [Fake] Bono stopping by our booth)

*** As I’ve said for years, the future is visual. (I should trademark that or something)