I had the pleasure of attending the Wine on the Beach this past weekend, and there is a lot to say about it. I took a lot of photos and talked to a lot of folks and expect to flesh it all out as the week progresses. One of the difficulties that we sometimes have is we take more photos that we reasonably can use.
When I was working as a newspaper reporter and editor, that was a particular problem. I had to choose the photo that I thought people would react most to, rather that the one I was most fond of, or the one that best represented the spirit of the event. That is not a problem in the Internet age.
What is a little bit of a concern is that the number of photos that a person takes is disproportionate to most people’s interest. If you’re a fan of OceanCity.Com, then you know we’re not shy about posting iconic regional images on our Facebook page. With people, it’s a little different. Unless you have a connection to the event or the place, it is not always as interesting to look at 300 pictures of people you don’t know having a good time.
The following gallery (I hope) takes that into consideration. I’ve broken the photos taken at Wine on the Beach into three categories. The gallery that follows contains nearly all of the photos that people knew were being taken. That is, if I came up to you and said I was there taking pictures for OceanCity.com, the photo I took is in the following gallery. If you saw me take your photo and we chatted about the event, your picture might be in one of the next few blog posts.
The friendly folks of Wine on the Beach
I often have the pleasure of covering events like this, and it often goes the same way. I show up at the beginning and people are a little staid, but approachable. After a few hours of wine and dancing and food and sun, they are less interested in where the photos will be posted and more interested in whether or not they will be in the pictures.
I won’t pretend that the wine has nothing to do with this transformation, but at the same time laying all amiability at Dionysus’ feet. Instead, it is important to point out how unlikely the event was. Cancelled two weeks ago, there was no real rain date. Among the wine faithful, there also was a sense that the wine festival season in Ocean City was going to be a bust.
As it turned out, however, we were blessed with a gorgeous weekend and an enthusiastic vintner and vendor presence. Last spring, the first beautiful weekend brought people out in droves. In this case, I feel as if something similar was going on. The next several weekends, as long as they remain wonderful, could be exceptional for Ocean City. People are trying to wring the last few great weekends out of the year, and Wine on the Beach was as good an excuse as any.
Stalkers are friendly as well
This was the last photo I took of the woman in the denim jacket and print scarf. I took a lot of photos of her at Wine on the Beach 2015. So many, in fact, that we both laughed out loud when I took this one. She was having a lot of fun traveling around and visiting the different winery tents. We must have been on the same circuit, though, because it seemed that every time I took a photo, it was of her getting her tasting glass filled.
Before I took this photo, I had taken a picture of her with a different friend at a different table (either the hot sauce table or at one of the other wineries) and joked about being a stalker. I said something along the lines of “I’m really not stalking you, you just are where the fun happens to be.”
She was among several people who were so committed to having a great time that she was apparently emitting an enthusiasm beacon. I think it had to do with how seriously she took both wine and the possibility that there weren’t a lot of exquisite weekends left in 2015.
If you have photos from the event that you would like us to share, or if you have a story about the event or, really, any of your favorite Ocean City stories, please feel free to email us here or submit photos here. Finally, if you are in any of these photos and would like a copy, just let us know.
