Stacey and Hugh :)

Last weekend I had the chance to shoot a wedding in Birmingham, Michigan and what a beautiful place it was. I know Michigan gets a bad rap but where I was it was gorgeous and had a nice little downtown area that I had a chance to poke around in and get some Thai food which I love. :)

Anyway, the wedding was for a friend of my assistant Kristin and it's a bride that went to Brooks and is an amazing photographer so I was a bit intimidated and I know she was really focused on the photos which adds an extra bit of stress to the day but as soon as she saw the slideshow she came running over and gave me a huge hug and I was so happy that she was happy...and then she asked if I was available for a wedding the first weekend of September b/c her sister was gonna bail on her wedding photographer and hire me...I was booked already but I always think that's funny when people do that and it happens quite often and happened at almost every wedding back when I was charging 1-2k.



Currently I'm back at O'hare b/c I had to hit the hub before heading out to Pittsburgh - then NY and then Tennessee and I'm super excited about Tennessee because lots of friends will be there and I'm convinced that I'll marry a singer so I'm gonna stay in TN an extra day and see if I can find any single singers out there.


***Here's the slideshow! Yea!***

:) Enjoy!

Congratulations Tim and Cheryl!

At first I thought it was a joke when Tim posted this on the forum because I was thinking no way that guy convinced Cheryl to marry him! :) lol - j/k ...but it has been confirmed by the Showit slideshow! My biggest congratulations to you both!

***You can see the pictures and read their story here! :)

..***and watch the Showit Slideshow here!***

:)

Quotes!

I finally made it to Detroit after a day and a half of traveling and I'm exhausted! Phewww... but I just read some really cool quotes on Shyla's blog and I love quotes!!! I used to save all my favorite quotes and I had tons of web pages that I'd look at with quotes on them.

This is a good one I snagged from Shyla's blog and there are more on there so check it out!

"All things being equal, people will do business with a friend; all things
being unequal, people will still do business with a friend."

:) I used to always tell myself, "DJ, if you want more work then just talk to more people." and it's so true because like Tim Sanders says, "Your network is your networth." and so the more people you're in contact with the more you are potentially worth. This is kinda hard for me though because I'm slightly on the introverted side so I really have to make an effort to go out and meet new people...people always laugh when I tell them that but it's true. I have a pretty close core group of friends that I feel really comfortable around and I enjoy hanging out with all people but I definitely get my energy from being alone.

Ok..bye...

The Olivia Suite

I'm back at O'hare waiting and hoping to get on an earlier flight to Detroit because after the 48 cancelled flights from United alone they weren't able to confirm me on a flight until 7:15 tonight. I am first on the waitlist today though so it looks good.

I owe a huge thank you to the wonderful Barlow family for driving out to save their stranded adopted child. Thank you thank you thank you!

...and for putting me up in the recently redecorated "Olivia Suite" and it was wonderful! I love you guys!

Grounded

I read an article a month ago that said don't travel anywhere at the end of July because your flights will probably be cancelled...well...they weren't joking but I really have no choice but to fly around right now.

Last week I had a flight from San Diego to Phoenix get cancelled which actually allowed for a few more hours of sleep and a free flight so that was cool but tonight my flight from Chicago to Detroit is cancelled so I'm stuck in Chicago for the night...and the earliest flight I could be confirmed on was for 7:15 tomorrow night - if that one gets cancelled then I'm off to the races in another rental car because I have a wedding in Detroit on Saturday! Good thing I'm such a good planner and came out a few days early. :) haha...

Anyway...gotta go find a hotel. Bye

Goodbye California

So I'm on my way to Detroit for a wedding this weekend and then off to the East Side! :) It's definitely a long time away from home but I'm excited to see my brother this weekend. I haven't seen him in forever and he just moved to Detroit.

Thanks to everyone in San Francisco! So fun meeting ya'll and I wish we had more time to chat!

Dan's comment below cracked me up and then I just saw this and thought I'd post it up...

San Jose and San Francisco

So yesterday I got to meet up with Jill Johnson and the San Jose PUG and we had a great time! It's such a rush doing these because I'm basically cramming my "Hands-Free" Marketing and "Hands-Free" Workflow talks into two hours but it's been really cool to see everyone so excited about getting to the next level and taking advantage of these new powerful ways to create more freedom in our lives!

I didn't take the picture with the big moon...I got it from google. :)

Tomorrow I leave for a fun wedding in Detroit on Saturday and then I'll be hitting up the East Coast next week! Here is my schedule if you wanna come!

August 1st: Pittsburgh
6:00PM
Panera Bread - Oh Yea! I love this place.
Galleria Mall
1500 Washington Road
Mount Lebanon, PA 15228

August 2nd: New York
6:00PM
Jason Groupp Photography
Chelsea Arts Building
526 West 26th Street
Suite #305 - 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10001

August 3rd: Nashville
6:30PM
St. Bernard Building
2021 21st Ave. S
Nashville TN 37212

...and if you want a laugh watch me trying to speak french.

Vamos! Yea!

For all of you that pre-ordered WE HAVE A TREAT FOR YOU!!! The complete video is up online for you to enjoy!

You can still get the discount and preorder by

CLICKING HERE!!! ... if you ordered before today you can watch your video here. You'll need to type in your username and password to view it at this address:

***davidjay.com/vamos***

...and your username is your last name (all lowercase) and your password is your order number from your Getit store receipt - not from your paypal receipt.



Also, currently the files is 220 megs and lots of people will be downloading and watching it tonight so it might take longer than normal to download it. We're working on compressing it another way so that it's a much smaller file and we're also working on having quicktime and Windows media options as well.

Enjoy!!!

oh yea...I had to enter the usernames and passwords manually for all the orders so that means two things:
1. I really love you guys because it took forever :)
2. There's a high probability for error...haha...if yours doesn't work try it a couple of times because sometimes it takes twice to register and then email me with "Vamos Registration" in the subject line....and remember that I have to enter manually so if you order in the next couple of days it might take me a little while to get your info registered. :)

Friends are the best!

:) Last week I got to hang in AZ and see some old friends and meet some new ones and by far the hardest thing about going to see people is leaving. It's always so sad when I have to leave.



here in this picture Amber and Shannon might claim to be sad about a puppy that we saw after dinner but deep down I know they were really just sad that I had to leave.


The reason I didn't post these AZ pictures sooner is because I had to buzz out to Chicago for a surprise birthday party for Sarah Barlow! It was such an amazing day once I got over being beaten by everybody at Kingball. I love the Barlows and they always bless me and pray for me and Pastor Barlow has been mentoring me in lots of ways and I'm really lucky to have them in my life.

Anyway, I got an early flight home today because Amber Holritz is in town from Tennessee!!! I'm so excited to see her because she always makes fun of me just like my new asst Megan does. I don't know why but I like it when people make fun of me. It makes me feel good.


Ok...I'm just passing through San Franicso now and I'm so lucky that I'm loyal to one airline otherwise I'd miss all my flights! This morning I got to O'hare at 9:15 which is when my flight started boarding and O'hare is a super busy airport but I was able to get to my gate in less than 10 minutes because I don't have to wait in any lines. I've flown 67,000 miles on United in the last 5 months so that averages almost 500 miles per day that I've flown and so because of that the airline has a special line for check-in and to go straight through security. With United you only have to fly 25,000 miles a year to get those special priviledges and other airlines are the same but definitely pick your airline and stick to it! There are tons of other perks too - I fly first or business class for almost every flight and don't spend hardly an extra to do it because I'm loyal to them.

No Phone

I am so dumb. I left my phone charger in SB so I'm sorry but I don't have a phone right now...I'm going to search around all day tomorrow until I find one though because I need my email....it's my only contact with the outside world.

:)

Yea! Tutorial

Showit Effects 2.0 will blow you away! Watch this!!!

I'm posting from my friend Shannon Rice's house because I'm so excited to show you!

***CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO!!!***

Yea!!!
DJ

AZ - Awesome!

Today was such an awesome day! It started at 4:15am when my alarm went off to catch my 6:30 flight to Phoenix...but before I got outta bed I checked my email on my phone and noticed that my flight had been cancelled - bummer - but not really and here's why. I called United and they had already put me on another flight at 9:40 which wasn't available before so I was like "SWEET!" Back to bed.

When I rolled into the airport they asked for volunteers to fly U.S. Airways instead and so I signed up and got a free flight and a direct flight to AZ from San Diego!

...but the best part about Today was of course the PUG meeting! It was packed and we talked for 3.5 hours and then went to eat, relax and chat some more. The AZ clan is a super cool group of photographers who all seem connected and involved in each others businesses which is probably just one of the reasons why they're rocking!






Here's a pic of a few of us at dinner but I'm totally falling asleep as I type so I'll add in more later. :)

Home IN AZ

I'm at my house in Arizona now and it's so great to be home! I don't get to come home as often as I'd like so it's a treat to hangout with my parents for a couple of days...and I'm really excited about the PUG meeting tonight at Scottsdale Community College at 6:30 so come by if you want.

Here is a link to the room it is in.

CLICK HERE!

See ya'll soon!

:)

Demo Coming Soon

I'll get a little demo done tomorrow to explain the new automation features in Showit Effects Version 2.0

...and also...be sure to checkout the "Colon Slider" down at the bottom so you can adjust the opacity of the effects!

Enjoy!
DJ

Thanks SD

The San Diego PUG was wonderful....I was a bit nervous and scattered being the first one but everyone was incredible and asked really good questions.


I think the highlight for everyone was watching Showit Effects 2.0 automatically batch through the full sized RAW files without me having to even lift a finger. It was definitely the hit of the night and it was only the 2nd time I had ever used it and it worked flawlessly! It's brilliant and the rush I got when I pressed play and watched it work while I did nothing was so fun!

Ok...gotta get some rest because I have to be up in 4 hours to head to my home town of Phoenix, AZ! I'm really excited because I have so many friends in AZ who I haven't seen in so long.

Safe in SD

Wow! What a rush!




Today me and my best friend Deyl, who's from San Diego, flew down here on a private plane and it was so much fun! One of my buddies from college Kevin Kreutz lines me up with his girlfriend who's an incredible pilot and she flew us here in just over an hour and a half! It was amazing! No 405 traffic - No security lines or plane changes. Heather - YOU TRULY ROCK!

...and we got to fly over some monumental places too which was so fun!

I can't sleep!

I can hardly contain myself I'm so unbelievably excited...notice anything new in my scripts folder :D



...I just got done playing with it and say goodbye to post processing because Showit Effects 2.0 does it for you! I didn't believe it either until I just watched it extract and edit my RAW files and then save them automatically into my Favorites folder all ready to upload for Pictage.

When I first dreamed of a fully automatic post processing system I didn't think it was actually possible but we're getting really close with Bridge and Showit Effects. I bet I could get through a wedding in less than 90 minutes now and maybe even under an hour. I'll have to try it out when I get back from the tour.

Oh yea...the "Colon slider" is pretty handy too!

Anybody going to the San Diego PUG tomorrow will get a sneak peak and maybe a first shot at picking up a copy...we'll see!

Shutters Wedding

So fun! I got to shoot with Shyla last weekend and we had sooo much fun with our new friend Trisha who's a coordinator down there. We must've spent 2 hours just playing around in the photobooth taking pictures of ourselves...many of which will hopefully never be viewed again...but Shyla posted a few fun ones on her blog and once I get a minute I'll scan some more in. :)

and of course the slideshow!

CLICK HERE!!!

I'm off tomorrow morning for my first PUG in San Diego and I'm so excited because I just got the sweetest thing from one of my incredible programmers!!! I feel like it's Christmas and my birthday all wrapped up in one. Check back tomorrow!!!

Off to do laundry! yuck.
DJ

Ask DJ

After I sent out my newsletter a few weeks ago I got a bunch of questions and I made this little video and then forgot to put it up so here is my response to a question that I get asked all the time and I see it on the forums all the time as well so check it out. :)

Very Excited about these

So I was convinced by Missy and Gary to get this Verizon card and I love it but the new Macbook's have a smaller "Express slot" so I haven't been able to use it on my new computer but I guess they are releasing a new one very soon that will fit. It will save me so much money because I'll never have to pay for internet at hotels again which is like $11 a day and then sometimes I have to pay at the airport too.

Here are some pictures of the new Novatel V640 ExpressCard - does anybody have one yet? Looks like Verizon is supposed to have them by end of the week. Yea!

Learning and ClusterMap

ClusterMaps are so cool! I first saw this on Pastor Joe's blog and I was amazed to see in just the last month how wide spread the blog world gets!

I'm also very excited because while I was Italy I was talking with my buddy Brett about how he learns things so quickly. He has seriusly one of the most amazing minds I've ever come across and he can just look at something, even big programs like Flash or Final Cut Pro and figure it out in like a matter of hours and he said it's all about taking the extra time to understand what things mean and not just what they do.

This relates to me because for the past couple of years if I needed something to show up on the web or add a link into something I usually had to copy the code from a webpage or use a special feature and I was amazed that I was still doing that and he told me to actually look at each piece of the code and understand what it does and that'll help you remember so I did it and today for the first time ever I entered the HTML code to make that ClusterMap picture show up without having to go look for it and I was so excited. Thanks Brett! :)

My girlfriend(s)

So today I completed my arsenal by picking up a 30d and a 100mm macro so now I really can't think of any equipment that I want to try out. I shot almost the whole wedding in Italy with my 5d because I busted a piece off off my Mark 2 while shooting the bride getting ready and so I gotta send it in but it was so fun shooting with a different camera and now I have a camera for just about every occasion. I'm super excited to shoot some with the macro because I've never used a macro before!

Ok...I also joined a secret program through United airlines that I found out about in Italy that allows me to take a passenger with me for FREE on all my flights! Can you believe that! I'm gonna test it out in the next couple of weeks and I'll let you guys know how it works!

No email

It appears there is some other problem on the server and the store is down too.

I think the store traffic may have been what killed it because with the PP article it's been going insane and there were 8 Showit Web 2 orders before 9am and that's about twice as many as usual but I promise we'll be getting everything back up as soon as possible.

I also do not have email now so if you need me your best bet is to text me or come to my house. Again, sorry for the inconvenience.

Too many connections

Haha...just my luck...here I am all excited to catch up on OSP today and it looks like lots of other people had the same idea! :D It should resolve itself after the server refreshes but it's kinda cool that sooooo many people have found OSP! I think it also might have something to do with the Professional Photographer article that just came out and talks a lot about Showit stuff.

Anyway...just wanted to let ya'll know that we should be back together again soon. :)

...in the meantime watch this video by the greatest band in the world.

Will you...

Will you be my Myspace girl? ;)

My friends wrote this song and it's hilarious - you have to listen to it and then be my friend on Myspace.

***
CLICK HERE! ***

Home - YEA!!! :)

Well I just got home to Santa Barbara and I'm very excited. One of my favorite things in the world is coming back home to Santa Barbara and being able live here. I seriously feel like I'm on vacation all the time.

Anyway - just wanted to pay tribute to my traveling warriors.


Sara France (who took all the good shots in the slideshow) and Brett Austin were champs and I don't think I would have ever made it outside of the U.S. if it wasn't for them. They made this trip happen and it was so fun to hang with them for two weeks (shhh...we were gone longer than two weeks ;)


Here is us showing how tired we were after the long flights



...but ya know what the flights really weren't bad at all. Both on the way there and the way back it felt like maybe a couple of hours of traveling. I'm gonna go sleep some now and probably wake up and not be jet lagged at all.

Italy wins - the Sequel

So Master Brett Austin has just finished up a fun little video from last night's celebration as well and you'll be able to see even more of the madness.

Watch for the screamin motorcycle to fly by and before that the balloon man's moped. Freakin hilarious!

***CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO***

See ya'll soon! We're almost home!!! Yea!

Italy Wins!

So I really shouldn't take credit for the Italians winning the World Cup but I must say that every country we've been in during our trip has won their matches and last night was no different. :) It was madness and be sure to checkout this little video that I shot on my point and shoot and look for even better shots coming soon from Brett! :)

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO!

Final Days...

We had an amazing wedding with Enzo and Vielka on Friday and then came straight away to Sorrento and today we're headed to Capri for some fun on the island before heading home! :)

Many stories to come but gotta go catch the boat! Yea! :)

Click Here for the Slideshow

:)

Purpose

(I don't have internet so I can't respond to posts or emails but thank for sending them...I love reading them on my phone.)

Last night Brett, Sara and I had an awesome conversation about life and I wanted to share some of my thoughts on it.

I think that most people approach life looking for happiness and comfort and I used to as well but not any more. Now I think about growing and fulfilling my purpose that I am slowly discovering through prayer. Right now my life feels very abundant but to be honest there are times when it feels really lonely as well and I quite often have to do things that I'd rather not do...and I'm realizing that the more committed I become to finding and fulfilling my purpose the more I will have to do things that align with that instead of just doing whatever makes me happy.... and I know that I am very blessed but there have been times when I didn't have all that I have now and there may be times in the future where I don't have all that I have now...and that's ok...I chose to put the verse Job 1 on my license plate because I hope to be a man like Job was - willing to praise God despite the circumstances...and also willing to be corrected and humbled by God when his ignorance and arrogance came through.

It's a long process and I'm really thankful to be able to go through it with all of you.

DJ

-------------------------------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.
-------------------------------------------------
davidjay photography inc.
www.davidjay.com
www.opensourcephoto.net
866.727.2777 (Toll-Free)
-------------------------------------------------

Pictures and Videos! Yea!

So yesterday we got up early and took a boat to Amalfi and it's amazing here! I love it! Here are some pictures from the boat!






...and Brett jammed on a fun video from the plane trip here! So be sure to checkout a new video at WhereisDJ.com

:)
I probably won't have email or internet for a couple of days...bummer...Miss you all though!

Love my mom

I'm in a little pub in Amalfi right now watching the Italy vs. Germany match and I just got this funny email from my mom...I think number 8 is the truest one for women...I always wondered why that was...and don't get me wrong...I love women but why does their hair fall out more than men but yet they rarely go bald...huh???

And I think number 1 and 2 are really true for men. It's so funny because I think Sara has been bored out of her mind most of this trip because brett and I have had a lot of work to do and then we like to sit around and my ex girlfriend used to always say that if I was ever in a bad mood she would just feed me and everything was better...haha.

CAT ANALYSIS:
 
1.  CATS DO WHAT THEY WANT.
2.  THEY RARELY LISTEN TO YOU.
3.  THEY'RE TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE.
4.  WHEN YOU WANT TO PLAY, THEY WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE.
5.  WHEN YOU WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE, THEY WANT TO PLAY.
6.  THEY EXPECT YOU TO CATER TO THEIR EVERY WHIM.
7.  THEY'RE MOODY.
8.  THEY LEAVE HAIR EVERYWHERE.
 
CONCLUSION:  THEY'RE TINY WOMEN IN LITTLE FUR COATS.
 
 
DOG ANALYSIS:
 
1.  DOGS SPEND ALL DAY SPRAWLED ON THE MOST COMFORTABLE PIECE OF FURNITURE IN THE HOUSE.
2.  THEY CAN HEAR A PACKAGE OF FOOD OPENING HALF A BLOCK AWAY, BUT DON'T HEAR YOU WHEN YOU'RE IN THE SAME ROOM.
3.  THEY CAN LOOK DUMB AND LOVABLE ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
4.  THEY GROWL WHEN THEY ARE NOT HAPPY.
5.  WHEN YOU WANT TO PLAY, THEY WANT TO PLAY.
6.  WHEN YOU WANT TO BE ALONE, THEY WANT TO PLAY.
7.  THEY LEAVE THEIR TOYS EVERYWHERE.
8.  THEY DO DISGUSTING THINGS WITH THEIR MOUTHS AND THEN TRY TO GIVE YOU A KISS.
 
CONCLUSION:  THEY ARE TINY MEN IN LITTLE FUR COATS.
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Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.
-------------------------------------------------
davidjay photography inc.
www.davidjay.com
www.opensourcephoto.net
866.727.2777 (Toll-Free)
-------------------------------------------------

Today is July 1st in Italy!

...and that means it's my best friend Deyl's Birthday! Yea!!! I know it is July 3rd in the U.S. but it is Deyl's birthday here in Italy!

I love Deyl and he is the guy responsible for teaching me how to create freedom for my life and it's the biggest gift anyone could've given me. Several years ago after we closed up our video business together he started talking to me about passive income and how to get out of the "rat race" and now I'm doing my best to pass along what he's taught me and help other people get to the next level and create more freedom for their lives.

Getting to witness his wonderful marriage to his incredible wife Paige along with my own parents awesome marriage has given me two great examples to model my marriage after!

I can't wait to watch you continue on your success journey - you inspire me daily and your constant giving and lifting others up will take you anywhere you desire to go!

Much love!
DJ

p.s. I cannot send emails from Italy for some reason so I have 30 emails waiting to go out but I just can't send'em - it's weird. Sorry if you're waiting.

Crazy stuff

This morning I got up and cruised the streets because all around the hotel there are these street vendors and it's so cool to see what they're selling! Here is a video of a big dude with a fork trying to sell something and then some snake looking things in a bowl...crazy. :)

BigMan video

Snake things video

:)

Naples!

We made it to Naples and I am really happy. :D I don't think Monaco was really my style. It's very beautiful and I loved hanging out and reading in the morning. In Monaco everything is so ritzy and the service at the restaurants and the hotel was the best I've ever experienced but too much of that and I start to feel weird.

So now we're in Naples and probably gonna stay here for a day while we decide if we want to go to Capri or straight to the Amalfi coast.

Brett just informed me that if you go to Google Map and type in Naples, Italy the arrow puts you almost directly on our hotel...and I love our hotel. It's totally modern and it was so funny when we walked in because we stood here in the dark for a few minutes before the bellman brought our bags up and showed us how to use our key to turn the lights on. Haha...It feels like that commercial!

The room is so cool. Here is the main part of the room where Brett and I will sleep.



...and then here is the other little room that Sara will get (hehe)



and then the bathroom is cool too b/c it has that second toilet thing...



Also, thanks for the "AskDJ" questions...I'm gonna do a video tomorrow.

Night Night!
DJ

France Beats Brazil!

Last night was an incredible night for France as they took down the world soccer powerhouse Brazil in an awesome 1-0 nail biter :) Thierry Henry scored the winner and since he's from Monaco it was nuts here!

Here's a little video - we got to watch the game down with 1000's of crazy French fans and a few very surprised and devastated Brazil fans. :)

Click here!

:) Now we're off to Naples...I'm really tired today because we stayed up late after the game doing some filming so I think I'm gonna try and sleep on the plane.

...and Mark thanks so much for the World Cup Map! It's awesome! I opened it right before I left and I should've brought it so I could track all the games on there but didn't have room so I'll have to fill it in and post it up when I get home. :) You rock man!

Wow!

So today we went out to get some shots around Monaco and one of the first things I saw was this girls shirt and it was so amazing b/c it was only minutes after I made the previous post about dreaming! So she passed me but I knew I needed to get a shot of her so I ran back and grabbed it and I'm so glad I did because if we're not living our dream than we need to change the way we're living!