iPhone Day :)

Funny video...watch the end...

Empty hands...

Empty hands..., originally uploaded by davidjay13.

I'll fill you in after dinner. I'll have my phone tomorrow but I think Apple built more hype than AT&T could handle and there are a lot of unhappy people as a result.

Almost there!

Almost there!, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

Sweet...

Mmmmm

Mmmmm, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

I am so hungry. I haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday besides a donut that the guy ahead of me brought.

Right now i'm heading over to pick up pizzas for everyone waiting in line...it's kinds cool because everyone is like family here.

Waiting...

Waiting..., originally uploaded by davidjay13.

Me, Deyl, and Brett are chillin outside the AT&T store waiting for 6:00 to roll around... We went to one store earlier and that's the picture you see. I parked my car at the end of the line so I could be more comfortable but when I heard the line was half as long at the store in goleta I was outta there!

So we're out by Costco and thinking about buying some patio furniture at Costco to wait on!

More to come...

Rockin Start!

Yesterday the Freedom Club took off! I am so stoked! I always thought there was a need for this but actually making it happen was quite a process and because it's such a new thing I wanted to thank you all for helping me get it dialed in. I'm planning to switch everything to Flash Video in the next month which will be really nice. I'm gonna put a lot into this place because I think this can be a great resource and a win-win for everyone.

I just checked and in one day there are already 436 members and 197 of you have subscribed to get all the cool stuff inside! Also, We went through 43 gigs of Bandwidth yesterday! LOL! ...and people from over 25 countries logged on! I knew this would be a hit internationally b/c it's so difficult for photographers in other countries to get our stuff shipped to them and so the web is a perfect way to distribute this.

Last night [b]ecker invited a group of us down to play poker before he heads to the World Series of Poker! Crazy - he's super good and I actually played really well last night and made it to final four which means I got my money back. Tim Halberg sneaked out a win on [b] after a stellar come back and won it all.


Me, Tim and AVG drove down from SB and got home at 4am so when I woke up I got to enjoy coffee in my new Maine mug that I got while hanging out with J Sandifer and Emilie Sommer at the Lobster Shack! Yum! You can see me holding my mug in the picture.

bye bye,
DJ

The Freedom Club!

Dude! I sent out my newsletter early this morning and I'm stoked so many of you are into the Freedom Club idea!

Also, I had a few goofs early on (sorry about that) but I think they are fixed so everyone should be able to see the videos now and we'll also be going to Flash video soon so that'll make it an even more enjoyable experience for everyone!

Get-free.com was my most expensive domain acquistion so far but I really wanted it. $1500 just for the URL...crazy but it's cool b/c that's what the Freedom Club is all about. Getting Free from the mass of noise out there and getting just the info you need from people who've proven themselves. I've had the priviledge to learn from so many successful and incredibly [b]right photographers who do things differently than I do and I intend on getting many of them involved too so we can help find the information that will work for you.

Click here to see the email with more links and info.

Rock on!
DJ
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Security breach!

Security breach!, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

I just landed in Denver and we had to wait on the plane because of a security breach! Yikes! But once I got off the plane I remembered why I love Denver so much! Beautiful people! It's like the U.S. version of Switzerland!

Anyway...i'm gonna walk around and see if I can figure out what the security breach was.



Your comments below were funny...I wasn't feeling well this morning but I feel ok now. I just ate some applesauce and that helped.

Wrong flight

Wrong flight, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

Somehow I got on the wrong flight and we haven't taken off yet but i'm too lazy to get off the plane. I guess my gate changed but I didn't check it so i'm on my way to Denver instead of San Francisco...lol...it's weird because it says the right flight number on my ticket...huh...whatever. I guess I'll just see where I end up and deal with it then.

Early morning

Early morning, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

Well I almost missed my 6:15am flight this morning because I was talking to my buddy Todd in AZ! It was 3am for him but we got chatting and so excited about stuff. I'm headed home for a few days and be ready for a cool announcement coming later today in my newsletter which you can sign up for on this page! :)

quick update

I'm doing a quick update to the forum...be back in a few minutes.

Beautiful

Alison and Wes had an incredible wedding this weekend...I want the weddings I shoot to be in cool unique places with beautiful and passionate couples and yesterday I really felt like I got it all. Other than a few mesquito bites I wouldn't change a thing about this wedding.

Jason Groupp is an incredible photographer from NY and he helped me shoot which was awesome because he gets killer shots and is super fun to hang with. If you ever have a chance to see how he shoots be sure to take advantage of it! Also, I think another reason I enjoyed this wedding so much is because of this new feature that the Mark 3 has which allows me to not think at all and just focus on getting the shots. Jason will confirm how awesome this feature is and get on my newsletter today if you want to get a free video of me talking about it.

Checkout the slideshow!

What is Hell?

You guys have to watch this! My buddy Todd (aka...Showit Web Wizard) makes these videos and they are hilarious. He's not the guy in the video but if you are a Christian and/or you like to make fun of some of the stupid things we do this video is for you! :) ...and I make an appearance in the video from Monaco!

Go to the site to see more and watch the video below!

Watch them all! These are so funny!

A response for David Jay

We would like to acknowledge recent attempts in the media to descredit David Jay's commitment to personal excellence and physical well being.

A recent posting by a Mr. Deyl Kearin title "Lazy I Am" encourages speculation that because there were two pairs of running shoes left behind by David Jay that Mr. Jay hasn't been keeping up with his rigorous exercise regimen.



Today we would like to provide proof that David Jay has indeed continued to retain his high standards of excellence and just hours ago undertook a several mile run in the beautiful state of Maine where he holds his next engagement later today. We would also like to take this time to encourage all of you to hold yourself to high standards in all areas of your life and continue to support Mr. Jay in his efforts.






***** I am David Jay and I approve this message *****

Flyleaf and Britt Nicole!

Buy these two songs!

I just bought that Flyleaf video on iTunes! Here's the video on YouTube and you can buy the video for only $2. I also bought Britt Nicole's song "I Wann Set the World on Fire" which I ABSOLUTELY LOVE and everyone says they come to my Myspace page daily to listen to it and it just came for sale so buy it here!

Alive Slideshow 2007

The Alive Festival has been absolutely incredible and the music has just been off the hook! I didn't do a ton of shooting but there were a couple of bands who I just couldn't help shooting!

The first is Stellar Kart and I have to claim them because their first appearance at the Alive Festival was in the video I made for Thirst Relief which you can see on my MySpace page. These guys just get it and I know they are gonna be a huge success for one reason - the way they treat their fans. Several times during their set the lead singer came down off the stage and interacted with them and the response was amazing. Then they stood outside of their secure eating area and let fans come up and chat with them and get autographs instead of hiding and trying to shy away from them.

Then FlyLeaf came on and - WOW! I'm not usually a hard rock guy but I LOVED them and the song is the slideshow is one of their mellow songs but you've gotta check'em out!

The last band I shot was Jeremy Camp - he's just a stud and their little light show made it super fun to shoot.

All these shots are straight out of camera - no corrections or cropping and I was really stoked with how the Mark 3 handled the crazy lighting conditions and last week I found a secret feature on the Mark 3 that nobody knows about and it's unreal!!! I can't believe Canon didn't tell us about it. I will tell you guys about it next week. ;)

Barlowgirl was playing today but I had to leave :( ....they are gonna rock as always.

Alive 2007

So yesterday was awesome. I landed and headed straight out to meet up with Jim Foust who is working on starting a media school here where they'll bring in artists of all sorts and work with them as they start or grow their careers. It's a pretty exciting thing and he's also putting together an organization that will help fund these startup artists because more and more artists are getting savvy and realizing that if they're creative they're probably better off avoiding the traditional sources for funding like labels and publishers.


We watched as a new band inhale/exhale worked on a music video in the studio. Super fun to watch that process.

Then I met up with Nick Coury from BuckeyeColor lab (who connected me with Jim) and Dan Speicher for dinner and then headed to find Crysal Hutchinson at the opening night of the alive concert.

Guess where!

Guess where!, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

...so cool...I just ran into a fellow OSPer here!

Abigail Smith

She's a rockin photographer from Oklahoma!

Leaving

Leaving, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

I hate leaving but I love going! It's been a few weeks since I've flown anywhere so I was settling into SB but now it's 5 trips pretty back to back. Ohio-Maine-Tennessee-Paris...and then hopefully London as well.



I'm excited because when I get home from all this I might have a house waiting for me! All the inspections have been going really well so i'm starting to get super stoked! Next week I have a few days at home and we're gonna have a company come out and tell us all the things we can do to make sure our improvements are eco-friendly. Really the only two main things I want to do are to put in bamboo flooring and a waterfall that spans all three stories...and a new new shower but that might have to wait.



:)

Funny and ALIVE FEST info!!!

So today my buddy Deyl calls me because I needed to sign all these crazy papers for the house! It's like a neverending trail of paperwork and I guess it's good because all the papers mean something but anyway he was laughing and laughing and I couldn't figure out what he was laughing about so after a few minutes of gut wrenching laughing he asks what on earth I did to my phone because music started playing when he called. A long time ago I signed up for CallerTunes which is fun but I thought I shut it off but I guess it's back on now and this was the song that was playing whenever people called me.

Click here to listen!

...and I leave tonight for the Alive Festival and I'm amped to meet up with some of you! I'm staying at the Hilton right next to the airport because I'm just flying in mid day tomorrow and flying out to Maine on Thursday so tomorrow night anyone who can get together for dinner and then the festival should post up here and I guess we can just connect at the hotel or a restaurant or something! The festival is free tomorrow night so let's connect if you're nearby! A few people have emailed already so I'll try and email you back tonight.

How to kill your business - FAST

A photographer came up to me after my program in New Jersey and he was super bummed out. He had been trying to make things work for the last couple of years but was running out of money. I asked him what he meant because wedding photography is such a low overhead business so I thought maybe his lifestyle was sucking his cash but no - ADVERTISING was!

It really made me sick that somebody had lead him to believe that putting ads in magazines was a good way to get his business off the ground and now it was about to be the very thing that put his business six feet underground! Advertising does still have it's place in our industry BUT NOT DURING STARTUP!

I'm reading a book called Punk Marketing right now and checkout this quote...

"It used to be possible to reach potential consumers easily. According to an analysis by Willard Bishop Consulting back in 1995 it took the airing of a TV commercial just three times to reach 80% of woman ages 18-49...but five years leater, reaching the same demographic required airing that awful commercial ninety-seven times. The media market has fragmented beyond recognition."

If this is what happened to television think what happend with magazines over the past 10 years with the new world of blogs and online content!

Times have changed friends and if you're trying to do things the way the last generation of photographers did you're gonna get left behind.

Dumb They Are

Dumb They Are, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

LOL... Well I guess it was meant to be "Fast I Am" because I just got my 2nd pair! Wow! I have a feeling this product might get discontinued...

So cool!

I'm not into politics but I know that some of your heart rates have already jumped thinking this is some political message. LOL... this is just cool! You must watch this video!


***CLICK HERE***

BONO FOR PRESIDENT!!!

Nice!

I just got a great email from Jason Groupp and it was actually from one of his clients talking about how happy they were with their Showit-DVD! ....the coolest thing is that Jason was able to make money on his slideshow without doing any extra work! Sweet! Showit Web is the only slideshow program that has this outsourcing option so you can spend less time behind the computer and more time enjoying your life!





These pictures were taken by the fabulous Jessica Del Vecchio

It's been so fun to watch and see what people order and we've been getting a bunch of engagement slideshows ordered as well as family portraits. Yesterday some lady order 5 DVD's of her families portrait session! ...which totally surprised me but I guess people are starting to enjoy having a Showit-DVD memory of events that aren't story based! So cool!


It's funny to watch as orders come in because a photographer will always order one and then the next week they'll order a bunch more because once you've seen how nice these things are you'll want all your clients to have them.

I always love to hear feedback (both positive and negative) so please send it along or post here or on OSP!

Rock on!
DJ

Great quote!

I love my mom so much...She and my dad have been an incredible example to me in so many ways but especially in how they go about their marriage.

They just went to a marriage retreat this weekend and she sent me this great quote so I wanted to pass it along because it kinda has to do with what I was talking about in my post earlier today!

Watch your thoughts because your thoughts become your words.
Watch your words because your words become your actions.
Watch your actions because your actions become your habits.
Watch your habits because your habits become your character.
Watch your character because your character becomes your destiny.

Fast I Am

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I ran today. I ran two miles and almost made it under 16 minutes...I will run faster next time but this was pretty good for me. I also ran on Sunday but I only ran one mile.


Yesterday was the CIPPA workshop and we had a great time! I've gotta say that I was super impressed with everyone there. Sometimes when I speak on the east coast I hear photographers say "Well...that might work for you guys on the west coast where everyone is rich and just throws there money around but it won't work here." and then when I speak on the west coast I sometimes here, "The market is so saturated here so I can't charge a lot..." and yesterday was so awesome because there wasn't any of that!

I was amped and so stoked for these photographers because they've already accomplished what so few ever do and that is truly believing that they can get what they want out of their business and create more freedom and more fullfillment in their life!

Kristin snapped this shot of me and yesterday I was so dumb b/c I video taped the first hour but pushed the wrong button so there is no audio. DOH!

We are cool

We are cool, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

I'm at the CIPPA workshop showing the cool blogger/flicker trick!





Back to Paris!

I've confirmed my next workshop in Paris with Planche Contact! It's at the Paris Apple headquarters so that's pretty cool and it's during the 2nd week in July. It will fill up fast because it's a live translation workshop so English and French speakers are both invited! It will be funny to talk to people wearing headphones.

I have a wedding in Tennessee on the 7th and then I'll grab a flight the next morning to get into Paris on the 9th and start the workshop on the 10th. Canon Explorer of light and Oprah's photographer Bob Davis will be tag teaming this with me so that will be super fun! Bob's been one of my inspirations over the years and I'm stoked to get to do a workshop with him.

Click here to read a little more...it's a rough english translation but it's kinda cool and sign up quick if you wanna come. I may not be back to Europe again this year because I have lots of projects to work on here

....and if you're bored click here and watch this sick video! You won't regret it. All the good shots are Swan's but all the video is of meeeee! :)

You'll notice me sporting my Shootsac and I can't even begin to tell you all how much I love it. This was the greatest addition (substitution) to my gear bag in years. I'm not joking - get one!
.

Freedom!

In the last year three of my closest friends have left their full time jobs to pursue more freedom in their life. It's been an incredible experience to watch them take this huge risk and succeed! ...and believe me...if they can do it SO CAN YOU. All these guys are as dumb as me but they're willing to step out and test themselves. They've given themselves a new challenge, a new adventure, and are finding a whole new level of fullfillment in their life as a result.


Deyl is the latest and I have no doubt he's going to make a huge difference in the world! His last day was yesterday and he was at my house at 9am getting papers signed for the house (he's representing me) and then he was off to work on another deal up north.

Ever since he resigned it's been like one celebration after the other and I have a feeling it's not going to stop. It's so inspiring to see people refuse security and pursue a higher level of success!

Click here to go and congratulate him!

Lots of stuff happening

Sorry not to have shared much lately. I've been doing lots of fun stuff but just didn't want to say too much at th wrong time.

So the first announcement is that the Mark III is insanely awesome. I've been doing lots of playing around with it and have been testing it against all the other cameras. I'm doing side by side tests with the Mark III, MarkII, 5d, and the 30d and also playing with all the new features.

The 2nd announcement is that I'm back in this house game! Wow! It's crazy how many things go into buying a house. Seems like every day there are people up there inspection this or that and telling you all the stuff you have to fix.

This house is pretty unique because it's at the very top of Santa Barbara and it's on the side of a cliff so the views are the best in the whole town...and I'm really not exaggerating that at all. This video doesn't even do it justice but it gives you an idea of how you can see the whole city as well as the ocean. I hope all of you get to see it someday.

Goodnight everybody. :)

Goodnight everybody. :), originally uploaded by davidjay13.

Don't hate me

Don't hate me, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

image/jpeg

Game on!

Game on!, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

Me Deyl and Chris and Katie Humphrey's are starting a round of cashflow! If I have a two kids in the first two rounds i'm quiting!

I did it!

Today I bunkered down and tried to catch up on some emails. I set out to reply to 100 emails today and I made it with one minute to spare. My eyes are starting to go cross-eyed but I made a big dent in my inbox and I'm so happy!!!

I almost gave up at 85. I actually took a screenshot and I was gonna make a post and go to bed but then I said no way! I'm so close and so I jammed out 15 more in the last 30 minutes. Wow. Off to bed now. Thanks for your patience everyone!

Slideshow! :)

Last weekend I shot a sweet wedding up at the Dolphin Bay in Pismo. Such a rockin' place and Scott Corridan did the design of the wedding so we knew it was gonna be stellar.

I also did something that I've never done before and that was I let my 2nd shooter, Kristin Renee, put in EVERY shot she picked for the slideshow! Typically I grab all the shots of mine that I want to use and get them stoked out with Showit Effects and then if there is time the other shooters can go through their shots. So in the past I've always brought along great photographers but they'll come back to me with a selection of like 80 shots and so then I'll go through and pick out the ones I want to use...but every shot that Kristin picked was so good I couldn't even thin it down so 12 or 13 of these are hers.

Fong Dong is Everywhere

So I'm just sitting around minding my own business enjoying the day off from weddings...and from my balcony I spot someone using the Fong Dong. I thought it was funny because they are seriously everwhere so I always take pictures when I see them.

Go Deyl Go!!!

My best friend Deyl is running a marathon today!

I couldn't be down there to cheer him on so I'm cheering here on my blog!

Go Deyl Go!!!

*Update* He finished in under 4 hours which means he ran every mile in under 10 min! Gnarly!!!! He's a machine!

Online Social Media Stuff

Two BIG announcements in the Online Social Media world this week!


1st - Cut Frame.TV (formerly SimplePhoto.tv) has added some key functionality that will now allow the view count to increase on embedded shows - I have sent them lots of hate mail about this. :)...Go here to see the rest of the updates!

Cut Frame.TV has definitely been my choice for posting and browsing videos because of it's "Nicheness" and the quality of the videos is better.

I hope their next update holds the aspect ratio of 16x9 videos and has a b/w semi-transparent branding to it. We all know that the viewers eye will go first to the brightest and then the warmest area of an image and so SPM's branding has red and white in it so it's kind of distracting whereas YouTube's is bigger but it's semi-transparent.


2nd - This might be a Mike Tyson type knockout for many of the other online social media sites out there. Apple and YouTube have teamed up to allow for displaying of YouTube videos through Apple TV.

I just got my TV shipped in. Thank you to the Barlow Fam for taking good care of it for me. :) ....and I'll probably be getting the Apple TV setup today and to be able to display YouTube videos on there is very very very cool.

Why didn't you just ask! :)

Apparently a lot of you were waiting on the super sale of the year to order Showit stuff! I am absolutely blown away at the response to the newsletter and I'm so excited that these Showit apps are helping so many people! I checked out the store and saw that we had almost 400 orders in one day!

...and I was super encouraged to see so many people excited about the Showit-DVD's!

These are all posts just from today!




and I just got this email from Cristy Nielsen who posted this great show and is already embedding shows on her blog!