Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Choice is Yours

We are living in an incredibly crazy time and we all have a choice. Are we going to be defeated and accept the "doom and gloom" or are you going to choose to create a solution that will move you ahead and put you in a place to help others do the same!

I can think of no greater time in our lifetime for the next generation of leaders to stand up and make a difference. So decide for yourself what you're going to do right now to keep yourself out of the depressed state that so many people want to put you in and think of five ways that you can add value to somebody else.

Tomorrow late morning I'll be hopping on the live stream and chatting with my buddy Deyl Kearin about how to move forward and succeed through these times.

There is so much to do and truly exciting times ahead!

Regeneration

Click here to see our latest Style Group for Showit Sites called Regeneration!






My dear friend Crystal Goss (who's new Showit Site is coming soon!) just shot an insane wedding in Scotland and she gave me the inspiration for our latest Style Group called Regeneration!

Let me know if you like it and you can download it straight inside the app and of course it's a free addition for all the Showit Sites users out there. :)

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Brett Sleeping and Bus video!


Ok so on the Free To Succeed Tour you all know we traveled for 40 days on a sweet bus! (video below) It really became home but when you're on the bus everyone holds pretty crazy hours. Most of us would sleep from 3 or 4am till noon and then we'd get up and get ready for the next show. Brett on the other hand would stay up until 8am and then sleep all day so I always enjoyed taking pictures of him crashed out. Here he is dead asleep, arms folded, sitting up with the lights on and his computer on his lap. lol

Watch the video below - click the button on the bottom right to watch it FULL SCREEN!



and here is another one of him asleep on the couch with his feet propped up. I can't imagine what his body felt like after sleeping like that!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Santa Barbara is so peaceful


Santa Barbara is so peaceful, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

I just snapped this picture on my iPhone waiting for dinner with my
friends Deyl and Paige and I am so blessed to live here in SB! It's
like a retreat everytime I come home.

I am so thankful for all the friends in my life and I have some
hilarious stories to share tomorrow from the Free To Succeed tour!

Ciao ciao!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Shadow of the day

I relate a lot to this video right now. I feel like there is craziness going on all around and I'd be lying if I said it didn't affect me but there is also a calmness inside because ever since my career starting to get put in the spotlight I've had to deal with people saying negative things about me.

So what I believe is that as long as I keep trying to help others that will show through. I'm certainly not always perfect but I've had the chance to meet thousands of you and am looking forward to continuing moving forward.

Keep rocking everyone!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Funny Stuff!

I think I forgot to post some of these videos but they are so awesome! You have to see them!

Jalene is our lucky winner from Orlando...and I shouldn't say "lucky" at all because she worked for this! Driving an hour an a half at 2:30am to get $500 Showit Bucks! That's commitment! I love it!

Click here and go to her blog to check it out!

and thanks to Amanda Eller for the heroic rescue of me in the fountain! You must watch this! This is awesome! After a few days in the fountain I shed my swimsuit so cover your eyes!!



...more fun posts from the road soon!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Beautiful Toronto

I've had a blast here in Toronto! This is a really cool city. I took some pics as I walked around today. I always like the mix of old and new so I grabbed this shot downtown across the street from my hotel.


and this is a shot I took last night when I got in. I have a gorgeous view from my room and Toronto also has this massive underground mall...and I mean MASSIVE! It's 16 MILES long! Wow!


and then I caught this flock of birds cruising through the mall - j/k - they were just suspended there but kind of a cool art piece.

New Location for Sunday

Hey Everyone,

I just received an email stating that there is a change in location for this Sunday.

Here is the new address. I'm assuming everyone else will be notified as well but I'm just trying to help get the word out. I'm not involved in the planning or logistics so I have no knowledge other than what I just received. Please hitup Davide or Michael if you have questions because they'll have more answers. :)

FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON TORONTO AIRPORT WEST

(formerly known as Four Points by Sheraton Mississauga)

6090 DIXIE ROAD • MISSISSAUGA, ON L5T 1A6
T (905) 670 9186 EXT. 2 F (905) 564 9555

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Train Travel is nice


Right now I'm on a train from Montreal to Toronto and I like trains. As part of the Craft Your Success tour the guys booked me a flight from Ottawa to Toronto on Saturday but I'm skipping it b/c I'm sick of flying. Our last flight from Halifax to Montreal got canceled and we ended up going from Halifax -> Toronto -> Ottawa -> Montreal and a lot of our luggage didn't make it. What a nightmare. Buses are actually the best because it's private and there is a bed and refrigerator but trains are the second best. They just served a nice meal and some really good wine and my Verizon card still works here in Canada so I'm online the whole time! Very cool! I am happy.

I had to have a short conversation with the gentleman behind me and ask him to mute his computer because it kept going "ding ding ding" like he was IMing or something. He's an older business guy and didn't really know how to mute his computer but we got it figured out and the rest of the trip has been good. I hate any type of confrontation but recently God's been putting some very difficult situations in my life and I used to let a lot of things slide and then just be upset inside but I'm getting better at fixing things right away even when it's painful. In the long term I think it's better for everyone that way but boy it's hard to stick to your guns and make others stick to their word.

I have a few days off and it's been good to relax while also getting some work done. I just finished an article for Professional Photographer magazine about how to go about booking your first job and using your network to build your business and we also just built a new Style Group for Showit Sites! It's awesome and I'll post it up in a little bit.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Showit Web on Facebook!


You all know how powerful Facebook is and one of my biggest accomplishments was when I got more friends on Facebook than Kenny Kim! Woohoo! Yea! We have a great new FREE addition to Showit Web (and more to come)

Now you can add a "Slideshow" page to your Facebook page and put all your Showit Web shows in there!

Click here and check it out on my page!

Rock on!

5d Mark II

This camera looks freaking awesome! Wow! I can't wait! If Canon didn't release this I was gonna buy a Nikon D90

Checkout DP Review for a general review and as soon as I have one I'll let you guys know how I like it.


It's such a funny game that Canon and Nikon play b/c Canon has had the ability to do all this stuff for awhile but since Nikon, being a smaller company can't develop as fast Canon just waits and then whenever Nikon releases something good Canon releases something a little bit better. I know everyone gets crazy about Canon/Nikon Mac/PC Raw/Jpeg and I think it's funny b/c both companies have really good cameras but Canon will always be the leader now that it's a technology game.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Heading to Montreal!


Halifax was cool. Lots of super nice people and I was blown away by the staff of the hotel. Far better service then I've seen in the U.S. I really believe service will be a big role player for our industry in the future so I'm paying attention to this stuff and what things make a difference. I took this picture on my iphone my first night here b/c I thought it was a cool looking building.

I also did my laundry. I admit I'm spoiled to have my asst do my laundry and so I think I've only done laundry once in the last year! Isn't that crazy...but it was fun to do it here in Canada and they call their money Loonies (sp?) which cracked me up and so I needed 4 loonies to buy soap and then 4 dollars to do the wash and dry. That was the easy part but after that sorting and folding is what takes forever. First I just threw everything on my bed and then I categorized it and left it there overnight because I was really tired after the show yesterday so I waited to fold it until we were leaving this morning.


I remember fondly the washing and folding job of the Rogers family! Incredible! This is a picture of their basement and they have so many washers and dryers and they were so sweet they left a note on everything and even labeled each pair of my underwear for certain days so I actually wore them on those days!


and you have to watch this hilarious video of their family getting off the tour bus! It's like one of those funny commercials b/c it never ends! You must watch the video below or click here if it doesn't load in properly







Saturday, September 13, 2008

I'm in Halifax!


When I landed here in Halifax I was really confused b/c there was a time change and I didn't know there was another time change beyond the east coast of the U.S. but I guess there is. Davide Greene shot a little video of me stumbling through customs! :)



Anyway, it's really cold and drizzly here and we're having a pre-tour kickoff party tonight which is gonna be fun. I only got one hour of sleep last night so I'm a bit wiped but even on one hour of sleep I was able to bust out a pretty cool website on the airplane.

Check it out! I'm still just fiddling around but in just a few hours I was able to build this site. It's simple but I like how the navigation works. It's kinda like the iPhone where there is a navigation page and then just one little button on each page that sends me back to it. Let me know what you guys think.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Rest Relaxation and a mini UFC

It's been so nice having a few days here in Nashville to rest, relax and recoup after the tour. I got to spend an incredible day with Allie and we headed to Opryland for one of the best dinners ever.




Then I got some time to hang with friends and I must say that Sarah Barlow has THE BEST condo AND view in Nashville! This place is off the hook! The building has only 15% occupancy so if you're wanting to move to Nashville this is the place to be! It's unreal!

Checkout this pano I shot from her balcony! Click on it for a bigger view!

but then us boys decided to be boys and get a little fighting in to break in the sweet community area of her complex! First I'll show you the video of me vs. Josh Newton. After Josh muscled out of a Rear Naked choke which left us both looking a bit awkward and puzzled as to what to do next I pulled off a pretty nifty arm bar! It's been years since I've fought and it's probably the most fun thing ever so I think I'm gonna get back into it!

... just before this Bobby Earle (who shot the killer photo of Allie and I above) had shown his domination of all of us. Bobby is so funny when he fights because he just smiles and talks the whole time and I'm doing everything I can just to keep breathing and keep my limbs attached!




Wednesday, September 10, 2008

It's just the beginning!

I always think of everything as the beginning because beginnings are exciting and happy. Whenever we "finish" something it means we are starting something else and so I like to focus on that side of the coin!

I can't even begin to share what a rush this tour has been! I have so much to post but I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you who came out and shared this adventure with us!

All of you are already changing this industry!

Keep up the "Five Minutes to Freedom" and remember Carnegie's incredibly wise words.

"You'll go further in two months by becoming genuinly interested in just two other people than you will in two years of trying to get others interested in you."


Pick out two people to invest in until the end of the year! I guarantee you won't regret it and again thank you thank you thank you for all your love and support! I can't wait to see all of you again soon!

:)
DJ

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Check me out in my Speedo!

Find me and Brett in North Carolina and win $500 Free Showit Bucks! Hopefully we are still there!

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Find the Bus and win $500 Showit Bucks!!!

Tonight we saw the movie Traitor and it was really good. We went to a 10:45 showing and so we got back to the hotel around 1:30 and Brett and I were feeling like showing off our spy moves as we hid the bus! We have a video from NC where Brett and I went swimming together in a fountain so if you can find us before that video is posted we'll give you $1000 Showit bucks. We are in some fountain somewhere....and if you're in Orlando checkout this video to find the bus and win $500 FREE Showit bucks!







Are you using politics as an excuse....


This morning as I was thinking about what I know as well as how much I don't know about the candidates I realized the tendency we have to make a decision and then just validate it more and more without really educating ourselves.

What I do know is that if you aren't informed enough to respect the other side and understand why their opinion and policies make sense then you don't know enough for your opinion to matter.

If you are you using politics as an excuse to blame someone, hate someone, or point the finger, (which I've certainly found myself guilty of it in the past and in so many more arenas than politics) then stop yourself and think for a minute...reverse your position just for fun and think about why 50% of the country disagrees with you and it'll help you approach this in a much better way.

Friday, September 05, 2008

The Music Man Inspires again!


I am definitely a photo snob b/c in my old age ;} I've seen so many images but Chris Humphreys never ceases to inspire me! Checkout this group shot and go to his blog to see more!

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Please Pray for Jasmines Mom

My life was forever changed when Jasmine and her family came into it and those of you who have met them understand what I'm talking about.

Please take a moment to pray for them right now.

Click here to go to Jasmine's blog for more details.

Blessings to all of you,
DJ

Do Slideshows and a determined volleyball player!


I can't wait for the show tonight! We had yesterday off and are gonna have a killer time tonight!

I also saw that Becker just made a post and a video about slideshows and the incredible success he's had doing these things so go check it out over on the [b] school blog! You can see in live action him doing the slideshow and how powerful these things are. It has baffled me that at every group I meet with for the past 3 years I've talked about doing these slideshows and consistently only 5% of the photographers there are actually doing them. So huge props to those photographers that actually put their knowledge into action and create results!

I'm also very sad but Jasmine* is not gonna be able to make it out to any of the final shows but we are going to offer all the attendees a video of her presentation because it's super good and so you all get me in person and then in the next month we'll be sending just those who attend a video of Jasmine's presentation and in the meantime you can see a quick video of her in her lulu lemon outfit. I know she really likes lulu so I thought she'd like me to put up this video.

Rock on!
DJ







Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Great Weekend

After a great weekend in DC and Virginia we're on to North Carolina! I've never been here before so I'm trying to rearrange some things so we can stay an extra day. We had originally planned to do three shows in a row this week but then we chose to combine the NC and SC shows.

I also have to give props to my man Regis (although he doesn't have a blog!) :) who has been traveling with us! Regis has been one of my advisors for years know and has given me so many great ideas and has taught me so much about business! Regis actually got me my very first workshop way back in the day at the Brooks Institute! He's also one of the funnest and most creative people I know and he uses that creative in business which I love. He came up with the idea to hide the little characters all around the town and giveaway free stuff and so in D.C. we hid him! I hope he's still there though because the security guard kept making us turn off the camera so I think we were being watched!









Also, I never got back to the NY show which was awesome! We had to blast outta there that night but Kenny Kim put more stellar shots on his facebook page!

There were also some nice girls from NILMDTS there and you can hitup Aurora if you'd like to connect with this organization which is doing incredible things. I've heard lots about them and it really is a blessing to those mothers who have lost their children so please check it out.