Thursday, February 05, 2009

Wonderful Dinner and thoughts

Last night was so wonderful. My friends Amy, Vanessa and Emily came up and cooked this incredible dinner with salmon and sweet potatoes and vegetables and then I did my part and prepared the wine. :) We ate it outside overlooking the city and chatted and dreamed about going to Buenos Aires and studying dance and lots of other stuff.

We talked a little bit about the craziness that just got stirred up and it's great to have friends who understand my life to chat with about that stuff. They challenge me and question me as do many of you which is something that I really appreciate. To be honest I haven't read Gary's post nor do I feel a need to. What is revealing though is that I spent several years sharing my thoughts and advice with Pictage and they decided to take Denis and Gary's advice instead and go a different direction...that's ok...it's their business...but why now all of a sudden after years of deaf ears do they care this much about what I have to say?

Lastly, thanks for reading! :) It's an incredible priviledge that people listen to what I have to say. This comes with lots of upsides as well as some downsides but it's a reality and responsibility that I live with and take seriously. I look forward to continuing to share my life and my thoughts with you.

Rock on!
DJ

18 comments:

theshotshot. said...

YOU TALKED ABOUT PICTAGE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Foto Expression said...

Well said... good on you

Unknown said...

You should come up to Bend and snowboard with us. Supposed to get some fresh snow this weekend.

wedding-photography said...

ha david,
if i upload all my photos to smugmug...I can use photo from SmugMug to show in SIS like the current photo gallery component?

When availabe can you put that feature up on your website to show what that may look like?

thanks,
jabezphotography

Daniel J. Watkins said...

There is one thing we can all agree on...that Amy Nave is probably one of the coolest people on this planet.

Who want to argue with me?

Bobby Earle said...

Awesome post, DJ. Good friends sure are... well, good :D

Can't wait to hang this weekend.

Jalene Nichole said...

Wow DJ you're getting slammed left and right even to the core of your faith. The funny thing is I read your last blog yesterday and didn't think anything of it, then read your new blog today and then re-read yesterday's blog to see what your were talking about and still I didn't see anything special about it... then I read other people's comments and comments on their blogs and all I can say is wow! It's funny how some friendships/relationships can so easily swept aside by just a few comments. It's not like you killed a guy or anything but man people can get so hyped about about the littlest stuff. Granted maybe some phrases could have been re-worded on your original post but nothing so serious to cause all this hype. I still believe in you and I still respect other photography pioneers for their contribution to the art but the old nursery rhyme of sticks and stones can break your bones but words will never hurt you is a lie and there's some bad words out there against you and against other professionals and all I can say is I'm sorry to hear all this is happening and I am praying for you. Praying for wisdom and peace... I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!! :)

Unknown said...

SA----WEEEEEET!!!!!

Rodolfo Arpia said...

Dude, I'm going to Buenos Aires (my homeland) in March to shoot a wedding... when are you going?

Cynthia Q. said...

good food...good friends...can't go wrong. if you go to Argentina. don't just go for a long weekend...you could easily spend a week just in B.A.

Dawn Gioia Photography said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dawn Gioia Photography said...

Dj
I am so sorry for you. I hope you take care of yourself.

I just posted something on my blog about how you know who your friends are. People are always around you when your up. Its the people who stick by you when your down that count.

You should read it.
www.dawngioiablog.net

CANDLEWAX STUDIO said...

David,

I brought this topic up on DWF, because for years everyone was too afraid to speak out and all they had was praise for these so called "rockstars"
I got shot down hundreds of times, but I that was easy for me, I wasn't in the spot light but you are and that takes courage.
I'll say this, your approach to the way you shoot, sell, and market yourself sets you apart from the others. Their arrogance shows up in their "video blogs" and their seminars, and I don't see that in you.

Keep your strength and do what you do best!
Shame I didn't talk to you in Montreal, maybe next time!

Unknown said...

:-)

The sun is still shining here in KS .... hope the same is happening in CA!

Jayson said...

In that case you're going to be deleting a lot of accounts.

DJ, I don't get you man. You seem to be a really great guy, but the minute someone says anything to you about what you said that you didn't honor, you become completely stubborn and look to their faults so they stop looking at your own. Nobodies perfect. But I know if I acted the way you are acting to me right now to any one of my clients, they would definitely be spreading some pretty bad WOM about me. Which leads me to believe that you are only in this business for one reason and it isn't relationships.

Melissa said...

DJ...I feel awful for you... :( When I first started in this industry a little over 3 years ago...you were one of the first people I looked to. Not just for an awesome example about how to really love what you do and love the people you do it for...but to see how a Godly man handled himself in this industry. And i still totally believe you are the guy I looked up to years ago. The crap people have said about you, not only criticizing your core character but more over your faith, makes me really sad because there are TONS of real issues that people could get worked up about, but this one just seems so petty to me (lets talk grand scheme of life here...)...and I love pictage. :)For ME, they have simplified my life and my business way more than I could have ever expected and they have provided me with a product that I really like...so, you not being linked to them isnt changing my life, you know? If you came on your blog and said, " all of my friends suck!" or... "every sponsor I have ever had was an idiot and I could run their companies better than they do," I would understand people saying that you dont care about real relationships or that they expected more from you. So I just cant grasp why this is all such a big deal. I will say this about you DJ, you are a bigger person than I am. :) If I had to deal with the negativity you have been tossed in the last year...i'd have lost my mind and hid under a rock by now..or retaliated and been ugly back. But you havent..and that says a lot about your character. :) Im not a rockstar in this industry but Im starting to feel its over rated...keep your head up David Jay..there are a lot of people out there that would defend you forever...not just because your really great at what you do...but because you've made them love the possibilities of what THEY can do. :)

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog yesterday. Apparently *something* is going on. Although I really don't care to know. ;)

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for the tip about Smugmug. I'm currently doing the 3 month trial at pictage however as a brand new portrait photog I can't justify the $99/mo fee. Smugmug seems to offer some of the same features that I value at pictage for a fraction of the price. I'm still trying to work out how exactly to best use it (it's only been 1 day) but so far so good. :)

Syed SYPhotography said...

Hey DJ,

Hope you are having fun with this week's Freedom and Slumber party goers (say "hi" to Ahmet). I wish I could be there. I do hope to see you in PPA NY. We have to make some plans.

I am going to start uploading my hi-res files to smugmug.

Take care dude...