Switzerland

Yea! Next week I'm going to Switzerland! I am so excited. I just booked my flight and I'm leaving a day earlier than I planned because I've never been to Switzerland before and it looks beautiful!

I will spend a couple of days there and then go over to Lyon, France where the Planche Contact workshop is.

Lyon looks pretty cool too so I'll spend a couple of days there after the workshop and I'm mostly gonna be taking lots of pictures for the intro to my new website so I'll be sure to post them up!

I will also be responding to lots of emails on the flight. I'm so encouraged by all the relationships, both personal and professional, that have come into my life over the past year and I really want to do a better job of keeping in touch with all of you.

Motion Pictures

My buddy Chris Humphreys is one of the best photographers I know. I've learned so much by shooting with him over the years and he just did an awesome post on his blog about using motion in your shots.

Click here to check it out!

A Reunion

I am totally blown away. The Pictage Web chat was unreal and it felt like this incredible reunion of old friends and the introduction of new friends all getting together and mixing our lives together and bonding, teasing, loving and sharing with each other!






There were over 700 people logged on and I just finished the last question at 1:30am because I just had to finish before I went to bed.

You all are amazing! Thank you. It sounds weird but I felt very loved by all of you and your kind posts really mean the world to me.

Let's Chat!

Today at 4pm (pacific time) Pictage is hosting one of their "Ask and Learn" Wednesday's so join me over there in a couple of hours!

Instead of "Creating Freedom" let's talk about Life, Love and Spooning.

See you soon!
DJ

You Inc!

You Inc!, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

I'm so excited because yesterday I bought 4 new books at borders. I went in there and didn't even plan on buying anything but found awesome books that I didn't even know existed!

This book is from one of my favorite authors named Harry Beckwith...he's super good...

"a life in marketing confirms the wisdom of to thine own self be true. Ultimately, it will feel more comfortable for you; you don't have to think about how you want to be seen...you have a brand. Make sure yours is honest."

It's easy to fall into the tempation of masking who we are in order to create an appearance of who we hope to be. The words "fake it till ya make it" are words that will kill you in todays market because I believe if you "fake it" those around you will see that and they won't help you make it!

Work from the inside out! Become who you want to be and then live it! That's the way to success, fulfillment, and a life well lived.

Be honest, be real, be you!

Not tired anymore

Today I slept until noon and then took a nap from 4 to 7 so I obviously can't sleep tonight. After WPPI I shut down for a couple of days so I'm glad I don't have anything really pressing.

I just went back and grabbed a few random video clips. Kinda fun.

I am home! Yea!

I love being home on the weekends! It's the best thing ever! Tomorrow I have a few emails to do and then I'm just gonna read and hangout with friends. I only have one thing on my schedule until I head back to France in two weeks so I'm amped to be here and relax.

Great Conference!

WPPI was a fantastic show! I am so amped about how everything went! Last night I had my biggest presentation ever and here is a picture I took of all my new friends!



Hope Litwin was so sweet to let me use her camera and then posted about the seminar on her blog along with this shot that she snapped of me! :) If anybody else has pictures please post'em on your blog or email them to me because I'd love to see them.


Todd came out to hand deliver some Showit DVD's which are so awesome and he shot some video as well so as soon as I can download that I'll put some clips up.

and it was pretty fun because right before this I did an interview for a series on weddings that is getting pitched to HBO. (they put makeup on me and I had to go straight to my presentation and then I forgot about it and I bet everyone was thinking I was so weird b/c I forgot to tell them all why I had makeup on. lol)

Today was good

Today was a really busy but good day. I got lots done and the Pictage booth was incredible and I know Shyla will have some fun pictures to show from that.

Aimee Cooper from OSP is such a doll and she heard that I wanted a "Lovecat" shirt so she made me one...and made a really funny Vegas - OSP shirt for herself!



...and then I watched the water show
from Fongs place and came back to go to sleep but for some reason couldn't sleep. I have a lot on my mind with everything so I think it makes it hard to sleep.

BluDomain Disaster

I was asked to repost this message about Bludomain so people knew what was happening. I hope not too many people were affected.

WPPI :)

WPPI started out with a bang! Sara France, Lauren Hillary, and Anna Costa threw a "Super Swanky Soiree" ( I have no idea what those words mean but it was so fun! ) so I hung out there for awhile and then caught the very tail end of the OSP party down at Napoleans...I was so tired this morning so I slept in.

The Ethical Mind

Wow - I should be packing because my flight is in 2 hours but I just downloaded the latest Harvard Business Review and there's an article in it called "The Ethical Mind" and it's so similiar to what I've been thinking about and talking to people about lately!

Checkout this quote!

Vegas

Yesterday I received my monthly mentoring CD from John Maxwell. He sends out hundreds of thousands of these things every month so it's not like a personal mentorship thing but it's great and I'd highly suggest it for anyone wanting to develop their leadership skills.

One of the quotes in it I thought was perfect...

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation." - Pearl S. Buck

I'm off to Vegas for WPPI...I actually hate Vegas but it is the biggest wedding show and so it's fun catching up with all my friends! Below is my schedule and I just found out I'm on the same flight as Shyla and Amy! so we will be coming in around 4pm today.

Secret Marijuana Room

Yesterday We found a secret room at the house that is locked away through a hole in the roof of the garage and we think they were growing marijuana in there. You can't really see in the video but even the house inspector says that's probably what they were doing. Crazy.

I hate smoking and I've never even smoked a cigarette but I have had a cigar and my buddy Tim gave me a pipe for my birthday so I've tried that but smoking is gnarly so stay away from that unless you want to die.

Checkout the video.




Today we're meeting with a designer lady who creates living areas and she's especially known for creating these really unique outdoor areas where you can enjoy Santa Barbara outside. It's like amazing weather here year around so it's the perfect place to have outdoor areas to enjoy.
.

House stuff

Tonight me and Deyl went up to the house to have a romantic dinner together of Chipotle and Margaritas and watch the sunset.


It's so gorgeous up there it blows my mind. Here is a little video clip where you can see the living room and the kitchen - and the view.

Honesty and Influence

I feel like I've been having a consistent conversation lately with so many people about the problem of dishonesty in our industry. It really makes me sad and I know this may not be a popular post but I feel the need to share it.

Without a doubt I've seen that openness and honesty is really the only way to succeed and I've tried (admitedly giving too much disclosure at times) to live a very open and completely honest and sincere life/business.

The companies (and people) that I support are all companies I truly believe in and I believed in them before I began talking about them...and I've declined to speak on behalf of companies and products that I don't believe in and It's been hard to watch as I see people sell their souls for products and companies just for a little cash even when they know and admit that these are not the best out there.

Please - if you're giving recommendations...if you're a leader...if you have influence over people's decisions then you have a huge responsibility to make sure what you're selling is actually going to help them.

Thanks for listening and let's all hold each other to a higher standard of openness and honesty and let's make this industry and better place.

Real Ultimate Power

I got a book from somebody but I can't tell you who because that would violate some codes of conduct but every once in awhile I will share with you some secrets from it.

Easily Distracted

"People who are easily distracted are probably Ninjas. For example, if you are talking to a Ninja and people are shooting basketballs in the background, then you can forget it, because he won't hear a thing you say."

More later...shhhhhh

Tuesday

Tuesday, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

I really like coming home on Tuesday because Tuesday is cleaning day and so I come home and everything is clean and my bed is made and the clothes are folded and my life feels very orderly.



I need to find a way for the rest of the week to feel that way. My life has felt very out of control for the last couple of years and it's been great but things just happen so fast and so I've had to be super focused which means that lots of things have been "swept under the rug" so to speak.



Anyway...just rambling I guess.

........ :)

Ok...so...first of all...I didn't make the questions for the poll you silly people. Shyla did and I didn't make this video below either - Deyl did and so please ignore the "I'm too sexy" music :)....I was gonna make a bit more modest video so that's why I was waiting but it's been cloudy and I've been swamped so I had to clear that up before ya'll start thinking I've gone mad.


The poll results were surprisingly accurate but I haven't bought the house it - but it is in escrow so I've tied it up so that's exciting! I've never gone through this process before and it's kinda scary.

Anyway...here's Deyl's video that he used to lure me into this place! Enjoy!

I'm calling it the OSParty House! So if I go through with it we need to have an OSP House Warming Party!

oops

I forgot to tell you guys my big news.... :) ... sorry about that. Today was just really busy responding to emails about what the big news was and so I didn't have time but Shyla started a funny poll as to what it is!

Click here to vote...all the options are very real possibilites.

The Art of the Start

A couple of months ago I saw Guy Kawasaki's book, "The Art of the Start" on my friend Shyla's desk so I decided to pick it up and it's great!

In it Guy says, "It's not how great you start - it's how great you end up."

I know I have stalled starting things because I didn't feel I was ready or I didn't feel that it was as good as I wanted it to be so these words sure rang true for me.

Start things when they're "good enough" - then work to make them better!

Arizona is Fun!

Well I'm once again cutting my trip short to get home. I have a very exciting announcement on Monday (not photo related) and so I have to get home to do some stuff.

But AZ was great and on Thursday I flew in and got to meet up with some Rocking OSPers for a last minute dinner and my buddy JT posted about it here (but didn't give Todd or I any link love. Jerk. lol)


Todd and I have been friends since grade school and he is the programmer for Showit Web and he just moved to AZ so I came out to visit. Check me out in his programming chair. It's crazy. He connects his laptop up to this big screen and wireless keyboard and will program all night long.



Todd and his wife have the cutest little kid named Kiefer. He repeats everything you say so I have some funny videos of him saying things that I taught him.

Here is a good one. :) ...and I put him in Todd's shoes and it was pretty fun to watch him try and walk around.

Testing Showit Web's new Embed Feature

Everyone knows how important blogging is and so in the new Showit Web PRO we made it easier to post shows to your blog by allowing you to resize the show after it's created!

So if you wanted you could upload a show full size for your clients to view and then resize the show and save it your "blogslideshow" folder as a new size to fit your blog.

Check out Shyla!

If you haven't already be sure to checkout Shyla's new website! It's amazing! I love it! She's been working on it for the last couple of months and I just can't believe how fabulous it is!

Below is one of my favorite shots of hers and I'm just so excited because she's doing such an incredible job! Thanks for the inspiration Shy! Keep rocking!

Pictage TV

Look at me! I am on Pictage TV with my dolphin friend Ben. :D

Click here to see the video!

And they have a new member gallery too!


Pictage rocks!

Travelin light

Travelin light, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

This is all I brought for my trip. I'm only gonna be gone for 3 days so I figured I didn't need more than my computer bag. It's a great bag.

.

Arizona!

I had a great few days at home and got so much done. Tomorrow I leave for Arizona! Yea!

I fly into Phoenix at 4pm and I'd love to meet up and have dinner with any of you that are around. I have a meeting in Gilbert/Mesa area around 7ish so if we could meet somewhere in that area that would be great.

I don't have a return flight yet but I will probably be leaving on Saturday to come back to Santa Barbara so it will be a quick trip and I will be in Flagstaff the whole time so I'm sad that I'll probably miss most of you but if you're around and can have dinner than post up here where you all want to eat and when and I'll meet you there.

Showit Web Pro/Lite

The new Showit Web Pro/Lite is ready for FREE download and FREE upgrade!

It may automatically register for you or you can get your registration key by logging into your account on the Getit Store.

This will be the program that links in with the Showit-DVD service so if you want to get some shows ready for DVD just be sure to check the "Showit-DVD Compatible" box when you make the show and then you'll be ready to go.

Click Here for the PC version.

Click here for the Mac version!

There is also more info about Showit Web and the future DVD-service on the Support Site.

Rock on!
DJ

p.s. We switched the naming from "Version 2.0" to "PRO" and "Version 1.0" to "Lite" just incase you were confused. :)

People or Production?

Craig Newmark's brilliant quote...

"The more you think about business as being a community service, the more successful you become."

How right on is that!

Are you building a community? Remember Tim Sanders quote,

"Your Network is Your Networth."

...and I believe that your biggest Return On Investment will always be when you invest in people!

There's been so much talk about Outsourcing and this is one of the reasons I'm so passionate about it. I outsource everything and by doing so I have extra time to invest in people and help build communities both virtually and physically. It's a big deal and I'm so thankful for everyone I've been able to meet and learn from.

Invest your time in people - not in production and you'll be infinitely more successful!

Rock on!
DJ

Mark III

Ryan Flynn just posted this on OSP - Nowdays I mostly shoot in Single Shot mode but this is still really cool.


oh yea.... Santa Barbara almost melted off the earth today - it was 91 degrees! I thought I was gonna die! It's nice now though.

Back on the left side

The last couple of weeks I've been out in Canada, Rhode Island, and at my 2nd home in Chicago and even though I love being on the road I'm always excited to come home and I usually cut my trips short so I can come home early. Like this time I was supposed to go to AZ for the weekend but I decided to wait and go next weekend because I've been gone for soooo long.


I'm in San Fran right now so I'm almost there!

Hotel Barlow

I've been staying at Hotel Barlow this week and it's been so great hanging out here and doing nothing and this place has been upped to 5 Star status because they added a spa service! Yes can you believe that!

They are so wonderful and they called in their friend who's a massage therapist and she came over and gave massages yesterday! It was amazing!

Here's a picture of a bunch of us after church the other night. I tried to keep Andrew out of the photo so I could have all the girls to myself but he's stronger than me so I couldn't keep him out!

What a great night for the world

Over $23k was raised through the charity auction last night! Wow! That is amazing! It's so wonderful to see how everyone has embraced Thirst Relief and the work their doing to save lives!

I'm super excited to meet with Sunnee and I hope you'll email me before the show so we can be in touch!


Also, I saw that their was some frustration expressed in this thread and I understand that nobody knew that if somedbody bid at the last minute the auction would get extended giving the other bidders time to bid but I think this is a very good feature and especially for a charity auction where the goal is to raise money for a good cause.

I was bidding on people who I wanted to meet with and I won two auctions so I'm stoked! I get to meet with Dave and Quin Cheung and Jeff and Julia Woods! Yea!

Rock on!
DJ

Thirst Relief auction ending soon!

Don't forget that the Thirst Relief auction is ending in a few hours! Currently AllyCat is the high bidder at $415 and this is the best money you can spend this year! 100% of your donation goes to providing water filters for families who don't have access to pure water.

***Click here*** to enter the auction...and whoever I meet with gets a free meal (sorry I gotta get together over breakfast or Lunch) and the full suite of Showit products ($500 value)

Checkout the video I made from our trip to Brazil last year for more info about Thirst Relief.

Cold Snow and Lazy

I'm at the Barlows now and It's been really cold here and it's been snowing but today it's a pretty blue sky. I don't know why but when it's cold outside I get really lazy and so I haven't been blogging or emailing or anything.

We've been having so much fun and I think we're gonna get to have dinner with Bob and Dawn Davis tomorrow night!

Oh yea...Since Gary Fong's been working out I figured I should be too and my friend Deyl just posted a picture of me using some cool green screen technology.

Click here to check it out...and if it doesn't appear to be me that's just because you're not used to seeing me holding a horse saddle in my bedroom with teal and purple sheets.

:)

Great trip!

Yesterday was fantastic! I absolutely loved this PPARI group and the whole event was just amazing! Everyone really embraced the FREEdom principles and I'm so excited to see these photographers succeed in a whole new way!

I'll be back out here in September for an even bigger conference for all of New England so if you're on the East Coast be sure to come!

After the conference I got to connect up with a wonderful couple of mine! Justin Marantz and Mary Bess and have dinner and chat about their upcoming wedding in CT! So fun!!!




Also, if you were at the conference please send me photos! I have a couple but I want to keep them all and put them up on my blog.

United rocks

United rocks, originally uploaded by davidjay13.

After hassling with the American people for the last couple of days and getting nowhere it was quite the treat for United to give me a free upgrade without even asking!



Props to them!

DJ

Lori Nordstrom

Today I sat in on Lori Nordstrom's presentation and it was amazing.

She's a phenominal photographer, has a killer business, she's gorgeous and do you believe she has a son in college...yea...me neither!

Definitely check her out!

Also...she's stuck in Chicago so give her some love on her blog....she already spent one night in the airport this week.

Rhode Island Pictures

Yesterday I walked around Newport, RI and took pictures! I had so much fun and it's crazy because I never take pictures just for fun anymore but I really did have a good time. Everything here is so colorful and where I grew up everything was kinda bland so I think that's why I liked taking pictures here.