FLORIDA!!!!

Ok so as a photographer there's two things you probably find yourself doing in your spare time:

1) Take photos
2) Editing photos

So as I stated earlier tonight I am finally getting to some older photos and I happened to come across a group of photos I like to call the Impulsive Essentials. These photos are random yet impulsive they are intriguing yet a necessity! These pictures are the monotonous day to day shots that you can normally tend to take for granted… but what makes these special is they are memories of places, people, buildings, things and they all make up the wonderful state I like to call Florida! So sit back, drink some lemonade and enjoy a walk through the sunshine state!

Only In Florida do babies mow the front yard! :)

Clouds outside my church

Catching up...

Haven't you ever have a list of stuff you wanted to get done but kept putting it off until a later time? I think we all have. I myself know I am very guilty about this because I have lists to remind me of lists of stuff I need to do! I kept thinking oh I will do it this weekend and then of course something comes up and it gets pushed to the back burner. Then my list gets so big I think the only way I could get it done is if I had a couple days off in a row to tackle it. But then I get those days off and more stuff comes up. Stuff that's usually more fun that cleaning out my car. But I figured out there's no better time than the present to start working on those lists because if I don't do them no one else will! It takes wisdom and diligence to get it done. So it's time to catch up and editing photos is one of those "tasks" I have on my list!

Tonight I am spending some quality time editing and boy am I glad that I was able to attend David Jay's Free to Succeed conference first because he talked about something very essential to editing... work flow! So even though I don't have Adobe Lightroom yet I am using Adobe Bridge and I have made myself a nice little work flow! So far I have been able to cross six tasks off my list and it feels great! So below you'll find some pictures I just recently got around to editing.... they're older... with in the last year or so... but I think you may like them!

One thing for sure I will never let my lists get this big again! So here's a toast to diligence, wisdom, and workflow may you work hand in hand from this day forward!

These pictures from a shoot I got to do with one of my dear friends Lisa and her gorgeous baby girl Keziah days before they moved to Texas! These are just a couple shots from that day...

Lisa and her daughter were both so much fun to work with and I think these pictures came out wonderful! I just wish we had more time to take photos! So... thank you girls for this beautiful opportunity to take pictures and next time you're in town you better hit me up so we can do another session! :)

Whew.... I found the bus!

Ok, so as most of you know I went to the Free to Succeed Tour in Orlando Thursday… well it turns out DJ and his team decided to hide little characters in each city they did a show in and post them online. Well the first one to find the character wins $500.00 Showit Bucks and I found it! They hid the bus in Orlando last night and I’ve been checking his blog (http://opensourcephoto.blogspot.com) constantly waiting for him to post it. Well, around 2:30 am this morning I decided to check it one last time before going to bed and it turns out they posted the video an hour earlier! So I jumped into my car and decided to drive down to Orlando, which by the way is an hour and a half away, and go find it. The video hey posted was dark but I knew exactly where they hid the bus so I was hoping I was going to be the first one to find it.

As I made it to the parking lot around 5:30 am I went to the fence surrounding the pool and of course it was still locked so I tried to scale the fence like the boys did in their video. I guess I kinda forgot how tall they were compared to me and I quickly realized, once on top of the fence, how short I was as I fell into the bushes and scrapped my leg. Yeah… that was fun. Then I walked up the stairs, over the chain rope and up the snake to the top…. And there it was waiting for me the bus! Thank you Lord for helping me find it I couldn't have done it with out you!

So yeah it was dark and I was a little out of breath from scaling the wall but here's the video of me finding the bus... :)

It's kinda dark so it's not a good shot but here's the other video I made after sucessfully getting back over the fence, yeah I had to fell into the bushes again that time too! :)

So there it is, I found it and even though I didn't get any sleep, drove 3 hours there and back, scrapped up my leg twice and got lost trying to drive home it was worth it! Thank you DJ! I am so excited to start using the Showit bucks... now what I do from here?

-JJ

Meeting David Jay

One of my most favorite Wedding Photographers is as you guessed it from the blog title: David Jay (DJ). I was actually referred to him by another fellow wedding photographer in 2006 as someone to model after and I have been following DJ ever since. Not only are his photos just almost mind-blowingly amazing but he is full of heart and really has a sense of excellence about him. He's got quality. And that's something as a photographer new to the business I know I could glean from... so I've been following his blog, reading the books he recommends and studying his business approach. So far the man's go a repertoire full to the rafters but he still keeps going. Just when you thought, ok the guys a Christian... plus... an amazing photographer... extra plus... has good taste in music... ok another plus.... but then he decides to go and start a tour sharing his business flow with other photographers around the states, man this guy just keeps getting better! You could almost think can he get any better than this?!? But the answer is simply yes. He e can and he did.

I got a chance to go to his Free to Succeed Tour in Orlando Thursday night and it was amazing! I took fifteen pages of notes and got so much information it's still sinking in. Plus, I got a chance to finally meet DJ and he was so nice! Even his crew was wonderful; Regis, Crystal, Brett and Allie were all so open and friendly it was almost surreal! But, all I could do was thank him. With out David Jay I don't know what I would have done. He is a God send and he came just at the perfect moment in my life when I needed a mentor. I always used to think, "There's no way I could start my business I don't have this... or I don't have that..." It was mainly a life of excuses. Granted it was in my heart I wanted to start my business but until now I didn't have the tools necessary to make it a successful one.

Here's some pictures from the conference... I have Polaroids also but I will have to scan those first so maybe that will be another blog! Enjoy...



By the way DJ you and Allie make such a cute couple! Actually kinda perfect if you ask me!



Leaving the conference I just felt so empowered and encouraged I can't wait to start my business! So, thank you David Jay for being obedient to the call on your life! I know God's got big plans for you for the years ahead! Keep finding freedom!

~JJ