I was thinking about you and my long drive to Northern California this week to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. And then I thought that if you’re like me, you probably like to maximize your time when you travel too. So, since one of my favorite things to do on trips is to listen to audiobooks, I thought it would be cool to give the faithful a PRE-THANKSGIVING SALE and offer my Audiobook for HALF-PRICE.

Yup, I’ll read you my book personally for $12.50… no tax, no shipping and you get it right now if you want it. The only catch is the deal goes away on Turkey day.

What’s totally cool is it includes a FREE pDNA and surprise eBook. That’s like a $55 value for $12.50… but it’s only for three days and it’s only because I love you :).

It’s just a little thanks for all the ways you guys bless me.

To get the deal CLICK HERE and enter “audioturkeylove” in the promo code. Remember though, it only works until you start feeling guilty for eating too much so snag it now.

Now, inevitably there will be a number of you who recently bought my Audiobook and are bummed you’re not in on the deal. I haven’t forgotten you either.

First of all, if you’re getting my book you’re most likely not a Grumpy (for more on Grumpies, see the book) which means you are probably thinking how cool it would be to give thanks to someone you know. What a great opportunity to hook friends up for half price.

Second, in the spirit of this being the biggest shopping weekend of the year, I’ve got a special deal for you that will be announced the day after Thanksgiving (Thursday at midnight in fact) that will be pretty awesome. Stay tuned… and please drive safe!

Grateful for you…
-Dane

PS… If you’re an International reader and don’t celebrate American thanksgiving, consider this a small gesture and invitation to be thankful together, regardless of what lands on your calendar.

Since we moved to Orange County from Santa Barbara a few years back, we’ve had the privilege of getting to know a lot of wonderful families.

The Root’s in particular have been close to my heart for a number of reasons.

First, they are one of the pioneer families at our church who sacrificed much for the sake of being part of a movement that is changing the world.

Second, Lauri’s husband Doug died a few years before I joined in at the church and I have been hearing the stories and pictures and lore of a leader bent on making a difference. As many of you know and can relate with, I also grew up without a dad. To witness the ways Lauri (and all the other single mom’s like her) is leading her boys into adulthood is a true gift (yes, this is a total shout out to my own mom… love you!).

Needless to say, when Lauri asked me to shoot their family portraits this year, I was stoked. We decided their home at One Ford Road in Newport Beach would be perfect. They actually live just a few streets over from our good friends Julie and Mike Colón. I think I should feel honored she chose me or maybe she just needs to get to know her neighbors better.

JD and Timmy are such great guys. They are also all male. To be candid, I think they were far more interested in wrestling with each other than in getting their pictures taken. So, I think my stock went up when I told them they could do both.

We all live under the reality of our mortality. Especially in seasons like these where circumstances seem so fragile, can I encourage you to pause for a second and go love on those you love most right now? I hope you’re blessed for it.

Thanks Root family for living life the way you do. You inspire!

- Dane

I got a great question on the forum this week that I wanted to share…

“Any words of wisdom on the juggling of photography with outside life, children, pets, spouses, clients and the work I can’t/don’t want to outsouce and how to best fit it all in?”
- Ami D

Here’s what I say… Don’t juggle… Don’t try to balance (do you actually know any balanced people?)… Just stop.

Live in tension and let things fall once in a while.

In fact, just for fun: I double dogg dare you to commit to intentionally letting one non-critical thing drop this week. If you can’t, I say there’s a problem.

Stuck to know what to let go? Ask a (true) friend to point something out that objectively won’t kill you if it doesn’t get done. If it really hurts, pick that one. You’ll cuss your friend out tomorrow but in a week you’ll be buying them dinner.

For what it’s worth, I did this last week which is why I was so absent on the forums. I’m so grateful I didn’t get judged for that by the way. Fact is, I actually felt loved! My man Jack noticed my absence and reached out. It was such a gift!

My advice: When you need to walk away from the virtual world, do it guilt free. We’ll be here when you get back! That’s the beauty of living in tension… you can flex and we’ll flex with you.

Speaking of Forums, there are some amazing new communities out there that I hope you guys are taking advantage of! From Photography Mentor to B School… these Facebook for photographer sites are just amazing and some of my closest friends in the industry are behind them! They have bells and whistles that blow doors off of any forum on the Internet. They are just remarkable.

“But wait!” you might say, “aren’t these new ventures bad news for the Fast Track Community?” I appreciate the concern but rest assured it’s nothing but good!

From Photography Mentor to The B School to Triiibes to Facebook, we have Fast Track Groups/Clubs all over the social networking world and membership is rising!

But here’s the thing: The Fast Track Forums are nothing like them.

And, here’s the bigger thing: The reason we created The Fast Track Forums was not to be the latest flavor of the month for photographers. It actually exists to be an intimate community of like-minded photographers who are interested in close relationships and keeping our little world free of the Grumpies. That’s it. Pretty modest I know.

But, given the potential challenges that juggling all these cool spaces requires, those who call Fast Track home have found that intimate virtual space is pretty tough to find these days. As Seth Godin likes to say, “Small is the New Big“… this is certainly so for Fast Track.

So, if you are needing to let some balls drop and are craving a little up close and personal time with your some safe friends who will be “for you” as long as you’re grump-free, come join in the fun! If not, we’ll see you at the parties!

- Dane

I was so excited to find out this week that my site was featured in The Best of Photography Websites by Rangefinder Magazine this month.

A ton of thought work went into creating it and I was really stoked and humbled to see it get recognized like this. I’m especially grateful to Elevation, Cinematic Studios and liveBooks for their support in creating it all. You guys are remarkable.

Thanks too to Steve Tout for picking me out of a crowd of amazing sites that are bursting onto the scene of late.

Check out the full article here or in this month’s magazine!

Keep it thankful,
Dane