YTB is giving away a cruise to our military personnel and their families! Available on a first come, first served basis — tell your military friends today! The cruise leaves on May 30, 2008 out of Miami, so act quickly.

Click here for details

Last week I attended a workshop, “Intense Moments: Photographing Sports”, hosted by veteran Sports Illustrated staff photographer Peter Read Miller. The event was coordinated by Working With Artists (WWA) and was an action-packed week photographing various sporting events in the Denver, CO area. In addition to Peter and his many years of experience (>90 SI covers), we were fortunate to have SI Director of Photography, Steve Fine, and SI’s expert assistants in attendance.

IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE WEEK. We shot mountain biking, fencing, basketball, boxing, collegiate track & field, and professional arena football at the Pepsi Center. Between shoots we attended various sessions (on lighting, remotes, SI, etc.) and then spent the balance of time editing thousands of digital images in search of our best work to submit for review at the post-shoot critiques… a unique learning experience. Besides the crits, I also enjoyed the informal networking and sharing of best practices with other photographers from around the world.

WWA did a fantastic job hosting and it was an honor to learn from the industry’s best. Special thanks to Peter Read Miller, Steve Fine, Grant Leighton, Max Morse, Andrew Loehman, Josh Sanseri, and Greg Cradick for giving me a fresh new perspective on photography — this was the best workshop I’ve attended in a long time!

Click here for some of my pics from the workshop.

(photo by Brian Brooks)

After the Rolling Stones crush at Michael’s restaurant in Midtown Manhattan celebrating Martin Scorsese’s rock doc “Shine a Light,” there was a more chill photo shoot with Lisa Bunnell, VP of film at Landmark Theaters (left), Steve Bunnell, head of distribution at the Weinstein Company as well as Variety’s Madelyn Hammond.

[link to story on indieWIRE]

Here’s a street ad (on 6th Ave) for the movie:

(photo by Dio Dipasupil)

I can’t believe I found this newspaper clipping in a pile of old papers at my parents’ house. It was the one time I made the front page of The Record Sunday Sports Section — May 15, 1983 (and also one of the few times I was in front of the camera). I won a few gold medals that year in the NJ State Sectional Championships and the Bergen County Championships… in the hurdles! Too funny.

A couple years ago I attended an event at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. After circling the floor a couple times and mingling with some guests I noticed someone who resembled Steve Fossett standing alone and sipping his drink. I did a double-take and thought to myself, how is it this guy is not surrounded by a large crowd? No way, probably not “him”.

I slowly approached him, introduced myself, and proceeded to have an interesting conversation. Yup, it was him… the self-made millionaire and the first person to fly solo around the globe in a balloon (in addition to a bunch of other records). He was a friendly person, well spoken, humble, and very genuine. Sure, we talked about the weather, NYC, MoMA, what it was like circumnavigating the globe by himself, etc, but probably the most surprising thing about our conversation was that he didn’t seem to want to talk about his accomplishments. He actually wanted to know about ME. I was flattered. He was genuinely interested in what I did with my life and what made me tick… surprised I was.

We only managed to speak for a few minutes (it wasn’t long before the other guests started to smother him again), but I learned a lot in those few minutes with Mr. Fossett. One of my favorite quotes kind of sums it up…

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” -Socrates

Steve Fossett was an incredible man. It’s tremendous that he was able to accomplish so many things in his life. He was an inspiration and will be missed.

[1010 WINS News Coverage on Steve Fossett]

Don’t worry, I’m not abandoning Exit171… just expanding. With Exit172 LLC up-and-running I decided to start another blog specifically for the business. Nothing fancy, but just another way to keep everyone up-to-date on the latest news regarding Exit172 LLC.

For those interested, the new blog is being hosted on WordPress.com. The photo in my blog header (also pictured above) is a pic I took at the 2007 NYC Marathon.

Exit172 Travel is now up-and-running! If you typically book your travel on the web with highly advertised sites like Expedia, Orbitz, or Priceline, you also need to check out www.exit172travel.com. We offer competitive rates on flights, hotels, cars, cruises, golf packages, vacation packages, and “Extras” such as flowers and event tickets.

Don’t be afraid to book on my site… Exit172 Travel is powered by Travelocity and YTB Travel Network. YTB is a full-fledged travel agency backed by a 1,200 person call center and 24 hour customer service. In addition, our “Extras” are brought to you by industry leaders Flora2000 and TicketsNow.

Please let me know if you’re interested in owning your own online travel web site — I’d love to sponsor you. If you have 10 minutes, check out the video at the following link. It’ll give you a brief overview of what this is all about.

www.ytbpres2007.com

If it makes sense to you, let’s talk. Selling hot dogs (travel) is nice, but owning the hot dog cart (travel web site) is even better.

Technorati Tags: travel,flights,hotels,cars,cruises,golf packages,vacation packages,flowers,event tickets,web business,expedia,orbitz,travelocity,priceline, golf,concerts,theater,business opportunities

I have high hopes for 2008. At the beginning of 2007 I explored a concept/book called Asset-Based Thinking. In a nutshell, it teaches you to look at every situation differently, but to focus on the positive (asset-based) elements versus the negative (deficit-based) side. Sort of “the glass is half full” mindset. I still practice this frequently and it has helped me in many challenging situations.

In 2008 I’ve decided to start capitalizing on a few opportunities that have been dangling in front of me for some time… I will finally formalize my own part-time business. My new company, Exit172 LLC, will represent several ventures:

• Exit172 Travel — a 24×7 online travel agency powered by Travelocity and YTB Travel Network
• Exit172 Photography — my freelance photography endeavors
• Exit172 Technology Services — IT consulting & services for homes and small business

I’m excited to finally gather all of this under one umbrella. As Anthony Robbins and all the other motivational/self-help folks have taught me over the years, sometimes you need to go out and make things happen, instead of waiting for things to happen… life’s too short…

Paramus - May 2002 - Joanne and Ed’s Wedding

Virginia - June 2005 - Jenny and Chris’ Wedding

Paramus - June 2006 - Three generations of Dipasupils… Aidan, Dio, and Dody

Obituary & Video Memorial

(Photo Credit: KW2DIO)

[story at TechCrunch]

Technorati Tags: google,iphone

Technorati Tags: macy’s,thanksgiving,parade,holiday

The One Laptop Per Child promotion (G1G1) has been extended to December 31, 2007.  Act now!!

Technorati Tags: One Laptop Per Child,OLPC,charity,xo,AMD,Negroponte,50×15

Technorati Tags: cars,mercedes-benz

Act now!  You have until November 26th to donate an XO laptop and get one for yourself.  Some nice perks…  one year free T-Mobile Hotspot access and a $200 tax deduction.  All for $399 (actually $423.95 with shipping).

The mission of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege. Between November 12 and November 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. During this time, you can donate the revolutionary XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for the child in your life in recognition of your contribution.

[One Laptop Per Child]

Technorati Tags: One Laptop Per Child,OLPC,charity,xo,AMD,Negroponte,50×15

I finally updated Exit171 to WordPress v2.3.1.  Version 1.5.2 worked well for a long time, but I knew I was several revs behind and missing out on some new functionality, e.g. widgets, themes, etc.  The upgrade couldn’t have been easier (it took me longer to backup everything than it did to upgrade).  I’ll be messing around with some new features in the coming weeks and probably a new theme.  Please let me know if you see anything that looks strange or broken.  Thanks.

Technorati Tags: wordpress,software,blogging

Technorati Tags: nyc,marathon,running,new york city,lance armstrong,photography,sports

Technorati Tags: halloween,costume,holidays,power rangers,nemo

This looks pretty neat…

What do you get when you combine Google Maps with hyper-local news and comments? You get a map-based news site called YourStreet, which officially launches tomorrow (although the site is already up). The site detects where you are located and serves up news stories about events that recently occurred in your city or neighborhood, as well comments from YourStreet members who live nearby.

[via TechCrunch:  Maps + News = YourStreet]

[Google Maps and Twitter Are Essential Information Resources For California Fires]

[Google Takes No Prisoners]