Photography Breakthrough System

Matthew Jordan Smith
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Visual Arts
  • Updated Weekly

Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, the place where burnt out photographers come back to life. Where fear gets replaced with confidence and where your gift finally starts working for you, not against you.

  1. 2d ago

    Episode 55 - AI DEBATE_Does Photography Require Physical Light

    Speaker 1: Welcome to the debate. Speaker 1: So I want you to imagine you are walking along a beach, right, early in the morning, and you find a solitary footprint in the wet sand. Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Classic scenario. Speaker 1: Right. In that exact moment, you have this absolute proof, undeniable physical evidence that someone walked there before you. Speaker 1: The sand was physically displaced by the weight of a foot. Speaker 1: You're looking at a mechanical record of a literal event. Speaker 2: Right, because there's a direct causal link between the human foot and the impression in the sand. Speaker 2: I mean, it's just physics. Speaker 1: Exactly. Speaker 1: But now imagine coming to that exact same stretch of beach and finding a footprint that looks identical in every single way, except it was meticulously sculpted by a hovering drone, dropping grains of sand one by one to perfectly mimic the depth and shape of a human step. Speaker 2: Oh, wow. Okay. Speaker 1: Visually, to the naked eye, they are indistinguishable. Speaker 1: But historically and, well, fundamentally, they are entirely different things. Speaker 2: Because one is a trace of a historical event, and the other is a structural illusion. Speaker 2: The visual result matches, sure, but the history of how it arrived there is completely fabricated. Speaker 1: Yes, exactly. Speaker 1: Which brings us to the exact collision happening in the visual arts right now, based on the material we are diving into today. Speaker 1: We are watching the explosive rise of imagery generated entirely by artificial intelligence, images created without a camera, without a physical subject, and importantly, without a single photon of actual light. Speaker 2: Yeah. It's a massive shift. Speaker 2: And the core question fracturing the art world, and really the focus of our discussion today, is this: Is photography defined strictly by the process used to create it, namely the physical recording of light and time, or is it defined by the appearance of the final image and the ongoing evolution of visual manipulation? Speaker 1: Right. Speaker 1: And to lay my cards on the table, I argue that photography fundamentally requires a physical encounter with the world and actual light, meaning AI creations, no matter how photorealistic, belong in an entirely different conceptual category. Speaker 2: And I take a very different view. Speaker 2: I contend that photography has always evolved through technological manipulation, making AI simply the next tool in the medium's long history of altering reality. Speaker 1: Well, I think we really need to define our core terms here. Speaker 1: What makes a photograph a photograph? Speaker 1: For me, drawing from the source text, it comes down to photographic origin. Speaker 2: Okay, break that down for me. Speaker 1: Think about the actual mechanics. Speaker 1: A photon travels, uh, 93 million miles from the sun, bounces off a subject's face, passes through a physical glass lens, and hits a CMOS sensor. Speaker 2: Right, the literal capture of light. Speaker 1: Yes. Speaker 1: When that light hits the silicon grid, it releases electrons. Speaker 1: It creates a literal, quantifiable voltage map of reality at a specific millisecond in time. Speaker 1: It requires physical causality. Speaker 1: There has to be a recorded encounter between the photographer and something existing in physical space. Speaker 2: Sure, but— Speaker 1: If you bypass that entirely, if the image is just a matrix of ones and zeros predicting what a face might look like and the moment never happened, well, the result is simply not a photograph. Speaker 2: But see, pure objectivity is a myth. Speaker 2: I mean, it's never existed in photography. Speaker 2: From the moment the first camera was invented, that quantifiable voltage map you're talking about has been subjected to immense human interference. Speaker 1: Interference, sure, but the origin remains intact. Speaker 2: Does it, though? Speaker 2: A photographer chooses the focal length, which completely compresses or distorts physical space. Speaker 2: They choose what to exclude from the frame entirely, and the moment the shutter closes, the interpretation begins. Speaker 2: I mean, photographers spent decades in the darkroom dodging and burning, masking out areas. Speaker 1: I'm not denying the history of the darkroom. Speaker 2: They were compositing multiple negatives to insert dramatic skies that absolutely were not there on the day of the shoot. Speaker 2: Look at Jerry Uelsmann. Speaker 2: He was seamlessly blending five different realities into one print, what, 50 years ago? Speaker 1: Right, but you're treating AI as if it's just a continuous straight line from those traditions. Speaker 2: Because it is. Speaker 2: In the digital age, we universally accepted Photoshop and localized filters as standard practice. Speaker 2: Since photographers have always constructed and altered visual reality to match an artistic vision, typing a prompt into a generative model isn't a betrayal of the medium. Speaker 2: It's just continuous with how we've always worked. Speaker 1: I have to push back hard on that. Speaker 1: You're conflating two fundamentally different actions: manipulation and generation. Speaker 1: They are not the same thing just because they happen on the same computer screen. Speaker 2: Are they really that different anymore, though? Speaker 2: I mean, think about it. Speaker 2: If you're listening to this right now, you have probably used the Magic Eraser tool on your smartphone to remove a photobomber from a vacation picture. Speaker 1: Yeah, it's very common. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: So when you do that, are you manipulating reality, or are you generating a new one? Speaker 2: The line is practically invisible to the average user. Speaker 2: Traditional photographers are clicking buttons in Lightroom to seamlessly extend the background of a portrait because they framed it too tightly. Speaker 2: The AI is already baked into the camera processing. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 1: The line might be invisible in the user interface, sure, but mechanically and epistemologically, it is a chasm. Speaker 1: When you use that generative erase tool, you aren't just stretching existing pixels, you are invoking a diffusion model. Speaker 2: Which is a tool. Speaker 1: But let's look at how that tool actually works based on the material. Speaker 1: The software analyzes the mathematical relationships of the existing pixels, introduces Gaussian noise, and then deductively resolves that noise into entirely new visual data that statistically matches the surrounding scene. Speaker 1: It is algorithmic prediction. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker 2: It predicts what the background should look like. Speaker 2: It fills in the blanks. Speaker 1: But it's a hallucination. Speaker 1: When a photographer uses generative fill to extend a landscape by two feet, the light didn't bounce off that extra two feet of grass. Speaker 1: The camera didn't record a voltage map of it. Speaker 1: The software guessed it based on billions of other images in its training data. Speaker 2: I still don't see why that entirely disqualifies it. Speaker 1: Because manipulation is like editing a documentary film to change its pacing. Speaker 1: You can cut dead air, you can rearrange scenes to build tension, but you are still manipulating actual footage of things that physically occurred. Speaker 1: Generation, on the other hand, is writing a completely fictional screenplay. Speaker 1: You are conjuring a room out of thin air. Speaker 2: Yeah, but both the documentary and the narrative film are movies, right? Speaker 2: They both end up on a screen, they both use the exact same visual grammar, and they both evoke an emotional response from the viewer. Speaker 2: You're getting hung up on the raw material, but the final aesthetic output functions exactly the same way. Speaker 1: They function the same way visually, yes, but we categorize them differently because their relationship to truth matters to the audience. Speaker 1: And this brings me to a core philosophical distinction between the two mediums. Speaker 1: Traditional photography is an act of subtraction. Speaker 2: Subtraction? Speaker 2: Wait, how do you mean? Speaker 1: Well, you arrive at a physical scene, and that scene contains infinite visual information, infinite angles, infinite chaos. Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 1: As a photographer, you use the viewfinder to subtract everything that doesn't matter, isolating one specific rectangle of reality. Speaker 1: Generative AI is the exact opposite vector. Speaker 1: It is an act of addition. Speaker 1: You start with a blank void or literal mathematical noise, and you add data prompt by prompt until something recognizable forms. Speaker 2: Okay, I understand the vector difference, moving from infinite to finite versus zero to finite. Speaker 2: But you're leaving out the vast swath of traditional photography that is entirely additive. Speaker 1: Like what? Speaker 2: Think about a meticulously staged commercial studio shoot, right? Speaker 2: A high-end fashion campaign for Vogue. Speaker 2: Nothing is subtracted from a preexisting reality there. Speaker 2: The reality is built from scratch. Speaker 1: Built from physical materials, though. Speaker 2: But it's still an additive fabrication. Speaker 2: Carpenters build a fake room. Speaker 2: The light isn't the sun. Speaker 2: It's highly controlled strobe flashes modified by softboxes. Speaker 2: A team of 20 people engineers the model's hair, makeup, and wardrobe. Speaker 2: The photographer dictates the precise angle of the chin. Speaker 1: Right, I know how a set works. Speaker 2: And then a retoucher digitally reshapes the jawline and completely replaces the background a

  2. Aug 9

    Episode 54 - Is A.I. Really Photography Part 2

    Speaker: Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Speaker: I'm your host, Matthew Jordan Smith, and this week we're diving deeper into the AI conversation. Speaker: Last week, we went into Part One. Speaker: This is Part Two, going deeper into the AI conversation as it deals with photography. Speaker: This is a big one, and it deserves more than just one episode. Speaker: We'll start today with this question: Is AI, as it relates to photography, simply just another tool? Speaker: Supporters of AI imagery often say that every major technological change in photography has been met with resistance. Speaker: And I'll agree with that. Speaker: That's very true. Speaker: I remember that switch from film to digital. Speaker: I remember the beginning of Photoshop and all the conversations around both. Speaker: Let's go back to when photography first appeared on the scene. Speaker: At that time, some painters believed it was mechanical and lacked artistic value. Speaker: When small cameras became common, some photographers believed they would lower standards. Speaker: When autofocus arrived, some professional photographers considered it a shortcut. Speaker: And when digital cameras began replacing film, many photographers, and I was one of them, argued that digital capture was not real photography. Speaker: That doesn't seem that long ago. Speaker: Not really. Speaker: Let's not forget about Photoshop. Speaker: When Photoshop became widespread, people said photography was losing its connection to truth. Speaker: Maybe that was the beginning of the slide toward looking for perfection. Speaker: But let me not get off track because that's a totally different conversation. Speaker: But I want to go back to those last few words: losing its connection to truth. Speaker: That's what people were saying about Photoshop. Speaker: And now AI is producing the same kind of reaction. Speaker: From this perspective, artificial intelligence is simply another stage in the evolution of image-making. Speaker: The camera does not create the image. Speaker: The photographer, or the person directing the process, still makes creative decisions. Speaker: They determine the concept, they describe the subject, they refine the language, they choose the framing, and they adjust the atmosphere. Speaker: And they reject weak results. Speaker: They have the ability to continue or not continue until the image communicates what they want it to communicate. Speaker: In that sense, prompting on a computer or device can be viewed as a form of direction. Speaker: The system becomes a production tool. Speaker: And this does raise a fair question. Speaker: If photographers have always used technology to execute ideas, why should AI be treated differently? Speaker: After all, many commercial photographers have already highly constructed their images. Speaker: A beautiful campaign might involve intensive pre-production, digital retouching, compositing, skin work, color grading, background replacement, and multiple layers of post-production. Speaker: A car advertisement may contain an automobile photographed in one location, a background photographed somewhere else, a sky created separately, reflections added in post-production, and lighting effects that were never physically present. Speaker: Is that still photography? Speaker: Most people would say yes, although it may be heavily constructed photography. Speaker: So maybe this is the real question: Where is the line? Speaker: Is it based on how much of the image was photographed? Speaker: Does an image need to be ninety percent camera-made? Speaker: Fifty percent? Speaker: Ten percent? Speaker: And what happens if the photographer captures the subject but generates the background? Speaker: What happens if the background is real, but the clothing is changed with AI? Speaker: What happens if the face is photographed but the body is generated? Speaker: And what happens if ten photographs are combined together and AI fills the spaces in between them? Speaker: At what point does the work stop being photography and become something entirely different? Speaker: I get it. Speaker: None of these are easy questions. Speaker: And anyone pretending there is one perfectly clear boundary is ignoring how complicated modern image-making has become. Speaker: The lines are getting blurry. Speaker: Is there a difference between AI-generated imagery and AI-assisted imagery? Speaker: One way to make this conversation more useful is to stop treating all uses of AI as identical because they're not. Speaker: There is a significant difference between AI-generated imagery and AI-assisted photography. Speaker: AI-generated imagery may begin without any original photograph at all. Speaker: A person enters a description, and the system produces an image based on patterns it has learned. Speaker: AI-assisted photography begins with a photograph or with a photographic process and uses AI somewhere in the workflow. Speaker: For example, a photographer may use AI to remove dust from a scan, reduce digital noise, improve focus, extend the edge of the background, or help organize thousands of photographs. Speaker: Maybe even search an archive, create captions or keywords, select images with eyes closed or technical problems, translate creative directions for an international team, or visualize an idea before a photo shoot. Speaker: Or create a mood board or lighting reference. Speaker: Those uses of AI have advanced the creative process for photographers but do not automatically turn the resulting work into AI-generated imagery. Speaker: Because photographers have always used tools to improve efficiency. Speaker: And that's different. Speaker: The important questions are: What did the photographer actually capture? Speaker: And what did software change? Speaker: What if we stopped using software altogether? Speaker: Would that be pure photography? Speaker: I'm just asking. Speaker: Is any change or alteration in the image changing the image or the meaning of the image? Speaker: And is the audience being given an honest understanding of how the work has been made? Speaker: And do they care? Speaker: I believe disclosure becomes especially important when AI creates significant visual elements. Speaker: If a sky was completely generated, say so. Speaker: If a person was created who never existed, say so. Speaker: If the location is fictional, say so. Speaker: If the clothing was replaced, say so. Speaker: You get the idea. Speaker: If something is in the image that does not exist, say so. Speaker: If the image is a composite of photography and artificial intelligence, describe it accurately. Speaker: This does not diminish your work. Speaker: In fact, transparency may strengthen the work because the audience is able to evaluate it on honest terms. Speaker: The problem begins when synthetic imagery is presented as evidence of a real event. Speaker: Or when an AI-generated person is presented as an actual portrait subject. Speaker: The last few years, we've been witnessing AI-generated images winning photography competitions without disclosing how they were made. Speaker: That's a problem. Speaker: I believe it's also a problem when a photographer sells an experience based on a result that did not come from the skill or process being advertised. Speaker: That is where the issue becomes more than a creative debate. Speaker: It becomes a matter of trust. Speaker: But here's the great unknown. Speaker: Does the creative process matter? Speaker: Let's go deep into this conversation. Speaker: Why are some photographers so protective of the word photography? Speaker: Is it simply insecurity? Speaker: Is it fear that AI will take jobs? Speaker: Perhaps that is part of it. Speaker: But there's also something more important. Speaker: The process of photography carries meaning. Speaker: Imagine two images that look almost identical. Speaker: The first is a portrait of a woman made after the photographer spent hours speaking with her, understanding her story, creating a safe environment, shaping the lighting, directing her expression, and waiting for the perfect instant when she revealed something honest. Speaker: The second image was generated with a written description. Speaker: Visually, the two images may look equally beautiful. Speaker: But are they the same kind of achievement? Speaker: I, for one, don't believe they are. Speaker: One comes from a human encounter. Speaker: The other comes from a constructed simulation. Speaker: There's a big difference. Speaker: Now, again, that does not mean the generated image has no value. Speaker: But the value comes from a different source. Speaker: In photography, the relationship to reality is part of the meaning. Speaker: When we look at a portrait of my friend Aretha Franklin or Michael Jordan or Oprah Winfrey, part of the power comes from knowing that the photographer was there with that person. Speaker: There were things happening outside the frame. Speaker: The photograph is not simply an arrangement of features. Speaker: It's an encounter. Speaker: It carries time and presence. Speaker: It says this person stood here. Speaker: This light touched them. Speaker: Their expression occurred. Speaker: And the photographer captured the instant. Speaker: AI can create the appearance of presence. Speaker: But appearance and presence are not the same thing. Speaker: This difference becomes even more important in documentary work. Speaker: If an image claims to show a war, a protest, a natural disaster, or a historic event, the viewer needs to know whether the image records something that happened in real life. Speaker: Without that trust, photography loses its role as evidence. Speaker: We already live in a time where people question whether images are real and whether video is re

  3. Aug 2

    Episode 53 - Is A.I. Really Photography

    Speaker: Today's topic is one that I never thought we'd be talking about. Speaker: If you're listening to this podcast, I'm assuming you're a photographer or like photography in some way, shape, or form. Speaker: So, think about some of your favorite photographs. Speaker: What if those images were never created with a camera? Speaker: Today, we're diving into AI-generated imagery. Speaker: Are they really photography? Speaker: Now, this may be the biggest debate happening right now in photography. Speaker: Can an image created entirely through artificial intelligence be called a photograph? Speaker: Traditionally, photography has required light, a physical subject, a lens, and some form of light-sensitive surface or digital sensor. Speaker: A photographer sees something in the world, makes decisions, and records that moment. Speaker: But with AI, artificial intelligence, a person can now type a description into a computer or device and create an image that looks exactly like a photograph. Speaker: There is no camera. Speaker: There is no subject. Speaker: There may be no actual moment, no physical location. Speaker: So, let me ask you: is that photography? Speaker: Some people believe the answer is absolutely not. Speaker: They believe AI imagery belongs in a different category, perhaps illustration, digital art, synthetic imagery, or generative art. Speaker: Others argue that photography has always evolved through technology. Speaker: They point to darkroom manipulation, digital compositing, Photoshop, filters, and computer-generated effects. Speaker: Their argument is that AI is simply the next tool. Speaker: But here is the deeper question. Speaker: Is photography defined by the appearance of the final image or by the process used to create it? Speaker: I, for one, believe we need a clearer language. Speaker: If an image was not made with a camera, perhaps we should not automatically call it photography simply because it looks photographic. Speaker: The method matters. Speaker: The truth of how an image was created matters. Speaker: As photographers, we should not be afraid of new tools, but we should be honest about what those tools produce. Speaker: So, what do you think? Speaker: I'm curious. Speaker: If the moment never happened, if the person or the idea of a person does not exist, and if everything is just ones and zeros, is it really a photograph? Speaker: I'm sure we'll be having this conversation for a long time. Speaker: Maybe we're all asking ourselves that question right now and wondering about the future. Speaker: Can you really create a photograph without a camera? Speaker: Or should that be called something else? Speaker: Think about that for a moment. Speaker: Can you make a photograph without light passing through a lens? Speaker: Without being present at a particular place, at a particular moment, making decisions in real time? Speaker: Forget what it looks like. Speaker: Did it really happen? Speaker: And if not, can an image still be called a photograph if the person in it never existed, the location was never built, the lighting was never placed, and the moment never actually happened? Speaker: We know there are photographers on both sides of the fence, but there are also photographers somewhere in the middle. Speaker: They may use AI to remove distractions, extend backgrounds, develop concepts, organize archives, create storyboards, or experiment with ideas. Speaker: But they are not comfortable placing a completed generated image in the same category as a photograph made through an actual encounter with the world. Speaker: So, let's slow this conversation down for a second. Speaker: I do not want to approach it with panic. Speaker: But I also don't want to approach it with blind excitement either. Speaker: I want us to look at the issue honestly because AI is not going away. Speaker: The question is not whether AI will affect photography. Speaker: It already has, in case you didn't notice. Speaker: The real question is how we, as photographers, will define our work, protect its value, and communicate truthfully about what we create. Speaker: This is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Speaker: I'm Matthew Jordan Smith, and for the majority of my life, I've called myself a photographer. Speaker: But that's the past. Speaker: Do you need to always call yourself a photographer as the world changes and as the world's definition of photography changes? Speaker: So, let's dive deeper into this. Speaker: What makes a photograph a photograph? Speaker: Before we can decide whether AI-generated imagery is photography, we have to ask a more basic question, and that one is: what is photography? Speaker: For most of its history, photography has involved recording light. Speaker: Light reflects off a person, a landscape, an object, or a scene. Speaker: That light passes through a lens and reaches a light-sensitive surface. Speaker: First, plates, then film, and now, in most cases, a digital sensor. Speaker: Photography is capturing a single moment and freezing it, hopefully forever. Speaker: Now, yes, the equipment has changed dramatically. Speaker: The process has become faster and easier. Speaker: Cameras have become more sophisticated. Speaker: But the central relationship has remained remarkably consistent. Speaker: There is something in the world. Speaker: There is light. Speaker: There is a photographer. Speaker: There is an act of observation. Speaker: And there is a recorded encounter between the photographer and what existed in front of the camera. Speaker: That does not mean photography is purely objective. Speaker: It has never been purely objective. Speaker: The photographer chooses where to stand. Speaker: We choose the lens. Speaker: We choose the moment. Speaker: We choose what to include and what to leave outside the frame. Speaker: We choose the light, sometimes the exposure, depth of field, background, expression, gestures, color, and timing. Speaker: Photography may record something that existed, but every photograph is also shaped by the photographer's decisions. Speaker: You see, this is important because one of the most common arguments in favor of calling AI imagery photography is this: people say photography has always been manipulated. Speaker: Is that true? Speaker: They say photographers have always altered reality. Speaker: And maybe, in some ways, that is true. Speaker: But manipulation and generation are not necessarily the same thing. Speaker: If I photograph a person and then remove a small distraction from the background, I have manipulated the photograph. Speaker: If I change the color balance, contrast, or crop, I have altered the photograph. Speaker: If I combine several photographs to create a composite, I've constructed a new visual reality from photographic components. Speaker: But if I type a sentence into a generative system and it creates a person who never lived inside a room that never existed, illuminated by light that was never physically present, what exactly have I photographed? Speaker: This is the central issue. Speaker: Yes, the final image may look photographic. Speaker: But does looking like a photograph make something photography? Speaker: A realistic oil painting may look photographic. Speaker: A highly detailed digital illustration may look photographic. Speaker: A computer-generated scene in a film may look completely real. Speaker: But we do not automatically call all of those things photographs. Speaker: So, perhaps we need to separate two ideas: photographic appearance and photographic origins. Speaker: An image can have a photographic appearance without having a photographic origin. Speaker: I think that distinction has become increasingly important. Speaker: But what about the argument that AI is not photography? Speaker: Let's look honestly at the strongest argument against calling AI-generated imagery photography. Speaker: And it's not simply, "I don't like AI." Speaker: It is not necessarily fear of new technology. Speaker: The argument is that photography requires some form of physical encounter with light, time, and the world. Speaker: A photograph is evidence that something stood before a camera. Speaker: It does not mean everything about the photograph is truthful. Speaker: The scene may have been staged. Speaker: The model may have been directed. Speaker: The light may have been totally controlled. Speaker: And the final image may have been heavily retouched. Speaker: But at some point, something physical was present. Speaker: A person was there, a landscape was there, an object was there, and light touched it. Speaker: And, yeah, the photographer encountered it. Speaker: That camera recorded the instant. Speaker: That physical relationship is central to photography. Speaker: When I photograph someone, when you photograph someone, you're not simply creating an arrangement of pixels. Speaker: We are responding to another human being. Speaker: Watching how they breathe. Speaker: Seeing when they become nervous. Speaker: Noticing when they relax. Speaker: Hearing the tone of their voice or watching the movement in their eyes. Speaker: As photographers, we are deciding whether to speak, whether to remain silent, whether to move closer or step back, and when to press the shutter to freeze the moment. Speaker: The photograph comes out of a lived exchange. Speaker: And that exchange cannot be reduced to the appearance of the final image. Speaker: It is part of the work. Speaker: The same is true in street photography. Speaker: The photographer is present in an unpredictable environment. Speaker: The photographer must anticipate a moment before it disappears. Speaker: In wildlife photography, the photographer may wait for hours, days, or weeks to get that beautiful moment. Speaker: In journalism, in war ph

  4. Jul 26

    Episode 52 - Summer Mojo Reconnect and Move Forward

    Summer Mojo_Reconnect and move forwardSpeaker: Have you ever heard that Stevie Wonder album, Hotter than July? Well, here we are, the end of July And summer can do something strange to your energy. The days are longer But somehow you feel slower. The sun is out But your motivation sometimes can feel hidden. People are traveling, clients are distracted, schedules are different, routines fall apart Speaker: And if you're a photographer that's trying to run a business, summer can start to feel like a weird in-between season Speaker: You're not fully resting, but you're also not fully moving You're just somewhere in the middle telling yourself, "I'll get back into it soon." Speaker: But then one day becomes a week, , and one week becomes a month. And before you know it, the summer blues have quietly taken your momentum. Today, I wanna talk about How to get your mojo back. Not with pressure, not with guilt, not by forcing yourself to work harder Speaker: But by reconnecting with the reason you started. Looking honestly at where you are and taking one clear step forward Speaker: You see, every photographer loses that rhythm sometimes. I don't care how talented you are Speaker: I don't even care how long you've been doing this. There are seasons where the fire feels low Speaker: look at your camera and you just don't feel that same spark Speaker: You look at your business and yeah, you feel tired Speaker: You think about marketing and you feel that resistance inside. It's not you. It's actually medically proven. The summer blues, it's real. You know you should follow up with people, but you just put it off Speaker: You know you should reach out to past clients, but something in you says, "Not today." It's okay. It's okay to take a break and recharge your battery. I mean, really, that's what the summer is for, to take a break, to recharge, to remember why you're in this in the first place Speaker: Yes, you know you should be more visible, but you feel like Speaker: You just don't have anything fresh to say Speaker: That does not mean you have lost your gift. It just means you've lost your rhythm for a second, and that's okay Rhythm can come back Speaker: And sometimes the fastest way to get your mojo back is not to wait until you feel inspired Speaker: is to take one honest action that reminds you who you are This is your summer blues refrain Speaker: The danger of the summer blues is that it can make you think nothing is happening, but something is always happening Even when you're not moving, time is moving Speaker: Even when you're not following up, clients are making decisions Speaker: even when you're not reaching out. Past clients are drifting further away Speaker: Now none of this means you need to panic. But it does mean you need to wake up Speaker: There's nothing wrong with being woke Speaker: Summer is not the season where your business goes quiet Summer is just a time for you to reset Speaker: Summer is the season where you can clean up the leaks Speaker: The season when you can reconnect with past clients Speaker: Maybe you're wondering, what will you say ask them about their trips Are they planning a trip for the summer? Have they been on one already? Speaker: Don't make that reconnection about business. Just check in Speaker: Because summer is the season where you get your voice back. Not your business voice, your voice. The real you Speaker: When you find you, you find your spark Speaker: Summer is the season where you can remember Speaker: And say to yourself, "I'm not done. I'm just getting started." Speaker: If you joined me for the client consistency audit earlier this month, you already did something powerful. You stopped guessing. You looked at your numbers Speaker: And right now, you are further ahead than you were all this year Speaker: You look back at all the leaks, and that takes courage Speaker: Because a lot of people would rather just stay vague. Vague feels safer. Vague lets you say things are okay But numbers make things clear Speaker: And once you're clear, you have a choice Speaker: Your mojo does not come back by accident. It comes back when you move and move forward Speaker: It comes back when you send that message. Back when you pick up the camera, not just for a job, but for you Speaker: If you haven't picked up the camera this year just to take pictures for fun, summertime is the time to shoot just for you Speaker: I know you may feel burdened under fatigue, hesitation, maybe even disappointment, or too many days without a clear direction. But direction does change everything Speaker: From this day forward, I want your direction to be moving forward, not backwards or stuck in the same old place. We're halfway through the year. What is the rest of your year going to look like? You have a choice Speaker: And you don't need to reinvent yourself. You don't need to suddenly become a different person You need one clear rhythm, one reason to reconnect, one better conversation, one follow-up, one offer Speaker: One clear step that tells your mind, your heart, and your business we're moving again Speaker: So here's where I want you to begin Look at the last 90 days and ask yourself, where did I lose momentum? Did I stop following up? Did I stop talking to past clients? Speaker: Did I stop asking for referrals? Speaker: Did I let a slow week turn into a slow identity? Speaker: \ Cause that's what happens sometimes. A slow week becomes a story. A quiet month becomes a belief Speaker: But one season does not define you Speaker: One low energy stretch does not define you Speaker: What defines you is what you do next. You don't need to wait until September to get serious again Speaker: \ You don't need to wait until the kids are back in school And you don't need to wait for the heat to dissipate Speaker: You can begin now, right where you are Speaker: And sometimes beginning right now is exactly what brings the energy back. Action creates energy. Clarity creates energy. A decision creates energy Speaker: When you know what to do next, you stop spinning, and when you stop spinning, your confidence starts to return Speaker: Right now, there are people on a sprint, the Client Consistency Sprint Speaker: If you missed out Speaker: and you're feeling sluggish Speaker: Down by the summer blues Speaker: It's time to take action. It's time to turn things around. It's time for you to jump back and get your mojo back Speaker: Today, I want to invite you inside Photography Breakthrough System. This is where you begin the client consistency sprint Speaker: What's your next 90 days gonna look like? Speaker: Either way, they're going to pass Speaker: Let them pass with movement, forward movement. Let them pass with intention Let them pass with you becoming more clear, more confident, and more connected to the business you actually want Speaker: Summer does not have to steal your momentum. Summer can give it back, but you have to decide. Pick up the camera. Send the message. Look at your truth, and take the next step Speaker: In the show notes is a link for you to join Photography Breakthrough System You don't want to wait. This may be your last chance this year Speaker: It's your decision Speaker: Look at your truth. Take the next step. Your mojo is not gone. It's just waiting for you to move Speaker: Again, the link is in the show notes, or you can find it in your email Speaker: And if you're not on my email list, go to my Instagram, click the link, and join right there Speaker: This is the day when everything can change. All right Speaker: Thank you for being here. Thank you for your time today. I look forward to seeing you back here again next week. Until then, bye for nowSign up now

  5. Jul 23

    Special Episode - Special Interview with artist Louie Jones

    Special Interview with artist Louie JonesSpeaker: I want you to put yourself in a very specific, deeply uncomfortable room for a second.Speaker: Just picture it.Speaker: Okay, I'm here. Speaker: You are sitting at a desk or you know maybe standing at a workbench and right in front of you is this passion project.Speaker: Oh right, we've all got one of those.Speaker: Exactly, it could be the first draft of a business plan you've been just agonizing over or a piece of code, a novel, maybe a hobby you've been quietly tinkering with in your garage for the better part of a year. Speaker: Something you've poured everything into.Speaker: Right, you have poured your absolute soul into this thing.Speaker: I mean you've lost sleep, you've sacrificed your weekends and right now at this exact moment you're hovering your finger over the button to publish it. Speaker: Or to pack it up and show an investor.Speaker: Yeah, or send it to a mentor and then out of nowhere it hits you.Speaker: Just this suffocating, paralyzing wave of pure dread. Speaker: The absolute worst feeling.Speaker: It really is.Speaker: You look at the thing you've made and a singular terrifying thought just echoes in your brain. Speaker: You think, is this actually any good or have I just completely wasted a massive chunk of my life?Speaker: Wow, yeah.Speaker: It's the great psychological filter of human endeavor.Speaker: That precise moment you just described is where the vast majority of potentially brilliant ideas simply die. Speaker: Which is tragic when you think about it.Speaker: It's completely tragic.Speaker: Yeah. Speaker: Because it's the collision point between the private joy of creation and the absolute terror of public perception.Speaker: Most people just, they cannot handle the sheer vulnerability of that intersection.Speaker: So they just walk away. Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: They rationalize a retreat, they quietly close the laptop or push the canvas into a closet, they tell themselves you know they're just too busy to finish it right now and that's it.Speaker: And that moment of doubt is where most artists pack up and go home. Speaker: But for The Steep Dive, we're looking at a documented conversation between a rising artist and his mentor to figure out what happens when you don't pack up.Speaker: Right.Speaker: What happens when you actually push through that barrier. Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: What happens between that initial terrifying crisis of faith and well the opening night of a major career-defining museum show.Speaker: It's quite the journey. Speaker: It is.Speaker: We are tracing the real world evolution of visual artist Louis Jones.Speaker: And he's being guided by his mentor, the master photographer Matthew Jordan Smith. Speaker: And we actually have their authentic audio correspondence for this, right?Speaker: We do.Speaker: We have the audio of Matthew calling in from Tokyo, Japan to speak with Louis here in the States and we're using that as our blueprint today.Speaker: And the destination we are heading toward is incredibly tangible. Speaker: I mean we are dissecting the exact mechanical, psychological, and economic steps that take a creator from that solitary panic to July of 2026.Speaker: Which is a huge milestone for him.Speaker: Massive. Speaker: That's when Louis opens his highly anticipated solo photo exhibition at the Elmhurst Art Museum in the Chicago area.Speaker: We literally have the roadmap of how a raw private insecurity gets transmuted into a public premium asset.Speaker: So you know whether you are an entrepreneur staring at a messy spreadsheet or a writer staring at a blank page or just someone trying to push a personal skill past that plateau of mediocrity. Speaker: Which we all hit at some point.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: The architecture of Louis's journey here is profoundly relevant to you. Speaker: So let's start at the absolute bottom of that emotional curve.Speaker: We are rewinding the clock to the late fall.Speaker: Specifically October and November leading up to this massive breakthrough. Speaker: Right.Speaker: Louis just began experimenting with a completely new visual style.Speaker: He's spent weeks in the dark literally trying to force this new idea into reality. Speaker: And by November the dread sets in.Speaker: He hits that psychological filter hard.Speaker: Louis looks at the body of work he has produced over those intense few weeks and his immediate instinct is just to discard it. Speaker: Just throw it all away.Speaker: Yep.Speaker: He is so consumed by uncertainty that he approaches Matthew his mentor and explicitly asks that exact question you posed at the beginning. Speaker: He says do you think I have something here or is this just a waste of time.Speaker: It's so raw to hear him say that.Speaker: It really is. Speaker: And the fascinating element here isn't just that he had doubt.Speaker: It's that he was entirely genuinely blind to the objective quality of his own creation.Speaker: I think anyone who makes things for a living you know knows that blindness intimately. Speaker: It's like looking into a funhouse mirror.Speaker: Oh that's a great way to put it.Speaker: Yeah because when you stare at your own project for weeks on end the reflection you get back is heavily distorted by your own neuroses. Speaker: You stop seeing the overall composition.Speaker: You only see the flaws.Speaker: Exactly. Speaker: Your brain zeroes in on the one brushstroke you struggled with or the one line of dialogue that feels clunky or that single shadow that didn't fall exactly where you wanted it to.Speaker: Your whole perception just warps.Speaker: The flaws look massive and the successes shrink to absolutely nothing. Speaker: Right.Speaker: You absolutely cannot trust your own eyes in that state.Speaker: And there is actually a neurological basis for that funhouse mirror effect. Speaker: It has to do with habituation and cognitive load.Speaker: Okay unpack that a bit.Speaker: Well when you are inherently talented at something or when you've spent thousands of hours refining a specific skill your brain executes those tasks with a very low cognitive load. Speaker: It feels effortless to you.Speaker: Because you've done it a million times.Speaker: Right. Speaker: The danger is that human beings tend to conflate effortless for me with easy for everyone.Speaker: Oh wow.Speaker: Yeah that makes total sense. Speaker: And Louie explicitly mentions this phenomenon in the source audio.Speaker: After Matthew and the other students in their mastermind group look at his work and are completely blown away Louie is still wrestling with imposter syndrome.Speaker: He still doesn't believe them. Speaker: Not at all.Speaker: He admits he thought wow I'm glad they like this but do they realize this is just average work to me.Speaker: That is wild. Speaker: He assumed it was average precisely because it came naturally to his brain.Speaker: He totally discounted his own genius because he was standing too close to it.Speaker: He completely discounted it. Speaker: I mean we assume that value is intrinsically tied to agonizing struggle.Speaker: If a technique flows out of us intuitively we suspect it must be like a cheap trick.Speaker: Right devoid of real worth. Speaker: We think well my brain just works this way anyone could do this.Speaker: But they can't.Speaker: It takes an external observer a mentor with an unwarped mirror to look at the work and say look you are failing to realize that your baseline intuition is someone else's absolute ceiling. Speaker: That is such a powerful realization.Speaker: It is.Speaker: Matthew saw the magic immediately but he also recognized that Louie was standing on the precipice of quitting because the work felt simultaneously too foreign to the market and too natural to Louie. Speaker: Which is when Matthew introduces a piece of history to anchor Louie's perspective.Speaker: And I love this part.Speaker: He brings up Theodore Roosevelt. Speaker: Yes specifically the speech Roosevelt gave in 1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris.Speaker: Right.Speaker: Widely known as the citizenship in a republic speech. Speaker: The famous man in the arena passage.Speaker: It is a brilliant psychological intervention by Matthew.Speaker: He reads a very specific excerpt to Louie focusing on the reality of what it means to actually try to build something new. Speaker: Set the scene for us with that quote.Speaker: So Roosevelt says that credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.Speaker: But the critical line the line Matthew zeroes in on is where Roosevelt says who errs who comes short again and again because there is no effort without error in shortcoming. Speaker: Let's really pull that apart because I think people fundamentally misunderstand that quote today.Speaker: We treat it like I don't know a generic motivational poster in a corporate office.Speaker: Totally just a platitude. Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: But in the context of what Louie is going through this paralyzing doubt Roosevelt isn't just saying keep trying.Speaker: He is making a profound claim about the nature of effort itself. Speaker: He says there is no effort without error.Speaker: Right.Speaker: Error is not a byproduct of the work. Speaker: No error is the actual currency you pay to exist in the arena.Speaker: That is exactly right.Speaker: The stumbling block for creators like Louie in that November moment is that they experience the error. Speaker: They see the shortcoming in the funhouse mirror and they interpret it as a hard stop sign.Speaker: They think it means they aren't good enough.Speaker: Yes. Speaker: They view struggle as an indicator of a lack of talent.Speaker: Matthew is using Roosevelt to completely rewire Louie's interpretation of failure.Speaker: He's flipping the script. Speaker: He's telling him that the fricti

  6. Jul 19

    Episode 51 - Fixing the Client Consistency Leak

    Fixing the Client Consistency LeakSpeaker: There is one word that has quietly killed more dreams than failure ever has. That word is later. I'll fix my business later. I'll get back to you later Speaker: I'll take that course later. I'll watch that YouTube video later. Later sounds responsible. Later sounds calm Later sounds like you're not saying no. But most of the time, later is just fear dressed up as patience Speaker: If you join me on the Client Consistency Audit Speaker: You already saw something important Speaker: You saw that your business is not just a feeling Speaker: It's not about hope Speaker: It's not just, "I think things are going okay." Your business has numbers, and those numbers are trying to tell you the truth Speaker: During the audit, we looked at the last ninety days. We looked at income. We looked at paid clients. We looked at the people who reached out And said, "I love your work," and nothing else Speaker: we looked at the places where clients may be slipping away quietly And for some of you, that was uncomfortable Not because you're failing Not because you're not talented Not because your work isn't good enough, but because for the first time in a while, you stopped relying on memory and emotion. You looked directly at the truth And the truth has a sound. Speaker: And truth has a sound Speaker: Sometimes it sounds like Speaker: I have more people asking than booking And sometimes it sounds like Speaker: I'm not marketing hard enough Speaker: But all too often it sounds like, "I'm working hard, but I do not have a repeatable way to create consistent clients." That kind of clarity is powerful, but clarity is also fragile Speaker: Because the moment my audit ended last week, life starts again Speaker: Emails come in, likes come in, and then nothing else Speaker: Family needs attention. The phone rings Speaker: Your social media posts have red dots everywhere with all these messages, but they don't turn into jobs because clients are saying later the same way you are Speaker: Here's what I want you to hear today Speaker: The problem with waiting is that waiting does not keep things the same. Waiting has a cost. Every month you wait, the same leak keeps leaking Speaker: Every month you wait Speaker: Another client disappears because you didn't know how to follow up Speaker: Every month you wait another past client forgets to come back Speaker: Because they never heard from you Speaker: And every month, it feels like you're starting all over again. And starting all over again is just exhausting Speaker: I think a lot of photographers think the danger is failure But I don't think that's the biggest danger. The biggest danger is becoming used to inconsistency you start adjusting your life around it you start expecting slow months Speaker: And quietly you start saying things like, "That's just how photography is." No, my friend Speaker: that's how your business is operating But it doesn't mean it has to stay that way There is a difference between a slow season and a weak system Speaker: There's a difference between a quiet month and a pattern that you keep repeating Speaker: If the audit showed you where the leak is, the question now is Speaker: Do you want to fix the leak or drown in the boat? Speaker: You see, the most dangerous moment is after you know Speaker: Before you can just say, "Oh, I didn't realize Speaker: But after you know, but after you know, every delay becomes a decision Not deciding is a decision Waiting is a decision Saying another time is a decision, and every decision has a result If that leak is still there, you know what's going to happen Speaker: Because systems repeat. And if there is no system, the chaos repeats. So let me ask you plainly, what did you see about yourself that you cannot unsee now? Speaker: This is why I created the next step. The audit showed you where the leak is. The client consistency sprint is where you start building the system to fix the leak Speaker: That first response leak, the value before price leak, the follow-up leak Speaker: if you were on the audit and you showed up. Today, you'll receive an email with one last chance to jump in and fix the leak Look for your email today Speaker: This is just for those who were there live Speaker: You know who you are. Speaker: And you know that leak is still there. Today's the day you can fix it Speaker: All right. Look at your email. Today's the day you make another decision, one way or the other. Keep the leak or fix it once and for all All right, everyone. Have a great rest of your day. Speaker: Until next time, bye for nowSign up now

  7. Jul 12

    Episode 50 - Client Consistency Audit Live Invite

    Client Consistency Audit Live InviteSpeaker: Hi, and welcome back to the podcast. Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow, I want you to bring your numbers, not your perfect answers. Tomorrow, I'm going live for the client consistency audit. I want you to be there 'cause this is for you Speaker: Now, I wanna say something very clearly before we begin Speaker: You do not need perfect numbers Speaker: You do not need a perfect business Speaker: You do not need to have everything organized Speaker: You don't even need to come in feeling confident. You just need to show up. Not for me, for you. Because the point of this, of this audit, is not to impress me. Speaker: The point is to finally see clearly and fix the leak Speaker: A lot of photographers are carrying around quiet stress inside their business. On the outside, everything looks fine. The images are beautiful. The clients seem happy. Social media feed looks active. People compliment your work. But behind the scenes, there's often a different reality. Income, it goes up and down. Speaker: People contact you, but not enough people book. Past clients, they just disappear altogether. Referrals happen, but randomly. It's not predictable Speaker: You see, there's no clear rhythm Speaker: And after a while, every single month starts to feel like you're starting all over again Speaker: That is the problem we are looking at inside the client consistency audit. Not your talent, not your passion, not whether your work is good Speaker: , We are looking at the system underneath the work. That's what matters Because if the system is weak, even beautiful work can lead to inconsistent income Speaker: Tomorrow we go live. I'll share the audit workbook with you once you're there live, so make sure you're there on time because it's only 45 minutes and every second is important Speaker: The doors will open on time, so make sure you're there The people who are there live right away get the workbook, , and we get to work right away The workbook is not meant to be homework before the session. It's meant to be used with me live, step by step Speaker: You see, this matters because some things are just too hard to see alone. Sometimes you can't see 'em at all. Like I said last week, it's like looking in the mirror. You see the same thing all the time, but others, they see the truth Speaker: You can stare at your own business for months and still miss the leak Speaker: You can just keep thinking, "I need more clients." All the while, leak, leak, leak Speaker: The real problem is that the clients you already attract are not being guided properly. They're leaking out of your business Speaker: You can keep on thinking, "I just need more visibility, better marketing," when the real problem is that your past clients are not being contacted you can keep thinking people cannot afford me when the real problem is the price is coming before the value Speaker: That is why we're doing this live and doing it together Speaker: In 45 minutes, we are going to move through the audit in a very clear manner. First, we'll get honest about why consistency matters now. Not someday. Not when things calm down. Not when things are better in the economy. Now Then we'll look at your current numbers, no excuses. Your income from the last 90 days, your number of paid clients or jobs, Speaker: How many people inquire about hiring you? Speaker: And so much more Speaker: And they will really look into where clients are slipping away Speaker: Do people understand quickly why they should work with you? Do they feel personally connected before you talk about price? Do you know what to say when someone asks, "How much is it?" Speaker: Tomorrow it begins. Speaker: We're doing it twice this week, two different times to accommodate all the different time zones Speaker: This only works live, so there is no recording. You've got to show up Speaker: And what I found out, when something is important, people show up Speaker: We're going to go through your numbers Speaker: When you actually look at them, they may surprise you Because often the problem is not that you need a miracle. Often one or two better conversations a month can change the entire feeling of your business forever. One past client returning who slipped away Speaker: one referral becoming a paying client Speaker: one inquiry handled better Speaker: That is where consistency begins. But the painful part is this Speaker: Most photographers do not have an image problem. They have a repeatability problem. They can create great work once the client is in front of the camera but they do not have a repeatable way to create enough of those clients every month So they live in cycles. Push hard, get clients, get busy, stop marketing, finish the work, panic again, start all over again. Speaker: That cycle is exhausting. Just saying it wears you out, right? And the longer you stay in it, that exhausting cycle, the more normal it starts to feel Speaker: But just because something feels normal does not mean it's working. Tomorrow's audit is for you Speaker: It's designed to interrupt that pattern Speaker: So here's what I need you to do. Do not wait for a replay. There isn't a replay. Do not sign up and tell yourself you'll watch it later Speaker: Later is where good intentions go to disappear. So show up live. Bring your numbers if you have them Speaker: If you don't, don't worry. We'll go over all of that in the beginning Bring your guests. Just be there Speaker: Because when you are live, you're not just consuming information, you're making decisions, and you're looking at your business honestly Speaker: So maybe you're wondering, "Okay, Matthew, how do I sign up so I can be there live?" The link is in the show notes. Also, you can find it on my Instagram. Go to my bio and you'll see the link right there under Photography Audit Speaker: Join me live. I look forward to seeing you very soon. Until tomorrow, bye for nowRegister Here for Client Consistency Audit

  8. Jul 5

    Episode 49 - Did she lie to you too?

    Did she lie to you too? Have you ever looked at the mirror and thought, "I'm fine. Nothing's really changed"? You know, the mirror has a way of, of comforting us All right. Today, let me start by asking you this question. How many times have you looked in the mirror today? Stop and think about that. Now, have you ever looked in the mirror and thought, "I'm fine. Nothing's really changed"? You see, the mirror has a way of comforting us. It shows us something familiar. It lets us believe that things are mostly the same. But the truth is, we're changing every single day And in photography, in the business of photography, the same thing happens A photographer can look at their work and say, "My images are good. People love my work. I'm busy. I post, I answer emails, i'm doing all the things I'm supposed to do. But then the month ends and the numbers tell a different story The income was not consistent People were inquiring about you. That didn't turn into bookings And your past clients, they didn't book you again And referrals? They're not happening either And suddenly the mirror is not enough anymore Because compliments can lie. Likes on social media, they lie as well But here's one of the biggest lies, feeling busy Feeling busy lies to us all the time. Social media too. But numbers? Numbers tell the truth This is one of the biggest problems I see with photographers who are doing great work. They're not lazy They're very talented And they're not missing passion. The real problem is usually consistency One great month or a good month, and then silence. One exciting client, then three weeks of wondering where the next booking's gonna come from One post gets a lot of attention But attention doesn't always turn into income, right? And when this happens, most photographers start reaching for the wrong solution Updating the website Posting more and sadly, lowering prices Some think they need to wait until they feel more motivated But motivation is not a business system And hoping? That's not how you get clients We all know today talent is not enough, not to have predictable income, predictable clients. At some point, you have to stop guessing And look at the numbers And not because numbers are cold Not because they're scary, but because numbers show you where the leak is You can add all the frills, bells, and whistles that you want. If there's a leak, it's not going to help You've got to find the leak, and that's what looking at the numbers do. You can finally fix what's wrong So how do you do that? Well, here's a few simple questions every photographer should be able to answer in the last ninety days how much photography income has come in How many paid clients created that income? In the last 90 days, how many people reached out about working with you? And how many of those people actually said yes and paid you? Now here's one that stings. How many past clients did you personally contact? You can't just wait around for everyone to contact you. You've got to be proactive Now, these questions, they may sound simple, but they reveal everything. Because when you know your numbers, you can start seeing patterns Maybe people are reaching out but not booking That means the leak might be in the first conversation or the price conversation Maybe you have happy clients, but they don't come back. That means the leak is in the follow-up Maybe people love your work, but they don't understand why they should hire you now. That means the leak might be in your message Maybe you're constantly looking for new clients because you're not building a rhythm with past clients and referrals. That means the business is working too hard for every sale, and that, my friends, is exhausting This is why I'm doing an audit session This is gonna be live I'm gonna call this a client consistency audit. It will be short, 45 minutes live Think of this as a business diagnosis for photographers who are tired of one-time clients and that unpredictable income. This is not a motivational talk It's not a lecture. This is a live audit We are going to look at the numbers together And we're going to identify where clients are slipping away We're going to calculate what that leak may be costing you And then right there on the spot, you will decide what needs to change first Now for this live audit, there will be a workbook, but the workbook is only for those who show up This is not homework. We'll do it together Also, let me just say this. I don't want you sitting there trying to make your numbers look good. I'm not gonna personally ask for your numbers. Your numbers are for you. I don't want anyone feeling embarrassed All I want is for you to show up live And in regard to your numbers, if you don't know the exact numbers, don't worry. You can guesstimate or give me your best estimate and then go through the process with me. This is where clarity happens If you know all the numbers I asked earlier, bring them with you If you have to guess, bring the guess. A guess is still useful In fact, not knowing a number often tells us exactly where the business is leaking Now this month, I'm gonna do this only twice, on July 14th and July 16th. Pick the time that's best for you. Again, this is only live. There will be no recording. Live only so if you're a photographer doing great work, but tired of starting over every single month just to find another client, I want you there. Come live. Do not wait for later. There may not be a later Don't treat this like another thing that you'll get around to Your business is already giving you clues The question is whether you are willing to look at them clearly The link to sign up for the client consistency audit is in the show notes, and you'll find it on my Instagram under Matthew Jordan Smith. Either way, sign up, pick the date you want to come, and show up Because clarity feels good. But clarity without action fades And this, my friends, is your chance to finally see where the leak is I know your work may already be good. Heck, it may be great. The question is whether your business has the structure to turn that great work into consistent clients. I'll see you live at the Client Consistency Audit. Again, the link is in the show notes, or you can find it right in my Instagram bio. All right, everyone, have a great rest of your day or night. I look forward to seeing you very soon. Until then, bye for nowRegister Here for Client Consistency Audit

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About

Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, the place where burnt out photographers come back to life. Where fear gets replaced with confidence and where your gift finally starts working for you, not against you.

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Jordan Smith
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    64
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    Matthew Jordan Smith Copyright © 2025 All Right Reserved
  • Show Website
    Photography Breakthrough System