Photography Breakthrough System

Speaker: Welcome to the debate. You know, when we look at an old silver gelatin photograph, we instinctively trust it as a sort of physical fossil. Speaker 2: Right. Yeah, like a tangible artifact. Speaker: Exactly. We assume a physical law occurred, right? Light from a real sun or a real flashbulb bounced off a real physical object, passed through a piece of glass, and burned a permanent record into a chemical surface. Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Speaker: It is essentially a physical footprint of a moment in time. Speaker 2: It is, but I would argue that even that footprint has always been heavily manicured. Speaker: Sure. Speaker 2: I mean, even back in the days of breathing in darkroom chemicals, we were dodging, burning, masking, and manipulating that physical fossil to tell the story we wanted to tell. Speaker: That's true. Speaker 2: We love to believe in this absolute purity of the lens, but commercial image-making has always been an orchestration. It has never been just a passive recording of reality. Speaker: And that exact tension, between recording a reality and orchestrating a fantasy, is why we're having this discussion today. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker: Because here we are in August 2026, and the industry is experiencing an absolute explosion of artificial intelligence in photography. Speaker 2: An absolute tidal wave, really. Speaker: Right. The underlying mechanics of how an image is made are fundamentally changing, and this brings us to an existential crossroads for commercial photographers. Speaker: As AI becomes fully capable of producing endless, highly polished visual options on demand, where does the true value of a commercial photographer actually lie? Speaker 2: It really is the defining question for anyone who makes a living with a camera right now. Speaker: Absolutely. So we're going to dive straight into this. Speaker: Are commercial photographers going to survive by pivoting entirely to the human element, prioritizing physical experiences, relationships, and the actual process of capturing reality? Or does their primary value remain what it always has been, which is the creative direction and production of a final image, regardless of what tools are used to render it? Speaker 2: Right. Speaker: For my part, I will argue that the future of commercial photography relies entirely on selling the human encounter. It's the emotional intelligence and the authorship behind the camera that matters because pure image production is rapidly becoming a cheap commodity. Speaker 2: And I will argue that photography has always been a highly constructed production process, and AI is simply the newest, most efficient tool for creative direction. Speaker 2: Ultimately, the final output is, and always has been, what truly matters to the client and the audience. Speaker: Let's jump right into the deep end here. My perspective is really rooted in the idea that the fundamental meaning of a photograph is inextricably tied to reality. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker: It's tied to a human encounter. Speaker: We are reaching a point where AI can flawlessly generate the appearance of a person, a place, or a product. But I want to emphasize that word: appearance. Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Speaker: AI can create the appearance of presence, but it cannot create actual presence. I mean, the machine will always be faster, and it will always be cheaper. Speaker 2: Oh, undeniably. Speaker: So if a commercial photographer tries to compete solely on their mechanical ability to deliver a polished-looking image, they are fighting a losing battle. They have to sell their emotional intelligence. They need to sell their ability to build trust on a physical set, their capacity to read a room, and the verified human experiences they facilitate. Speaker: That human gravity is the only thing a server farm cannot synthesize. Speaker 2: I come at it from a completely different way. If we look at the history of this medium, every single major technological leap has been met with identical, almost theatrical panic about losing a connection to the truth. Speaker: You think it's theatrical? Speaker 2: I do. Think about it. When photography first appeared, classical painters dismissed it as purely mechanical. They claimed it completely lacked human soul or artistic value. Speaker: Right, the Baudelaire argument. Speaker 2: Exactly. And when autofocus arrived, professionals called it a lazy shortcut. When we switched from film to digital, purists argued that a digital sensor wasn't capturing real light. Speaker 2: And when Photoshop became widespread, we heard the exact same arguments we are hearing today. Speaker: But this feels fundamentally different than Photoshop. Speaker 2: Let me just finish the thought, because the commercial reality is already deeply constructed. Think about a high-end car advertisement from, say, five years ago. Speaker: Okay. Speaker 2: You often had an automobile photographed in a sterile studio in Detroit, a mountain background photographed by a second unit in the Alps, a sky that was completely CGI, and lighting effects added in post-production that never physically existed on any set. Speaker: Sure, compositing has been around. Speaker 2: Right, but the camera did not create that image. Speaker 2: The person directing the process did. Prompting an AI, defining those complex concepts, refining the descriptive language, rejecting weak results, and iterating until the mood is perfect, that is just a new form of production direction. Speaker 2: It keeps the focus firmly on the final image, which is ultimately what the client is actually paying for. Speaker: Hmm. Speaker: I see why you think that. But let me give you a different perspective on the nature of these tools, because you're framing AI as just another incremental link in the chain, right? Film, digital, Photoshop, and now AI. Speaker 2: Because it is. Speaker: But we have to look at the mechanism of action here. There is a vast spectrum of AI use. Speaker: I grant you that AI-assisted photography, using software to remove dust from a scan or reduce digital noise or extend the edge of a background for a magazine layout, that is essentially just an efficiency upgrade. Speaker 2: Exactly. Speaker: It doesn't erase the photographer's role. But fully AI-generated imagery crosses a line. Speaker: It alters the ontological meaning of the medium. Speaker 2: Wait, ontological meaning is a pretty heavy phrase. What are you actually saying there? If the final image evokes the exact emotion the art director requested, why does the philosophy of the pixel matter to a consumer driving past a billboard? Speaker: Right. Fair enough. Speaker: Let me break that down. What I mean is that AI changes what a photograph actually is at its core. It changes its DNA. Let's look at portraiture, for example. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker: Imagine two images that look visually identical. The first is a portrait of a woman made after a photographer spent three hours speaking with her, understanding her history, building a psychologically safe environment on set, and waiting for that one perfect fraction of a second where she drops her guard and reveals something honest. Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker: The second image is generated by typing a paragraph into a prompt box. Now, are they visually beautiful? Yes, both of them. Speaker 2: Right. Speaker: But are they the same achievement? No. When we look at an iconic portrait, say one of Aretha Franklin, Michael Jordan, or Oprah Winfrey— Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Speaker: The power of that image isn't just an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of facial features. Speaker: The power is the literal physical evidence that the light touched them. Speaker 2: I hear you. Speaker: It is the evidence that Oprah Winfrey stood there breathing in that specific time and place, and a verified human encounter occurred. That physical proof is the mechanism that generates awe in the viewer. Speaker 2: That's a very compelling argument, but have you considered that you are applying a documentary framework to a commercial reality? Speaker: How so? Speaker 2: Well, I don't disagree that a portrait of Oprah Winfrey derives power from her actual presence, but commercial photography is not inherently documentary. It is designed to sell a product, a lifestyle, or a concept. Speaker: But it still relies on trust. Speaker 2: Yes, but you're talking about the romance of the process. Speaker 2: The system of commercial art direction is at its core a production tool. Speaker: But the process is part of the product. Think about the happy accidents. I mean, I remember being on a set a few years ago where we spent four hours just waiting for a cloud to move so the light would hit a car perfectly. Speaker 2: Yeah, the classic hurry up and wait. Speaker: Exactly. Now, AI eliminates that entire afternoon. It does it in a second. But doesn't it also eliminate the happy accidents of what happened while we waited, the unscripted moments? Speaker 2: But the AI doesn't just invent something out of the ether unguided. Speaker: It kind of does, though. Speaker 2: No, the human operator is making hundreds of creative micro-decisions. Speaker 2: They determine the atmosphere, the focal length, the color grading, the styling. If they don't have the artistic vocabulary and the visual taste to guide the machine, the output is garbage. Speaker: Right. We've all seen bad AI art. Speaker 2: Exactly. We've all seen it. The intellectual direction is still entirely human. We are just replacing the physical logistics, you know, the grip trucks, the catering, the permits to close down a street, with computational logistics. Speaker: I'm just not convinced by that line of reasoning because it reduces the photographer to a mere vocabulary engine. Speaker 2: That's a bit reductive. Speaker: Well, if the sole value of the photographer is coming up with the right adjectives to feed a machine, then the ad agency doesn't need a photographer at all. A copywriter could do it. Speaker 2: Well— Speaker: An art director can prompt a system just as well. What I am arguing is that the human experience, the ability to physically direct a subject, is the commercial value. Speaker 2: Let's look at the commercial realities of August 2026, though. What do brands actually prioritize? Speaker: Sales. Speaker 2: Right. And to get there, they want speed, they want variety, and they want lower production costs. Speaker 2: This is just the ruthless efficiency of the market. If a brand wants to change the color of a sweater in an ad, switch the location from a beach in Malibu to a snow-capped mountain in Switzerland, or swap out the models to appeal to a completely different demographic in an international market— Speaker: They'll want it instantly. Speaker 2: Yes. They no longer want to organize a three-day reshoot. They want it done by Tuesday afternoon. Speaker: Which AI can obviously do. Speaker 2: Exactly. AI gives them the ability to create multiple campaigns, test them dynamically on social media, and generate product variations internally without ever building a physical set. Speaker: Right. Speaker 2: If a final commercial image is a composite of 10 different actual photographs, but AI was used to seamlessly fill the spaces in between them and render the lighting cohesive, that is still a highly valid, effective commercial product. It serves its exact purpose, which is moving inventory. Speaker: Yes, the financial realities are stark, and I agree, AI unquestionably provides endless options. Speaker: But I want to challenge this idea that options automatically equate to commercial success. Speaker 2: Okay. Go ahead. Speaker: If a company can internally generate 1,000 perfectly polished variations of a product ad by Tuesday afternoon, does that actually solve their marketing problem? Speaker 2: Mechanistically, yes. It solves their logistics problem, and more importantly, it allows for hyper-targeted A/B testing. Speaker 2: I mean, an algorithm can dynamically serve a different background to a teenager in Tokyo than it does to a retiree in Florida, testing thousands of variables in real time. Speaker: But endless options do not automatically create significance. If you're listening to this and thinking, "Well, I don't care how the signage is made, as long as the ad looks cool," you have to consider how fast consumer trust is eroding. Speaker 2: Hmm. Speaker: Clients ultimately do not need 1,000 variations of an image. They need the right image. They need the specific image that cuts through the noise and makes a genuine psychological connection with the consumer, and finding that right image is rarely a matter of just iterating prompts until something looks pretty. Speaker 2: So how do they find it, if not through iteration and curation? Speaker: It requires a photographer's human perspective, their established reputation, and their lived experience. It requires the ability to lead a team, to solve unexpected problems on set, and to understand the deep nuances of human emotion. Speaker 2: Sure, but— Speaker: Let me just say, when a commercial photographer is hired, the client is buying their taste and their humanity. If we surrender that and say, "Well, the final visual output is all that matters," we completely devalue the trust that the audience places in the image. Speaker 2: Trust is a really interesting word here because if we are going to talk about the boundary of photography and audience trust, we have to acknowledge how incredibly blurry that boundary already is. Speaker: True. Speaker 2: I mean, where is the definitive line? Speaker: The line is whether a camera captured a real moment. Speaker 2: But is it? Let's say a commercial photographer shoots a model in a studio. The face is 100% photographed, but the client decides the outfit doesn't work, so the clothing is entirely generated by AI. Speaker: Okay. Speaker 2: Is that a photograph? Speaker 2: What if it's 50% camera-made? What if the background is a real plate shot in Iceland, but the car in the foreground is CGI, and the driver is an AI composite? Speaker: It's a spectrum, I'll give you that. Speaker 2: Exactly. Anyone pretending there is one perfectly clear, mathematically sound boundary between a photograph and a synthetic image is simply ignoring the complexity of modern image-making. Speaker: But the complexity is exactly why we need a clear framework, not an excuse to abandon one entirely. You're asking where the line is. The line is transparency. Speaker 2: Okay, fair. Speaker: We have recently seen AI-generated images submitted to, and actually winning, prestigious photography competitions without any disclosure of how they were made. Speaker 2: Right, the Sony World Photography Awards issue? Speaker: Exactly. That is a fundamental breach of trust. If a commercial photographer sells a client or an audience an experience based on an assumption of physical reality but delivers a synthetic result, they are destroying the currency of their own profession. If a sky is completely generated, say so. Speaker: If a person in the lifestyle campaign never actually existed, say so. Speaker 2: I actually don't disagree on the necessity of transparency. Describing a composite accurately doesn't diminish the work. It allows the audience to evaluate it on honest terms. Speaker: Right. Speaker 2: But I think you are conflating the necessity of transparency with a rejection of the tool's core value. Speaker 2: You keep bringing it back to physical reality. But outside of photojournalism, where I absolutely agree the image must function as verified evidence of real events— Speaker: Mm-hmm. Speaker 2: Commercial photography is about creating an aspiration. The consumer looking at a fashion campaign doesn't care if the mountain was shot on medium format film or generated in a server farm. Speaker 2: They care about how the image makes them feel. Speaker: I see why you separate documentary from commercial, but I would argue that the demand for authenticity trickles down. We already live in an era where the public is deeply suspicious of everything they see. Speaker 2: That's true. Speaker: The human brain is incredibly attuned to micro-imperfections. Speaker: When we see something that is flawlessly AI-generated, it lacks the friction of reality. It hits the uncanny valley. It feels hollow, even if we can't mathematically explain why. Speaker 2: I'm sorry, but I just don't buy that. Speaker: No? Speaker 2: No. Let me tell you why. The history of consumer behavior shows us that convenience, aesthetic impact, and cost almost always win out over the romanticism of the process. Speaker 2: Think about the transition from acoustic instruments to synthesizers and drum machines in pop music. Speaker: Okay, let's look at that. Speaker 2: When the Roland TR-808 drum machine came out, purists hated it. They argued it lacked the human soul of a physical drummer. It didn't sound exactly like a real snare or a real kick drum. Speaker: Right. It sounded synthetic. Speaker 2: And yet entirely synthetic production became the bedrock of massive, culturally defining genres of music like hip-hop and electronic dance music. Speaker: But that's a completely different mechanism. Speaker 2: Is it? The audience didn't reject the drum machine because it lacked a physical drum skin being struck by a wooden stick. Speaker 2: They embraced it because producers realized it was a new instrument. Speaker: Sure, but— Speaker 2: The drum machine synthesized the sound, but the human producer still provided the rhythm. They provided the groove and the taste. AI is essentially the TR-808 for visuals. The photographer is now the producer in the studio. They are no longer just capturing what is in front of the lens. Speaker 2: They are synthesizing the entire visual field based on their internal rhythm and taste. Speaker: That's an interesting point, though I would definitely frame it differently. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker: Music is fundamentally an abstract emotive art form. Photography, by its very definition, has always been tied to a literal evidentiary representation of the physical world. Speaker: When you sever that tie completely, you aren't just changing the instrument, you are changing the entire nature of the communication. Speaker 2: But in commercial advertising, the communication is, "Buy this car," not, you know, "This car was literally parked in front of this specific mountain on Tuesday." Speaker: But the psychological mechanism of trust is tied to the physical world. Speaker: If commercial photographers allow themselves to be reduced to just visual synthesizers competing purely on who can generate the most striking polished image, they will be outpaced by the algorithms themselves. Speaker 2: You think so? Speaker: Absolutely. The algorithm doesn't need to sleep, it doesn't charge a day rate, and it learns from millions of images a second. Speaker: The only moat the commercial photographer has left is their humanity. It is their reputation. It is their ability to walk onto a set, look a real human being in the eye, and pull a genuine emotion out of them that translates through the lens. Speaker 2: But you are assuming that the set still exists in the same way. Speaker: Right. Speaker 2: If a brand wants to visualize an idea before a shoot, create highly detailed mood boards, or translate creative directions for an international team, AI does that instantly. It removes the friction of pre-production. Speaker: It does. Speaker: And yes, while the physical set might shrink, the intellectual property of the photographer, their unique aesthetic taste, their visual signature remains. Speaker: We are just moving the act of photography from a purely mechanical capture of light into a cognitive space. The photographer's mind is the camera now. The prompt is the shutter. Speaker 2: But a prompt cannot react to a sudden beautiful accident of weather. A prompt cannot notice the quiet, unscripted moment between takes when the model drops their pose and does something entirely authentic. Speaker: Hmm. Speaker 2: The human intelligence behind the camera is what recognizes those moments and preserves them. That is what gives an image its soul. Speaker: I would counter that a prompt can certainly introduce randomness. Generative AI is built on noise, and the human operator's intelligence is what recognizes the happy accident in the generation grid and selects it. Speaker 2: But selecting isn't capturing. The curation is the artistry. Recognizing the perfect iteration out of 100 options requires the exact same visual taste as recognizing the perfect moment on set. As we look at this landscape, the defining skill of the commercial photographer will be curation and conceptual direction. Speaker 2: They will orchestrate reality and synthetic elements seamlessly. Speaker: It sounds like we are both looking at the exact same landscape of August 2026, but drawing very different conclusions about where the anchor drops. Speaker 2: Definitely. Speaker: It is undeniable that the lines between traditional photography and synthetic imagery are permanently, irreversibly blurred. Speaker 2: Absolutely. The gradient is here to stay, and I think we both completely agree that absolute transparency is essential. If the trust is broken through deception, the entire medium suffers, regardless of whether it's a commercial car ad or an editorial portrait. The audience must be given an honest understanding of how the work was made. Speaker: Exactly. Transparency is the baseline, but where we respectfully remain at odds is the question of long-term commercial loyalty. You maintain that the core of commercial photography will remain the intellectual direction and the production of compelling imagery. You see brands prioritizing the speed, cost-effectiveness, and infinite variety of AI tools, with the photographer acting as a high-level curator. Speaker 2: I do. Because the final image is the deliverable. If the visual impact is there and it moves the audience, the tool used to render it is secondary to the creative vision of the director. As I said, the TR-808 still makes people dance. Speaker: And I will continue to argue that the future belongs to those who pivot away from just selling pixels. Speaker: The commercial photographers who survive will be those who sell their emotional intelligence, their relationships, their ability to problem-solve in the physical world, and the verified human reality behind the camera. Speaker 2: We'll have to see. Speaker: We will. Evaluating what truly gives an image its power, its physical origin or its purely visual impact, is the great challenge of our era. Speaker: This dynamic doesn't just stop at commercial advertising. It has massive implications for how AI might reshape fine art, photojournalism, and our historical record. We leave you, the listener, to decide what you will value in the imagery of the future. When you look at an image that moves you, will you accept a beautifully synthesized simulation, or will you demand that friction of reality? Speaker: Will you settle for a perfect painting, or will you still need that fossil of light? Speaker 2: Until next time.

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 anyway. Speaker 2: So if that highly fabricated physical scene, where absolutely nothing is spontaneous, qualifies as a photograph, why doesn't a highly fabricated digital scene directed entirely by a human creator's prompts qualify? Speaker 2: One uses physical props and strobes. Speaker 2: The other uses algorithms and data sets. Speaker 2: The creative intent is identical. Speaker 1: The creative intent might be identical, sure, but the physical risk and the lived experience are not. Speaker 1: You're glossing over the fact that even on the most artificial Vogue set, at the exact fraction of a second the shutter opens, light is reflecting off a living, breathing human being. Speaker 1: A physical mass occupies physical space. Speaker 1: There's a tangible reality being recorded. Speaker 2: But why is the bouncing of a photon off a physical mass the ultimate metric for validity? Speaker 2: If the final image moves the viewer and it communicates the creator's vision perfectly, why obsess over the mechanics of its origin? Speaker 1: Because if a person never lived inside a room that never existed, illuminated by light that was never physically present, you haven't photographed anything. Speaker 1: You've rendered something. Speaker 1: It lacks the foundational soul of a photograph. Speaker 2: Wait, hold on. Speaker 2: How are you defining soul here? Speaker 2: Because if you are just talking about the physical presence of a photon hitting a sensor, well, that's physics. Speaker 2: That's not soul. Speaker 1: The soul is the lived exchange between the observer and the observed. Speaker 1: A photograph cannot be reduced solely to its final visual appearance because the physical exchange is intrinsically part of the work. Speaker 2: That sounds very romantic. Speaker 1: It's practical. Speaker 1: The text brings up great examples. Speaker 1: Think about a war photojournalist placing their life at extreme risk to bear witness to a tragedy, or a wildlife photographer standing in freezing rain for three weeks waiting for a specific animal behavior. Speaker 2: Sure, those are powerful moments. Speaker 1: Even in basic portraiture, the photographer has to build trust with a human subject. Speaker 1: They have to watch how the subject breathes, notice when they become nervous, and navigate a real human interaction to elicit an expression. Speaker 1: AI generation merely imitates the visual result of those deeply human experiences. Speaker 1: It did not wait in the rain. Speaker 1: It did not risk its life. Speaker 1: It did not build trust. Speaker 2: That is incredibly romantic, but you are holding up the most extreme, dangerous, and spontaneous examples of photojournalism to define an entire discipline. Speaker 2: You're using Robert Capa on D-Day to argue why someone's AI-generated conceptual art isn't valid? Speaker 2: The vast majority of photography does not involve risking your life in the freezing rain. Speaker 1: I'm not saying AI art isn't valid art. Speaker 1: Please, let's be clear on that. Speaker 1: I'm saying looking like a photograph does not make something photography. Speaker 1: A highly detailed digital illustration looks photographic. Speaker 1: A computer-generated scene in a modern blockbuster movie looks completely real, but we do not automatically call those things photographs. Speaker 1: Because without a shared understanding of origin, our vocabulary loses all meaning. Speaker 2: So what happens when the gradient completely blurs? Speaker 2: You keep drawing this hard line, but the spectrum is entirely fluid now. Speaker 1: In what way? Speaker 2: Let's go back to the hybrid workflow the material discusses. Speaker 2: A creator takes a physical photograph of a model in a studio, so your required photon-electron conversion happens. Speaker 2: But then they use a diffusion model to generate an entirely synthetic alien landscape around that model, and they use AI to alter the model's clothing. Speaker 2: Fifty percent of the pixels are generated, fifty percent are recorded. Speaker 2: Is it a photograph, or is it synthetic generation? Speaker 1: Well, it is exactly that blurring that makes proposing new terminology so urgent. Speaker 1: We have to clearly separate photographic appearance from photographic origin. Speaker 1: If an image is entirely or primarily generated, we should use specific terms that accurately describe its mechanics. Speaker 1: The material suggests terms like generative imagery, synthetic imagery, or AI-assisted illustration. Speaker 2: But synthetic imagery sounds clinical. Speaker 2: I mean, it's almost pejorative to creators who feel deeply engaged in the photographic tradition. Speaker 1: It's not an insult. Speaker 1: Creating new categories doesn't diminish the work. Speaker 1: Think about a painter who spends months creating a hyperrealistic oil painting of a cityscape. Speaker 1: It might look exactly like a photograph, but the painter's not insulted when we don't call their painting a photograph. Speaker 1: A filmmaker isn't offended when their film isn't called a sculpture. Speaker 2: That's fair. Speaker 2: Different mediums. Speaker 1: Right. Speaker 1: Different mediums have different structural foundations. Speaker 1: Acknowledging that generative imagery is a new, separate medium frees it to establish its own critical standards rather than constantly pretending to be something it's not. Speaker 2: I understand the appeal of definitional clarity. Speaker 2: I really do. Speaker 2: We all love to put things in neat, labeled boxes, but language isn't static. Speaker 2: It stretches and evolves alongside the tools we invent. Speaker 2: By separating photographic appearance from photographic origin, you risk alienating a massive group of artists. Speaker 1: I don't think alienating them is the goal. Speaker 2: Maybe not, but these creators are utilizing their deep knowledge of lighting ratios, composition, focal length compression, and depth of field to craft their prompts. Speaker 2: They are thinking like photographers. Speaker 2: They are speaking the visual language of photography. Speaker 2: To tell them they are merely AI illustrators reduces the immense creative labor they are putting into curating and directing these systems. Speaker 1: I hear the anxiety there, but I think that resistance stems from a temporary cultural adjustment. Speaker 1: Right now, photography carries a massive amount of historical and cultural prestige. Speaker 1: People want their generated images to inherit that prestige for free. Speaker 1: But in 10 years, synthetic imagery will have built its own prestige. Speaker 1: We just have to survive this transitional period where our vocabulary is struggling to catch up to the technology. Speaker 2: But if history is any guide, the vocabulary won't splinter off into a new lexicon. Speaker 2: It will naturally expand to absorb the new tools. Speaker 2: The avant-garde always becomes the standard practice. Speaker 2: We saw this exact thing when photography transitioned from film to digital. Speaker 1: That was very different. Speaker 2: Was it? Speaker 2: Purists argued that digital sensors lacked the soul of chemical silver halides. Speaker 2: They wanted to call digital images something else entirely. Speaker 2: But the word photography survived because the fundamental human desire to capture and share a visual perspective remained the same. Speaker 1: But the transition from film to digital was a change in the recording medium. Speaker 1: Light was still bouncing off a physical subject and hitting a sensitive surface. Speaker 1: We are now talking about the complete elimination of the physical subject. Speaker 1: That is a fundamental rupture in the timeline, not just an upgrade to the camera. Speaker 1: And if we don't protect the word photography, we are going to face a severe epistemological crisis. Speaker 2: An epistemological crisis? Speaker 2: That's a big term. Speaker 1: Yes, a crisis of trust and truth. Speaker 1: As our feeds become increasingly flooded with synthetic media, the value of the verifiable actual photograph, the proof that something physically happened, will become the most vital currency we have. Speaker 2: Okay, I see where you're going. Speaker 1: When a photojournalist captures a moment of conflict, its power comes entirely from the fact that we know it is real. Speaker 1: If we allow fully synthetic images to casually adopt the title of photography, we degrade the public's trust in the medium altogether. Speaker 1: We muddy the water so thoroughly that when a real photograph of a vital historical event is presented, it will be immediately dismissed as a generation. Speaker 2: But the public's trust in photography has been eroding since the invention of the airbrush. Speaker 2: People were faking photos of ghosts and fairies in the 1800s. Speaker 2: Stalin famously had his enemies airbrushed out of official state photographs. Speaker 2: We have always had to rely on the credibility of the publisher and the context of the image rather than a blind faith in the mechanical nature of the camera. Speaker 2: The camera has always been uniquely capable of lying. Speaker 1: In certain ways, sure. Speaker 2: Action can completely reverse its meaning. Speaker 1: I agree. Speaker 1: The camera can lie through omission. Speaker 2: Exactly. Speaker 2: AI is just making the capacity for visual fiction more accessible to the public. Speaker 2: The responsibility for truth doesn't lie in the mechanical definition of a word. Speaker 2: The responsibility remains exactly where it has always been: on the creator to be transparent about their process and on the audience to be visually and media literate. Speaker 1: But transparency is exactly what I am advocating for. Speaker 1: By adopting terms like generative imagery, the creator is being transparent by default. Speaker 1: The label itself tells the viewer, "I am presenting you with an aesthetic vision, not a historical record." Speaker 1: When we insist on calling everything photography, we are actively fighting against transparency. Speaker 2: And trying to solve a crisis of media literacy with a dictionary, though. Speaker 2: It won't work. Speaker 2: We must be willing to include fully synthetic visions directed by human creativity under the widening umbrella of photographic art because the visual language is identical. Speaker 2: We evaluate a generated image on its composition, its lighting, its subject matter, and its emotional resonance, the exact same metrics we use for a traditional photograph. Speaker 1: Well, I think we are actually converging on a really important foundational point here, which is the undeniable artistic value of what these systems produce. Speaker 1: AI imagery is not a passing fad. Speaker 1: The technology itself is a marvel of human engineering, and the outputs are visually stunning. Speaker 1: It absolutely requires a human mind to direct the models, curate the outputs, and apply creative intent. Speaker 1: So we are not debating whether or not it is art. Speaker 2: No, we are entirely aligned on that. Speaker 2: The value of the imagery is not in question, nor is the sheer necessity of human imagination in guiding the machine. Speaker 2: If anything, the blank canvas of AI generation demands more imagination because you can't rely on serendipity. Speaker 2: You have to conjure every single detail. Speaker 1: Right. Speaker 1: But the tension we are leaving unresolved is strictly one of categorization and origin. Speaker 1: It is that friction between the history of the process and the aesthetic of the final output. Speaker 1: We are circling the question of whether protecting the traditional mechanical definition of photography preserves its inherent connection to physical truth, or whether holding onto that definition is simply a failure to adapt to modern realities. Speaker 2: It's a question every listener will have to navigate for themselves. Speaker 2: As you scroll through the endless stream of imagery you encounter every single day, or as you look back through your own visual archives, we invite you to consider how your relationship to an image shifts. Speaker 1: Notice what happens in your own mind when you look at a breathtaking image, only to discover a moment later that it was conjured from a statistical data set rather than captured through a physical lens. Speaker 1: Does its emotional weight change for you? Speaker 2: Does the lack of physical risk or lived experience diminish its beauty, or does it simply ask you to appreciate it as a different kind of human achievement? Speaker 1: Because the next time you are walking along that beach and you see that perfect footprint in the sand, you have to ask yourself a new question. Speaker 1: Are you looking at the lingering historical echo of a human being who stood exactly where you are standing, or are you just looking at a very beautiful shape in the sand?

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 real. Speaker: As synthetic imagery becomes more convincing, photographers who document reality may need to become even more explicit about their process. Speaker: The camera-made photograph may actually become more valuable, not because it looks different, but because its origin can be verified. Speaker: So, what about the world of commercial photography? Speaker: Because this may be one of the most affected areas by AI. Speaker: Why? Speaker: Because brands often want speed. Speaker: They want variety. Speaker: They want lower production costs. Speaker: And this is scary because AI helps in all those situations. Speaker: You see, brands want the ability to change colors, locations, models, products, and campaigns without organizing an entirely new shoot. Speaker: It saves them a massive amount of money. Speaker: And yes, AI can offer a lot of that. Speaker: A company may be able to create multiple campaigns before even hiring a photographer, if at all. Speaker: It may be able to replace a traditional background without building a set. Speaker: It may create product variations for different markets. Speaker: A brand may be able to generate images from internal presentations, social media tests, or preliminary advertising. Speaker: That reality is already changing how photographers need to position themselves. Speaker: Will advertising or commercial photography exist in five years? Speaker: We don't know. Speaker: How would the public react to seeing images of products where there isn't one real element in the work? Speaker: Competing with AI only on the ability to make a polished-looking image may become increasingly difficult. Speaker: So, what becomes more valuable? Speaker: Your perspective. Speaker: Your reputation. Speaker: Your ability to work with real people. Speaker: Your ability to direct. Speaker: Your understanding of human emotions. Speaker: Or the ability to lead a team, to create trust, and to solve problems on set. Speaker: Maybe now you're understanding that photographers need to stop selling only photographs. Speaker: We need to sell the intelligence, the experience, the relationships, the authorship, and the human encounters behind the photographs. Speaker: AI can produce endless visual options. Speaker: But endless options do not automatically create significance. Speaker: A client does not always need more images. Speaker: Sometimes the client needs the right image that makes a real connection. Speaker: This is where photographers must become stronger. Speaker: So, what's the future? Speaker: No one knows. Speaker: Right now is August 2026. Speaker: Where will we be in August 2027? Speaker: Only time will tell. Speaker: Until next week. Speaker: Bye for now.

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 photography, the photographer may place their own life at risk to bear witness to what's happening. Speaker: In sports photography, the photographer must understand movement, timing, position, and anticipation. Speaker: With portrait photography, the photographer is often responsible for creating trust before creating the image. Speaker: AI generation can imitate the visual results of those experiences, but AI did not live them. Speaker: It did not wait. Speaker: It did not witness. Speaker: It did not build trust with the subject. Speaker: It did not stand in the rain. Speaker: It didn't enter the room or the space or the scene. Speaker: It didn't feel the tension. Speaker: It did not experience the moment. Speaker: From this perspective, AI-generated imagery is not photography. Speaker: It is a different form of visual creation. Speaker: I'm not saying that makes it automatically worthless. Speaker: It does not mean it cannot be artistic. Speaker: It does not mean the person directing the system has no creativity. Speaker: It simply means we may need a different category for it. Speaker: Generative imagery, synthetic imagery, AI-assisted illustration. Speaker: Pick one. Speaker: There are many possible terms. Speaker: And using accurate language is not an insult. Speaker: It's clarity. Speaker: And at this point in the game, we need clarity. Speaker: Think about that. Speaker: Clarity would open up everything. Speaker: Let's take a filmmaker, for example. Speaker: A filmmaker is not insulted because we do not call a film a painting. Speaker: A painter is not diminished because we do not call a painting a photograph. Speaker: Different mediums have different foundations. Speaker: The issue is not whether one medium is superior. Speaker: The issue is whether words still have meaning. Speaker: I'd love to know your thoughts. Speaker: Follow me on Instagram and let me know what you think. Speaker: I'm Matthew Jordan Smith. Speaker: And yes, things are changing in more ways than we know. Speaker: That's all for today. Speaker: I look forward to seeing you again next week. Speaker: Bye for now.

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

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 friction he feels isn't a signal to turn back.Speaker: It's a definitive proof that he has finally left the safe confines of the known and stepped onto the actual battlefield of innovation.Speaker: But I want to explore the necessity of that friction for a second because it raises a really provocative question. Speaker: Okay what's the question?Speaker: Is that initial fear that absolute certainty that you are producing average worthless material is that just an unfortunate hurdle or is it actually a mandatory prerequisite for resilient creativity?Speaker: Oh that's interesting.Speaker: Like if someone sits down and never feels that doubt, never feels like they are failing, can they actually produce anything of profound value?Speaker: Historically and psychologically speaking the absence of that doubt usually indicates a reliance on the derivative.Speaker: Meaning you're just copying something seiche. Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: If you aren't experiencing the terror of shortcoming it generally means you are operating entirely within your established comfort zone.Speaker: You are just executing a formula you already know works perfectly. Speaker: You aren't pushing the boundaries of your medium.Speaker: You are just tracing over someone else's lines.Speaker: Right. Speaker: Louis comes to realize that resiliency isn't just about stubbornly refusing to quit.Speaker: True artistic resiliency is the ability to use creative lateral thinking to solve the errors you inevitably encounter when you are out of your depth.Speaker: The fear is the heat required to forge something original. Speaker: That's a great analogy.Speaker: Yeah.Speaker: If you are just doing it for social media likes that heat will melt you and you will quit. Speaker: But if the drive is internal the heat tempers you.Speaker: Okay so Matthew talks Louis off the ledge.Speaker: The mindset is recalibrated. Speaker: He understands that his average is actually a unique gift and that the struggle is proof he is in the arena.Speaker: He's ready to work.Speaker: Yes. Speaker: But a recalibrated mindset is completely invisible to the world until it produces a physical artifact.Speaker: You know you can't hang a good attitude on a museum wall in Chicago.Speaker: No you absolutely cannot. Speaker: You have to actually do the work.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: And this is where the story shifts from psychological theory to intense physical architecture. Speaker: I really want to talk about how Louis actually operates because the mechanics of his medium are just wild.Speaker: We definitely need to clearly define what we mean when we say Louis is a visual artist and a photographer because he is not walking down the street with a digital camera snapping you know one one thousandth of a second frames of pedestrians.Speaker: Right. Speaker: He's not doing street photography.Speaker: No he operates in a highly technical hyper specialized subgenre.Speaker: He describes his discipline as fine art, long exposure photography combined with the physical performance of light painting. Speaker: Let's break down the physics of that for a second for people who might not be familiar.Speaker: When we talk about long exposure we are talking about manipulating the fundamental relationship between time and light on a camera sensor.Speaker: Exactly. Speaker: It's all about time.Speaker: In a normal photograph the shutter snaps open and closed in a fraction of a second to freeze time.Speaker: But in Louis's world that shutter might stay open for five ten maybe 20 seconds or more in a completely pitch black room. Speaker: Right.Speaker: And if you open a camera shutter in a completely dark room the sensor records nothing but black.Speaker: It is literally an empty canvas. Speaker: The image only exists if light is introduced while that shutter is actively open.Speaker: And that is where the second element comes in right?Speaker: The light painting.Speaker: Yes. Speaker: While the shutter is held open Louis physically moves through the dark space with various light sources.Speaker: He is essentially drawing in three-dimensional space.Speaker: That must look insane in person. Speaker: I'm sure it does.Speaker: The camera records the continuous path of that light as a solid streak or form.Speaker: And the really cool part is while Louis himself is moving, assuming he keeps moving and remains unlit by the beam, he remains completely invisible to the sensor. Speaker: He's like a ghost in the machine.Speaker: But here is the detail that elevates this from a neat photographic trick to just obsessive artistic discipline.Speaker: Louis isn't going onto the internet and buying a $50 RGB wand to wave around. Speaker: No he is not.Speaker: He hand builds 95% of the tools he uses to create these images.Speaker: Which is a staggering commitment to the medium. Speaker: It means he is dealing with soldering irons, circuitry, custom LED arrays, diffusion materials, and battery loads before he ever even touches a lens.Speaker: He is stepping out of the role of the pure visual artist and into the role of a bespoke electrical engineer.Speaker: But why though?Speaker: I mean we live in an era of unprecedented access to cheap technology. Speaker: You can buy practically any lighting configuration imaginable.Speaker: Why spend hours at a workbench soldering wires together when you could just click add to cart?Speaker: It's a fair question, but it comes down to control.Speaker: Because standard tools inherently produce standard results. Speaker: If you buy the exact same mass-produced light wand that 100,000 other amateur photographers just bought, your baseline aesthetic is already dictated by the factory that manufactured it.Speaker: I see.Speaker: The tool makes the choices for you. Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: The width of the beam, the refresh rate of the LEDs, the exact hue of the color.Speaker: All of those parameters are locked in by someone else. Speaker: By hand building his tools, Louis claims absolute authorship over the physical properties of the light itself.Speaker: So if he wants a light that stutters at a very specific erratic frequency to create a jagged broken line in the photograph, he has to physically wire that imperfection into the tool himself.Speaker: The creation of the art begins at the workbench, not the camera. Speaker: It's total control of the aesthetic from the ground up.Speaker: But the physical engineering of the tools is still only half of the preparation.Speaker: What really fascinated me in the source material is his mental engineering. Speaker: His routine is intense.Speaker: It really is.Speaker: He doesn't just walk into the studio, flip a switch, and start waving lights around. Speaker: He undergoes a rigorous, heavily protected ritual.Speaker: Before he even powers on a camera, he demands 30 to 45 minutes of absolute isolation.Speaker: Total silence. Speaker: No television, no phone calls, no interaction with anyone.Speaker: And he uses that block of time for deep meditation and prayer, right?Speaker: Yeah.Speaker: He is aggressively clearing his cognitive cache. Speaker: Which makes perfect sense when you understand the physical act of light painting.Speaker: It's deeply kinetic.Speaker: The camera is going to record every tiny hesitation, every jerky movement, every tremor in his hand. Speaker: It picks up everything.Speaker: Everything.Speaker: If his mind is cluttered with anxiety about a bill he has to pay or an argument he had earlier in the day, that anxiety will literally manifest as rigid, uninspired geometry in the final photograph. Speaker: He talks about using music as the bridge between that meditation and the physical movement.Speaker: He carefully curates his sonic environment depending on the specific emotional target of the piece.Speaker: Sometimes it's complex jazz, sometimes it's old-school soul or R&B. Speaker: And he doesn't just play it in the background as filler.Speaker: No, he uses the rhythm, the cadence, and the emotional swelling of the music to dictate the velocity and flow of the light.Speaker: He says he rides the music. Speaker: It's a deliberate induction into a flow state.Speaker: Yeah.Speaker: But what I find even more compelling is how he uses this process to manage negative energy. Speaker: How so?Speaker: Well, he acknowledges that some days are just bad days.Speaker: You carry negativity into the studio, most people would just cancel the session and try again tomorrow.Speaker: Louis, however, uses the duration of the open shutter and the physical exertion of the movement to force that negativity out of his body. Speaker: Almost like an exorcism.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: He describes the creation process as a form of therapy. Speaker: The art becomes a direct visual translation of the energetic frequency he is vibrating at in that exact second.Speaker: Which requires an immense amount of discipline.Speaker: But I've got to be honest, I want to challenge one aspect of his routine here. Speaker: Okay, let's hear it.Speaker: Matthew points out during the interview that every time they do a video call, Louis's entire set, his background, his lights, his camera rig, is fully set up in the background.Speaker: It is left up 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Speaker: Yes, his permanent studio setup.Speaker: Right.Speaker: And Louis defends this by telling a story about waking up at 3 a.m. because he felt a sudden spirit of inspiration. Speaker: And because the gear was ready, he was able to just roll out of bed and capture it immediately.Speaker: The romanticized ideal of the lightning strike of inspiration.Speaker: Exactly. Speaker: And that's what I want to push back on.Speaker: Leaving a studio entirely set up in your living space 24-7 sounds less like disciplined readiness and more like a disorganized nightmare.Speaker: You think it's just messy. Speaker: I do.Speaker: It sounds like an excuse to avoid having a structured, dedicated schedule.Speaker: It doesn't completely blurring the line between your living space and your working space. Speaker: Just invite burnout.Speaker: It can, certainly.Speaker: It feeds into this myth that an artist must be a captive slave to their spontaneous whims, waking up in the middle of the night rather than just putting in honest hours from 9 to 5 like a professional. Speaker: That is a very pragmatic critique.Speaker: And honestly, in many corporate or structured creative jobs, you would be absolutely right.Speaker: A lack of boundaries breeds exhaustion. Speaker: However, I would argue that you are misinterpreting the nature of his 24-7 setup.Speaker: You are viewing it as a lack of structure, when in fact, it is the ultimate architectural defense against cognitive friction.Speaker: How so?Speaker: I mean, friction is just part of doing a job. Speaker: Yes.Speaker: But in this highly specific, ethereal type of creation, friction is fatal.Speaker: Let's look at your 3.0 AM example. Speaker: If Louis wakes up at 3.0 AM with a profound, abstract, emotional concept he wants to translate into light, his prefrontal cortex is groggy.Speaker: He is existing in a highly liminal, vulnerable state.Speaker: Right. Speaker: He's barely awake.Speaker: Now, imagine if all his gear was neatly packed away in heavy pelican cases to maintain a tidy living space.Speaker: He would have to turn on the harsh overhead lights. Speaker: He would have to unscrew tripod plates, mount the camera, boot up the systems, untangle cables, check battery levels, and calibrate the focus in the dark.Speaker: Okay, yeah.Speaker: By the time he does all that, the feeling is completely gone. Speaker: The logic of the setup destroys the emotion of the concept.Speaker: Precisely.Speaker: The executive function required to assemble the physical mechanics of the studio would totally overwrite the fragile, emotional state he woke up with. Speaker: He would be wide awake, frustrated, and the inspiration would have completely evaporated.Speaker: His 24-7 setup isn't about being disorganized.Speaker: It is the strategy of an Oh, okay. Speaker: I see where you're going with this.Speaker: Think about it.Speaker: A firefighter doesn't wake up to a three-alarm blaze, go to their closet, pick out a matching uniform, lace up their boots, and casually walk to the truck. Speaker: No, they sleep in a state of hyper-readiness.Speaker: The boots are literally placed inside the pants next to the bed.Speaker: Yes. Speaker: The truck is fueled.Speaker: The hoses are primed.Speaker: They eliminate every single point of physical friction so that when the alarm rings, their response is purely instinctual. Speaker: So Louis is operating a firehouse of inspiration.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: He sleeps with the camera primed, the focus locked, and the background hung. Speaker: When the 3.am alarm of an idea rings, he doesn't waste precious cognitive energy looking for his boots.Speaker: He just steps into them and rides.Speaker: Wow. Speaker: That reframes it entirely for me.Speaker: It isn't a reliance on luck or spontaneous magic.Speaker: It is a militaristic level of preparation designed to trap the magic when it briefly appears. Speaker: And Louis admits that even with this setup, it isn't always a roaring success.Speaker: Sometimes he works for two hours and produces absolutely nothing usable.Speaker: That has to be frustrating. Speaker: It is.Speaker: But other times, he works for 20 minutes, captures one frame that perfectly articulates his internal state, and he immediately shuts everything down.Speaker: He knows when to stop. Speaker: He refuses to overwork a feeling once it has been accurately translated.Speaker: That sensitivity to the work is amazing.Speaker: And it leads us directly into the philosophy behind the aesthetics. Speaker: Because once you understand the mechanics of the open shutter and the hand-built tools and that firefighter readiness, you have to ask a much deeper question.Speaker: Which is?Speaker: Why does the final image look the way it looks?Speaker: I mean, if 50 photographers all use long exposures and flashlights, how do you prevent your work from just looking like everyone else's?Speaker: This brings us to what I consider the absolute core of the source material.Speaker: Louis introduces a that perfectly encapsulates the terror and the necessity of finding your own visual identity. Speaker: The orange juice philosophy.Speaker: I love this part.Speaker: It's so good. Speaker: Louis explains that if you take an orange and you put it under immense physical pressure, if you squeeze it, you're going to get orange juice.Speaker: It's unavoidable.Speaker: The external pressure forces the internal truth out. Speaker: Right.Speaker: And Louis applies this directly to the human condition.Speaker: He says that if you squeeze a human being, meaning if you subject an artist to the immense pressure of the creative process, the deadlines, the doubt, the technical limitations, what comes out of them is exactly what is inside of them. Speaker: The juice is their cumulative life experience.Speaker: Yes.Speaker: And Louis has this profound realization regarding his mentor. Speaker: He recognizes that Matthew Jordan Smith is a master.Speaker: Matthew has an incredibly successful, recognizable aesthetic.Speaker: A signature style. Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: The safest, easiest thing for Louis to do would be to just mimic Matthew, to use the same lights, the same angles, the same post-production techniques.Speaker: But Louis realizes that if he tries to be Matthew, he is fundamentally violating his own nature. Speaker: As Matthew tells him, everybody has their own juice.Speaker: I really want to elevate that metaphor because I think it explains why so many artists get trapped in mediocrity.Speaker: Mimicking another artist isn't usually born out of a lack of imagination, is it?Speaker: No, not at all. Speaker: It is fundamentally a defense mechanism against the market.Speaker: Let's think about it economically and psychologically.Speaker: If you try to produce apple juice by copying Matthew Jordan Smith, and the market rejects the art, your ego is protected. Speaker: Right.Speaker: Because you could just say, well, they just didn't like Matthew's style today.Speaker: Or I just haven't perfected the imitation yet. Speaker: You blame the apple.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: But if you squeeze yourself, if you put your own authentic, strange, untested orange juice onto the canvas, and the market rejects it...Speaker: They aren't rejecting a technique. Speaker: They are rejecting you.Speaker: They're rejecting your soul.Speaker: That is terrifying. Speaker: It is the ultimate vulnerability.Speaker: Copying is safe because it outsources the risk of rejection.Speaker: So Louis deciding to rely entirely on his own juice is a massive leap of courage. Speaker: He is stripping away the armor of imitation.Speaker: And what makes this leap even more impressive is that Louis isn't just avoiding imitating his mentor.Speaker: He is intentionally avoiding imitating the historical titans of his specific medium. Speaker: Oh, the historical lineage here is fascinating.Speaker: We really need to unpack this.Speaker: Definitely. Speaker: Because most people think of light painting as a modern digital era gimmick, like TikTok creators waving glowing sticks.Speaker: But Louis went back to the archives and discovered that Pablo Picasso, arguably the most famous painter of the 20th century, was actively experimenting with this exact technique.Speaker: The history here is incredibly rich. Speaker: In 1949, Picasso was living in Valois in the south of France.Speaker: And he is visited by a man named John Milley.Speaker: Who was John Milley?Speaker: He was a brilliant Albanian-American photographer working for Life magazine. Speaker: Now, Milley was a pioneer in his own right.Speaker: He had studied lighting at MIT, working alongside Harold Edgerton.Speaker: Edgerton was a guy who essentially invented the electronic strobe flash, right?Speaker: Exactly. Speaker: And Milley had been using these rapid-fire strobes to capture the continuous motion of dancers and athletes.Speaker: The source material specifically mentions Milley showing Picasso photographs he had taken of ice skaters.Speaker: Milley had attached small lights to the skates of figure skaters, opened the shutter, and captured the continuous glowing trails of their movement across the ice. Speaker: That must have looked like magic in 1949.Speaker: Seriously.Speaker: And when Milley shows these photographs to Picasso, Picasso's mind immediately grasps the potential. Speaker: Milley proposes an experiment.Speaker: He sets up his camera in a completely darkened room in Valois.Speaker: He gives Picasso a small flashlight. Speaker: And Picasso, operating in total darkness, begins to draw rapidly in the air.Speaker: Centaurs, bulls, Greek profiles.Speaker: And Milley opens the shutter, capturing the entire continuous stroke of the flashlight. Speaker: And then at the very last fraction of a second, Milley fires a massive strobe flash.Speaker: Which momentarily illuminates Picasso himself, freezing the artist in space alongside his glowing creation.Speaker: It is just an incredible intersection of art history and technological innovation. Speaker: You have the master of the canvas essentially painting on the fabric of time itself, aided by a MIT-trained lighting pioneer.Speaker: It's iconic.Speaker: But here's the critical pivot in Louis's story. Speaker: Louis studies this history.Speaker: He looks at Picasso's light centaurs.Speaker: He researches other pioneers like Paolo Riveri. Speaker: He understands the foundational vocabulary of the medium.Speaker: But he makes a conscious, difficult decision not to just recreate it.Speaker: Because if he recreates Picasso's Minotaurs, he is back to making apple juice. Speaker: Right.Speaker: He would just be a cover band playing a 1949 hit using modern LED lights.Speaker: He realized that the technique was just the vehicle. Speaker: The cargo had to be his own.Speaker: He says, look, since I'm doing this, I'm going to go for it.Speaker: I'm going to see what's in me. Speaker: He commits to pushing the technique into a completely different contemporary direction that reflects his own internal architecture.Speaker: So what exactly is the structural makeup of Louis' juice?Speaker: If it's not Picasso's Spanish heritage and Cubist philosophy, what is informing the geometry of Louis' light?Speaker: Well, Louis is very self-aware about the timeline of his own maturity.Speaker: The raw material of his art is the slow, heavy accumulation of time and geography. Speaker: Meaning his past.Speaker: Yes.Speaker: He notes that he grew up as a military brat, constantly moving, constantly adapting to new environments. Speaker: He then served in the military himself.Speaker: He has spent decades traveling extensively, immersing himself in vastly different cultures, and interacting with a massive spectrum of human archetypes.Speaker: And he states, unequivocally, that he could not have produced this body of work when he was 17 or even 25 years old. Speaker: Because at 25, you are busy acquiring the data, but you haven't processed it yet.Speaker: You don't have the algorithms to make sense of it.Speaker: When you are 25, you are experiencing the world in real time. Speaker: You might be involved in intense, dramatic, or dangerous situations, but you don't fully understand the underlying mechanics of those situations while you're in them.Speaker: It takes years, sometimes decades, of distance to look back, strip away the immediate emotion, and understand why a certain event happened.Speaker: What it taught you about human nature, and how it shaped your worldview. Speaker: Louis' current art is the synthesized output of decades of that slow, quiet processing.Speaker: Which leads to a habit that I find both bizarre and totally brilliant.Speaker: Because Louis understands that his art is inextricably linked to his specific psychological state at the moment of creation, he refuses to ever throw away or delete a single image he produces. Speaker: Not one file.Speaker: Not one.Speaker: Even the ones he views as total, unmitigated failures. Speaker: He archives everything.Speaker: And the logic he uses to justify this is deeply rooted in how human perception evolves.Speaker: He starts with a basic premise. Speaker: Every human brain is wired differently.Speaker: Sure.Speaker: Subjective experience. Speaker: If you put 10 people in a gallery in front of one of his abstract light paintings, you will get 10 completely different interpretations of what the image means, and all 10 interpretations are valid because they are projected from the viewer's own life experience.Speaker: But Louis takes that concept of subjective interpretation and applies it longitudinally to his own brain across time.Speaker: The neuroscience of memory and identity perfectly supports this, actually. Speaker: You are not the same person you were five years ago.Speaker: Right.Speaker: On a literal cellular level, your body has regenerated. Speaker: And on a neurological level, your synaptic pathways have been rewired by new traumas, new joys, and new knowledge.Speaker: So Louis might go into the studio, have a frustrating night, create an image, and think, this is garbage.Speaker: Doesn't make any sense. Speaker: He saves it on a hard drive and forgets about it.Speaker: And then three years later.Speaker: Three years later, having lived three more years of life, having learned new lessons and gained new perspectives, he opens that exact same digital file. Speaker: The pixels haven't changed.Speaker: The geometry of the light is identical.Speaker: But the observer, Louis, has changed. Speaker: And suddenly, with his new neurological wiring, he looks at the failed image and sees a masterpiece.Speaker: He finally understands what his subconscious was trying to tell him three years earlier.Speaker: He says, these all come for a reason. Speaker: And the reason for that image may not hit me today, but it might be two or three years from now.Speaker: It is a profound trust in the wisdom of his own subconscious.Speaker: He treats his past efforts not as waste, but as an encrypted archive. Speaker: You know, it reminds me of how legendary musicians operate.Speaker: You hear stories about a guitarist sitting in a hotel room, messing around with a weird, dissonant chord progression.Speaker: Right, they record a quick voice memo on their phone. Speaker: Yeah, and then they decide it sounds like disjointed noise and file it away.Speaker: But then five years later, they are in a multi-million dollar studio.Speaker: They are stuck on the bridge of a massive anthem, and they start digging through those old voice memos. Speaker: And suddenly, that dissonant, failed noise from the hotel room perfectly locks into the new song.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: The past version of themselves left a puzzle piece on the table, knowing the future version of themselves would eventually figure out where it fits. Speaker: It is a radical reframing of failure.Speaker: It suggests that many of our creative failures aren't actually failures at all.Speaker: They are just instances of us being temporally out of sync with our own understanding. Speaker: We were early to our own ideas.Speaker: But here is the critical pivot in Louie's journey.Speaker: Having a brilliant philosophy about orange juice, understanding the history of Picasso, and keeping a meticulous archive of your subconscious is wonderful for the soul. Speaker: I don't.Speaker: It does absolutely nothing to pay the rent.Speaker: Philosophy does not hang itself in a museum. Speaker: Ah, the harsh reality of the business.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker: To transition from a solitary creator waving a flashlight in a dark room to a professional artist commanding gallery space, you need structural economic guidance.

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

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

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

The Human Moment in Photography Speaker: Welcome back. Today's reminder is simple. The human moment, that's your competitive advantage, not your newest lens Not your preset pack Speaker: Not the camera bag you bought because someone on YouTube said it would change your life. And now it mostly holds granola bar wrappers And twelve mysterious cables. Your advantage is the human moment Speaker: It's the mother who says, "I hate being photographed," and then cries when she sees herself looking loved instead of judged Speaker: It's the dad who pretends he doesn't care about family photos, but then he uses one of your pictures as his phone wallpaper forever Speaker: It's the bride squeezing her grandmother's hand Speaker: It's the entrepreneur who finally looks at their branding photos and says, "Oh I actually look like someone people can trust Speaker: You see, AI may make gorgeous images But AI does not know that this child just lost her first tooth Speaker: AI doesn't know that this woman, she's been hiding from the camera for 10 years Speaker: AI does not know those wedding vows are being spoken in front of the people who shared their entire life Speaker: And yes, AI does not know the emotional weight of a real room. You do, and that matters Speaker: But here's where photographers accidentally shrink their own power They describe their work in a clinical manner. One-hour photo session, thirty edited images, online gallery That sounds like a dentist invoice for better lighting Speaker: Instead, talk about what the photographs mean to people Speaker: These photos preserve the tenderness or the chaos and love of this season before it changes again Speaker: or maybe this. "These wedding photographs are for the moments you felt but may not have fully seen." That language builds trust And because this episode is about legacy, Speaker: I want to mention the Aretha Cool book offering, the limited edition. There are about 30 books left. Each one is signed Speaker: There are also a few standard editions as well, and they're all only available at ArethaCool.com. They are a beautiful reminder that photographs are not just content. They become keepsakes, proof, memory, story, and yes, legacy Speaker: You see, that is the energy I want you to bring to your own photography business So what's your action step for this week? Rewrite one offer Speaker: So it names the human moment, . Not just the deliverables. Not just family photos Speaker: Say something like, "These photographs are here to help your children see how deeply they are loved, not just now, but in the future." Speaker: And not just branding photos. I mean, what is that? Say instead, images that help people trust you before they ever meet you Speaker: See how different that feels? Speaker: If you enjoyed this podcast, do me a favor and please leave a five-star review and share it with a photographer who also may need to hear this Speaker: Remember this, your work matters because people matter And you know how to see them Until next week. Bye for now

Trust-Building in the AI Era Photography Breakthrough Speaker: Welcome, welcome. Speaker 2: Today we're going to talk about AI Speaker: Yes, AI. Can now make beautiful images in about 12 seconds, which is really rude when you think about it. Some of us spend years learning light, composition, posing, editing, And how to pretend we are calm when Lightroom crashes But here's the good news. Speaker: AI can make pictures. It cannot make people trust you Speaker: AI cannot look at a nervous client and say "You're not awkward. Speaker: AI cannot calm a groom Speaker: who has suddenly forgotten how to stand like a human being AI cannot make a toddler laugh Speaker: after they've entered a room in raccoon mode Speaker: AI can't tell a business owner Speaker: You do not need to become a better person, a different person for your brand photos You just need to let people see the real you That part, that's your work Speaker: And that is why today more than ever, trust matters Speaker: I think a lot of people with cameras, photographers, think clients are only asking, "Are your pictures good?" But they're not Speaker: They're also quietly asking, "Will I feel weird with this person? Will they help me pose? Will I know what to wear?" Will this be worth the money? Will my partner cooperate? Speaker: Will my children behave like children or like tiny unpaid interns on strike? Speaker: Trust answers those questions before the client ever books Speaker: So yes, look at your photography, your website Your social media, your bio, your pricing guides. Are all of them building trust? Speaker: Or are they just saying, "I capture memories," and hoping people spiritually understand your entire business model Try this one instead you see, my job is to guide you through the entire photography experience so you feel relaxed, confident, and taken care of from the first email until you have the pictures in your hands Speaker: Or better yet, on your wall That sentence . It lowers fear. It creates confidence. It helps clients feel safe choosing you Speaker: In the age of AI, your biggest advantage is not just your camera skill, it's your ability to create trust with real people in real moments Speaker: So what's your action steps for this week? Speaker: Pick one place where your clients might feel a little uncertain and add things that make them feel reassured Change your language. Speak to their fears Speaker: Go through your pricing guide your social media captions, anywhere Speaker: and change the language Speaker: You don't need to panic about AI Speaker: You need to become easier to trust. Until next week, bye for now

The Gift Beyond the Camera Speaker: Welcome back to the Photography Breakthrough podcast. Today, I want to give you some relief Because if you're a photographer watching AI get better and better, you might be quietly asking yourself, "What happens to me if beautiful images become easier to create?" Silently, I think a lot of us are thinking that same thing, wondering, " What's gonna happen to me?" Speaker: And here's the truth Speaker: Your camera skill matters. Your editing skill matters. Your eye matters. But your skill is not your whole gift Speaker: Your deeper gift Speaker: is how people feel around you How seen they feel. How safe they feel how clearly you help them understand the value of being photographed at this moment in their life, their business, with their family, in their relationships Speaker: and their legacy Yes, AI can generate an image, but it cannot know what a mother feels when her child is about to leave home. It cannot understand the courage it takes for a business owner to finally show up in front of the camera. It can't feel the quiet tenderness between two people on a wedding day. Speaker: This, my friend, is where you come in. Speaker: So the question is no longer, "Am I technically good enough?" The better question is, "Do I trust myself enough to lead my clients into an experience they cannot get from a machine?" Speaker: Because that's what AI is. Speaker: This week, do yourself a favor. Look at your website, your Instagram bio, your pricing guide, your inquiry emails. Are you only talking about photos? Or are you helping people understand the transformation that you can give Instead of saying, "I take beautiful portraits," or Speaker: I love creating beautiful moments. Try saying, " Speaker: I help people feel confident Speaker: Or, "I help people feel relaxed and deeply seen." That is a different level of language. That, my friends, is trust Speaker: And in the age of AI, the photographers who win will not be the ones who hide behind technical skill Speaker: They will be the ones who know how to communicate Speaker: human value Speaker: So what's your next step? Start with this. Rewrite one sentence in your photography marketing so it speaks to the feeling, not just to the photos Speaker: Oh, and before you go, do me a favor. Leave a five-star review and share this podcast with a photographer who needs to hear this today Speaker: In closing, remember this: Your gift is much bigger You are not being replaced You're being invited to rise. Until next time, bye for now

Building Emotional Connection with Clients through Questions Speaker: For those of you who study with me, you learn this right away. How to build an emotional connection Speaker: The other day, a client came in town and-- let me back up because she never hired me before, so she wasn't a client. But we met a few months ago at a dinner party. We exchanged cards, and then she came back to town because her father unexpectedly passed away While she was in town, she sent me a message saying, "Matthew, I'm just here for a few days." Speaker: She explained the situation, and she said, "I don't know when I'll be back, but I'd like for you to create my portrait." Are you free today or tomorrow? Speaker: Now this message came Speaker: In the middle of the day Speaker: I was free that day. I could have done the shoot, but I responded, " Let's shoot tomorrow because I want to give you the best experience Speaker: And that takes time Speaker: I want to create the most impactful image of your life Speaker: One that you remember forever Speaker: Then of course, she also asked my price Speaker: And I responded And the way that I teach all my students how to respond to that question. We all get it, but how do you respond to that question? Speaker: I responded in the way I teach all my students how to respond Speaker: If you've come to any of my workshops, you've heard me talk about building an emotional connection Speaker: And all my students, they learn that right away Speaker: But I wanna share just one thing that happened with this client when I did what I teach. I wanna share with you how she responded Speaker: I asked this question: If the younger version of you could see you now, what do you think she would admire most? Speaker: What would you want her to know about the woman she eventually became? Speaker: This is just one of the things I teach my clients to do Speaker: But right now Whether you're a man or a woman, I want you to think about that question. If the younger version of you could see you now what you think they would admire most? Think about that Speaker: The younger you Speaker: It's a very deep question Speaker: And yes, it catches people by surprise. Maybe right now you're thinking about your younger self and how you would answer that question Speaker: If the younger version of you could see you now, how you've lived your life, what you've been through, what you've overcome, what do you think the younger version of you would most admire about you? Speaker: This is a question that you should think about Speaker: Even as I ask this question, it's making me think about my younger self Speaker: And I hope it's helping you to do the same Speaker: So here's is what my potential client, 'cause she hadn't hired me yet, this is what my potential client responded to this question. " Just reading this question made me burst into tears. I could feel the child inside me crying deeply." Speaker: If the younger version of me could see me now, I think she would be amazed that I survived Speaker: Back then, when I was a child, I felt trapped. I felt hopeless And I felt alone. Speaker: As a child, I was always trembling because I believed people would hurt me I didn't think that happiness or freedom were even possible for me Speaker: What I would want the younger version of me to know is this: You are not stuck forever One day you will discover your own freedom, your own voice, and your own strength And one day you will finally become yourself. To little me, smile and be happy. You deserve it Speaker: Then she wrote this: "I can't stop crying because of those final words. The grown-up version of me is crying so deeply right now." Speaker: Now this is just one of the things that I teach my students to do Speaker: So what do you think happened after my potential client, 'cause remember she hadn't hired me yet, what do you think my potential client did after answering this question? Now, this is just one in a series of questions that I ask But what do you think happened? Did she ghost me when I gave my price? Speaker: Absolutely not. She booked me right away. We shot the next day. We had an incredible experience. We were both almost in tears during the shoot. And now I have a client for life. The way she walked through the door, the way she walked out the door Let me know that Before I could get home, I had a message from her about the shoot, about the questions that I asked. Speaker: And she said, "I've never had an experience like that before in my life. I don't know what you did, but thank you." Speaker: I hope you really hear this message Speaker: Right now, at this moment, we're not taking on new students, but you can get on the wait list So when the doors open again, you can learn how to turn things around in a way that you'll never get ghosted again. Wouldn't you like that? Every photographer would It's not about your talent. It's not about your work Speaker: Maybe you're just not answering questions the right way in a way that builds trust before they ever hear your price Speaker: to get on my waitlist Just go to the show notes. That's the only place where you'll find the link. It's in the show notes to be on the waiting list. So the next time we open the doors, you can be one of the first to be a part Speaker: of the client breakthrough This is powerful stuff Speaker: Maybe you're wondering what kind of questions that we ask. What kind of questions do I teach my students how to ask? I can guarantee you this, it's not what you're thinking Speaker: Because what you're thinking is probably what everybody else is doing, and everybody is getting the same results. Many people are getting ghosted or people are price shopping Speaker: That's not the way to have a successful career. Whether you're doing commercial work or personal work It doesn't matter Speaker: We are all flesh and blood Speaker: We all have emotions. We all had a childhood. We all live life Speaker: If you wanna have a better life doing what you love as a photographer, do me a favor, go to the show notes and get on the waiting list All right. I hope this message resonated with you Speaker: And I look forward to seeing you very soon. But first, jump on the waiting list so you're ready to jump right in the next time we open the doors. Until then, bye for now.👉 JOIN THE WAITLIST 

Day Three: Client Conversion Challenge Finale Speaker: Wow. Now that was a fantastic week. Were you there? Last week we did part one and part two of the Client Conversion Challenge, and I've got to say, number one, thank you to everyone who showed up. If you missed it, you actually missed a lot. Speaker: Last week in the podcast, I talked about trust because here's the truth, it's not about your work. A lot of us are trying to be better photographers, and I get it because back in the day, you had to be a better photographer to get work. But that was before AI came on the scene. Before there were millions of photographers. Today, there's just too many things going on, and a client is not going to book you unless they trust you. So last week, in day one and day two of the Client Conversion Challenge, it was all about trust and teaching you how to have clients really trust you. Speaker: But the final day, that happens tomorrow. Speaker: It is the most important day of all. Speaker: If you missed day one and two. You still have a chance to come and check out day three, which is the most important day. Speaker: This is live. You've got to show up. Speaker: But here's what happens when you do show up. Clients learn to show up as well. They stop ghosting you. They learn to trust you before they ever meet you. Maybe you're wondering, how does that happen? Come to day three and find out for yourself. Speaker: All you have to do is click the link that's in the show notes, or if you're on Instagram, go to my page under Matthew Jordan Smith, and there at the top is the link for you to sign up. Once you sign up, you get all the announcements with the link to the live Zoom meeting. Speaker: Now, I still have a lot to do. So today it's very short. Speaker: But the message. Speaker: This will last the rest of your photography career. Speaker: And you'll have a long career once you learn. Speaker: How to build trust. Speaker: I look forward to seeing you there live. At the end of the live, we're taking live Q&A, so you can ask your questions to me directly. Come and join me. I look forward to seeing you for day three of the Client Conversion Challenge. I'll see you soon. Bye for now.

How do they know who you are? Speaker 2: Let me ask you a question. How does someone know you're a photographer? I want you to think about that for a second. Speaker 2: How do they really know you're a photographer? Is it just because you say so? Speaker 2: Today is gonna be a different type of podcast. Speaker 2: And for those who can hear me, Speaker 2: I truly hope this resonates because this episode is not for you to hear with your ears. It's for you to hear with your heart. Speaker 2: A lot has been happening in our world. A lot. Speaker 2: But it didn't just begin this year. It started a long time ago Speaker 2: When someone planted a seed. Speaker 2: The seed was fake news. Speaker 2: Back then, there was no such thing. Speaker 2: The opposite is true today. Speaker 2: Today, many people are staying quiet because of fear. Speaker 2: But as a person of color, I cannot stay quiet. Speaker 2: Seeing everything that I have been seeing, hearing everything that I've been hearing. You've heard it. You're seeing it too. Speaker 2: Some are taking it seriously, Speaker 2: Some are saying, "Oh, just wait till the end of the year." Speaker 2: The truth is, no one knows the future. Speaker 2: I told you this was gonna be a very different type of podcast. Speaker 2: Let me turn back to that first question. Speaker 2: How does someone know you're a photographer? Speaker 2: Do they know that just because you say you're a photographer? Speaker 2: We are living in a world where people are saying a lot of things. Speaker 2: Taking on all types of labels, and people are believing them just because they say it. Speaker 2: Someone very wise once said, Speaker 2: "You know a tree by its fruit." Speaker 2: Let's say you're walking by a bunch of trees. Speaker 2: All these trees are packed with fruit. The fruit's red. You recognize it. You know what it is. Speaker 2: But somebody mislabeled all the trees and said, "Oh, these are lemon trees." You can see with your eyes they're apples. You can tell. Speaker 2: By just looking at them. You recognize the apple. You grab the apple, you take a bite, it's sweet. Speaker 2: You recognize that taste. Speaker 2: But the person who labeled the trees comes and tells you, "No, that's a lemon tree." Speaker 2: But you saw it with your own eyes. You took a bite to taste it for yourself. Speaker 2: You can hear what it sounds like as you take the bite. Speaker 2: There is nothing that tells you that what you've just tasted, what you've just seen, what you've just heard is anything but an apple. Speaker 2: But then a thousand people stand behind the person who said, "That's a lemon tree," and they all say, "Oh, no, that's a lemon tree." Speaker 2: Don't be fooled by the crowd. Speaker 2: Just because the majority says, "That's a lemon tree," doesn't make it so. Speaker 2: Like the wise one once said, "You will know a tree by its fruit, by what it produces." Speaker 2: So if someone says, "I'm a photographer," but they've never touched a camera, is that a photographer? Speaker 2: Today, many people are saying they are Christian. Speaker 2: But have no idea what that means. Speaker 2: To be honest, you don't have to know. All you have to do is look at the fruit, what they produce. That will tell you everything. Speaker 2: Yes. I told you this was gonna be a very different type of podcast today. Speaker 2: We are living in very dangerous times. I, for one, I've seen enough. I know you have, too. This, of all the times in our lifetime, is not the time to stay quiet. Speaker 2: Or to be confused because somebody says they're one thing, Speaker 2: But the fruit that they are producing is showing something entirely different. Speaker 2: It's not about what anybody says, it's about what they do and the fruit that they produce. Speaker 2: There's a very wise book that talks about a time when people will be able to hear but not able to hear. See with their eyes but not be able to see what's happening right in front of them. Speaker 2: I actually never thought that I would see that in my lifetime, but now we are. Speaker 2: Don't be fooled. Speaker 2: By people who tell you that they are one thing and they show you the opposite. Speaker 2: I don't know what's coming. None of us do. Speaker 2: But I don't want you to be fearful. Speaker 2: Don't want thoughts and prayers. Speaker 2: Unless you really believe in prayer and know the power of it. Speaker 2: So we are seeing a lot that's happening all over the world. Speaker 2: If you feel anything, Speaker 2: And if you are the person who believes in prayer, I know there are a lot who don't. For those of you who do, I want you to do something that's more powerful than anything that we know. Join me in prayer. Don't pray with your mouth. Speaker 2: Pray from your heart. It's a very different thing. Speaker 2: I, for one, I know the power of prayer. Speaker 2: Not lip service for people. That doesn't count. It doesn't matter. It doesn't do anything. Speaker 2: Pray earnestly from your heart. Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, anything that's bothering you, Speaker 2: Your career, your personal life, your life in general, the lives of people around you, your country, the world, anything that's affecting you right now, that's bugging you, I want you to pray about that right now. Speaker 2: Not in front of anybody else. Go into your secret place and talk to the Creator about exactly what you're feeling. That's the only way you'll be heard. Speaker 2: I had a person ask me the other day, "Matthew, well, how do you pray?" And this is what I said. Speaker 2: You talk to the Creator the same way you're talking to me. Speaker 2: From your heart, not from your mouth. Speaker 2: Pray from your heart. Speaker 2: You see, we are always trying to figure things out on our own. Speaker 2: But there are a lot of things that are beyond our understanding, Speaker 2: Beyond our control. Speaker 2: So don't be afraid. Pray. But really pray. Speaker 2: Not going through the motions, 'cause that, that does nothing. Speaker 2: Talk to the Creator the way you talk to your best friend. Speaker 2: And let's watch what happens. I told you this is going to be a very different type of podcast. Speaker 2: I hope you heard it. Speaker 2: Bye for now.

Why Better Photography Alone Will Not Fill Your Calendar Speaker: There's a belief that keeps many photographers stuck. It sounds noble. It sounds humble. Speaker: It sounds like dedication. It says, "I just need to get better. Now let me be clear. You should keep growing. You should refine your craft. You should study light, posing, composition, editing, storytelling, direction, and that client experience. Speaker: Regardless of what AI does, mastery matters. But not just in the photography part. In the client experience part. Things have changed. Maybe you noticed. Mastering photography is not enough. Not when there's AI. You see, better photography alone will not fill your calendar. Speaker: And I know a lot of photographers don't want to hear that today. AI is scary, I get it. Because improving your craft, it just feels safe. But trust me, if that's all you're doing, you're going to be left behind. Speaker: Now I know when you're just working on your craft, it feels like you're in control. Speaker: It lets you avoid the discomfort of being seen, being clear, charging properly, following up, selling, and saying this is why my work matters. Speaker: So you buy more presets. Speaker: Study another photographer's work. Try to copy what they're doing, tweak your portfolio And tell yourself you're almost ready. Speaker: But readiness can become a hiding place. Are you hiding? Speaker: Are you hiding from the truth? Speaker: You see today, craft and photography has become the acceptable form of avoidance. I get it. That's a strong statement. But I want you to sit with it. Speaker: Are you improving your photography because your clients need a better result? Is that what you think? Today, in the world of AI. Speaker: Or are you improving because you're afraid to be more visible with the work you already have? Speaker: Many photographers are trusting themselves behind the camera more than they trust themselves in the market. Behind the camera, I get it. You know what to do. You can see the light. You can direct the pose, compose the frame, edit the image. Speaker: But I'm telling you, that's the old way. And doing the old way is gonna make you disappear. Speaker: If you're still saying, "I'm just a natural light photographer. I'm still building my business. I'm pretty affordable. Speaker: I'd love to work with you." Speaker: That language is not being humble is being uncertain. And sadly, uncertainty is contagious. Speaker: Now, I'm not saying you need to become loud or arrogant or pushy. It just means you need to become clear. Clear about who you serve. Clear about what you create. Speaker: Clear about the transformation your client is going to receive. Speaker: And clear about why your process matters. Speaker: But this also needs to be crystal clear to your clients. Clear about what happens after someone says yes. Speaker: You see a client, they don't need you to be perfect. AI is perfect. We don't need to be perfect. We need to be trustworthy. You need to be trustworthy. And trustworthiness is communicated through more than just images. Speaker: It's communicated through your words. Yes, words matter now more than ever. Also, your structure, your guidance, and your ability to make the next. Speaker: And your ability to make the next step feel safe. You see, this is why I created this three-day client conversion challenge. Speaker: Is focused on conversion. Speaker: And conversion? It's not about pressure. It's about helping the right person move from interest to decision. Speaker: For many photographers, that switch is not happening because they keep trying to prove talent instead of communicating trust. Speaker: If you wanna learn how to help clients trust you, because they're not gonna book you until they trust you, I'd like for you to come to the three-day challenge. It begins this week. Speaker: Now, why the word challenge instead of workshop? Because the challenge is for you to take action. Number one, sign up today. Then the next challenge is to show up. After that, the next challenge is to take action on everything you learned. Speaker: This is for you. If they're ghosting you, they don't trust you. If they're not booking you, they don't trust you. If you want them to trust you and to book you, come to the three-day client conversion challenge. The challenge is for you. Speaker: We're going to end this today. So right now, in this moment, you can sign up, put it in your calendar, and show up. Speaker: Now, if you skip this, you don't sign up, you don't show up, and the next time a client disappears, you now know why. Speaker: But I know that's not going to be you, because right now you're going to sign up, and more importantly, you're gonna show up and learn how to help clients trust you so they can book you, so you can have the life as a photographer that you've been dreaming of. Let's get started now. Right now, go and click on the link. Speaker: It's in my bio in Instagram, and it's also in the show notes. Join the three-day client conversion challenge. We're starting this week. Speaker: All right. I look forward to seeing you very soon live. Let's build trust. Bye for now.

Trust Through Client Trust, Not Gear Speaker: What if the reason clients are not booking you has nothing to do with your photography? Speaker: That sentence might feel confronting. It might even feel unfair Because you've worked hard. You've invested in your camera, your lenses, your editing, your website, your Instagram, your portfolio, your pricing guides, your presets, your client experience. You get the picture. You've invested a lot, and still, your calendar is not full as it should be. You see other photographers getting booked. Speaker: Many of them are not better than you. Speaker: Some of them don't even have stronger images. Speaker: And some still are not more experienced, more creative, more gifted than you. Speaker: And that is the part that quietly hurts. Speaker: Because when you're a talented photographer and clients just are not choosing you, the first place your mind goes is, "Maybe I'm not good enough." But you got to hear this. Your photography may not be the problem. Speaker: Maybe you're just not showing up in the right places. Speaker: You see, maybe the problem is that your business is not helping people trust you fast enough. Speaker: And you're not even trying to learn And that's a difficult problem. Speaker: You see, we think about skill as photographer and a skill problem says, "I need to become a better photographer before I get booked." That's what a lot of people think. A trust problem says I need to communicate the value of my work in a way that makes the right client feel certain to choose me. Speaker: You see, those are not the same thing. And too many photographers are just trying to solve a problem based on skill. Speaker: No matter what you hear, you still keep thinking it's a skill problem. Speaker: Does this sound like you? I just need one more light. I just need that other lens And then I'll get more clients. Then I can shoot Whatever you shoot. Speaker: It doesn't matter how much you post on Instagram, how many mini sessions you have, how much you lower your price, how much you refresh your website. Speaker: Maybe you tell yourself you just need to be more consistent But deep down, you know something is off. Speaker: Our clients, they don't book people who show up. They book photographers that understand, trust, and feel emotionally safe to choose. And this is especially true if you work with people. If you do celebrity portraits, fashion and beauty, families, maternity, personal branding, weddings, if you're working with people, this is especially true. Somebody emailed me the other day and said, "Well, I wanna do fashion and celebrity." Speaker: And from the conversation, they were only focused on getting more gear, thinking that would solve the problem. Speaker: Sadly, this is what I hear all the time. Maybe you're thinking that as well. Speaker: We've got to understand, when somebody hires you to photograph them or someone they love. Speaker: Or they hire you in a commercial way, fashion, beauty, celebrity. They're not buying pictures. They are trusting you with identity. Let's say you wanna shoot fashion and beauty. Or no, l- let's say you wanna shoot celebrity, 'cause I get that one a lot. "Matthew, how do I shoot celebrities?" So let's go there. Speaker: They're not just trusting you to take their picture. Anybody can do that. They're trusting you with their identity. You've got to understand that. Speaker: The truth is, it's not just about celebrity. Everybody is trusting you with their identity, trusting you with their memories, with their confidence, and sometimes one of the most meaningful seasons of their life. You've got to get this. Whether you're doing commercial photography or you want to do commercial photography or you want to do more portraits or you want to just have a better business, you've got to understand this. Speaker: If your message is vague, apologetic, purely visual, clients, they may admire your images and still not be ready to book you. Speaker: They may think, "Oh, beautiful work." Guess what? Everybody can do beautiful work. In the age of AI, that's nothing special. What else do you have? Speaker: You see, when a client feels uncertain, they're gonna hesitate. They're gonna price shop. Speaker: And this hurts most of all. They're going to disappear And then you blame yourself. Speaker: But the real issue is your business has not created enough trust for them to hire you or to come back again or to refer you to other people. Speaker: This is exactly why I created this three-day client conversion challenge. Speaker: But the last time I did this, a lot of people signed up. Speaker: Because you know the message is speaking to you, directly to you and your problem. But then during the challenge, Minnie just didn't show up. Speaker: Why is that? Speaker: Now, if that's you, you signed up, you didn't show up, and you still have the same problem, and you're still beating yourself up, I get it. That's why I'm going to do it again. Speaker: Starting next Tuesday. Speaker: You have another chance. Not only to sign up, but to show up. Speaker: You see, clients can tell the ones who are really showing up, And that's the photographers that they're booking. Speaker: So here's my challenge to you. Sign up today. The link is in the show notes. It's also in my Instagram bio. Speaker: This will probably be the last time you get this opportunity. Speaker: If you skip it and you still keep having the problem, I want you to look in the mirror and ask yourself why you're not showing up. Speaker: Today, we're going to leave it there. Because now, this moment is the time for you to sign up, put it in your calendar, block the time for yourself, and show up. These three days are here just for you. Speaker: It starts on Tuesday. You know what to do. Until next time, bye for now.

Building Client Trust and Pricing Confidence in Photography For those who may have missed day one, it was pretty amazing. We're gonna go into day two today. I'm gonna share my screen and get this going today. Super excited about this as we go into the challenge. But before we do, I wanna ask everyone a question. Whether you're here live or seeing the recording of this, I'd like to ask you, are you sitting back and waiting to be chosen? It's okay if that happens because I know a lot of people are. We are all like, um, kind of just waiting for someone to see our work and say, "I choose you." And that does happen sometimes. I'm not gonna say it doesn't, because it does. However, it's not how you run a business. Running a business is challenging. This is a client conversion challenge, and I chose to use the word challenge because business is not easy. Whether this is your full-time business or it's just a hobby, wherever you are, this is not an easy business. It can be challenging for many photographers. Uh, if you're just getting started, you may not know that. If you've been doing this for a while, you definitely know photography today can be challenging. So this is a client conversion challenge. Converting clients can be a challenge. No, it is a challenge. But it doesn't have to be, and that's why we're here today, to go through the steps to get you to understand that it's not about you. It's not your fault if you're not getting work. It's just that we've been taught the wrong way. And I think a lot of that has come because today a lot of the time people are, are really... Actually, the companies are really consumed with doing one thing, having more business, selling more gear. But today is about going beyond gear. It's about the work. So day one you discovered something very important in photography. You don't have a client conversion challenge yet, but we're here to fix that. Today, we begin building that system and dive into pricing. A lot of photographers are not charging enough for the effort, for the work, for the time that they put in, and they know it. They feel it, but they're scared if they raise their prices, clients will disappear. We'll go beyond that. We're gonna dive into that today. Today is stage two, day two of the client conversion challenge, and we're gonna dive into a framework because a framework is gonna help you see things differently. So what is that? What's the biggest part of the framework? It's trust. If clients don't trust you, they are not going to hire you. So it happens in stages. Stage one, it has to be more than just them seeing your work. It needs to be an emotional connection, emotional attraction to your work, to your messaging. If that's not there, they may not be coming the way they should. Stage two, trust conversion. Right before we started today, I got a message from a client talking about a challenge that she is having, and after today I'm gonna contact her and get on and talk about how we together can work to build client trust more and convert more. It's very hard when you're doing everything by yourself, and today in photography, a lot of photographers are. We're by ourself in our own head going through all of our struggles, our challenges alone. But I'm glad you're here because this is where we go beyond that. Let's talk about stage three. Stage three is the experience being amplified. That's exactly what I want to talk to my client about, amplifying the experience, and a lot of us don't think about that. When you amplify the experience, that becomes an attraction mechanism to bring clients to you as well. And then number four, we talked about this in day one a little bit, that referral engine. You have to have that momentum of referrals or business stops. I want business to be easier for you, so today I'm gonna help you go through things that will help you to make it easier. We'll talk about pricing also. We talked about pricing a little bit on day one. We're going deeper into pricing today. So thank you for being here. Day one was not about fixing everything. That's impossible in one day, as you already know. Today is about seeing clearly why things haven't been working out. Today, we connect that clarity to pricing. To trust, which you must have, and your income. Let's get going today. Also, today will not be as long as day one. I won't keep you as long. Day three is a full packed day, and the most important day out of all these three days. But right now, let's dive into pricing. Your pricing. Most clients can sense your value. They sense it when they see your work. They just hope you don't know it. They see your value. They're attracted to what you have. They may ask for a discount, hoping that you don't know your value. I want to make sure you do. Most photographers think that pricing, going up on your prices, is about courage. It is not. Pricing, your price that you charge, is about trust, and trust is built with a system. Without that, you don't have that. You have to have trust for a client to pay your rate. They know what you're worth. They're hoping you don't see it. Let's talk about the reality of all of that. When there is no system in place, things get a little shaky. It becomes reactive pricing. You may change your pricing in the moment. Even though you may have a price list, somebody ask for a discount, and right away you give that discount. That's reactive pricing. That's also a fear based decision because you may be thinking, "Okay, I haven't worked in the last two months. I need this job." They can sense that, and you lower your price. That's a fear based decision, and it's a losing battle because that client knows, "Okay, this person doesn't believe in themselves." They sense that. They see your value. They know it's valuable, but they want that discount, and that client will keep asking for more and more and more, and you feel worse and worse. That's not a business. Let's get to that dream island, away from that old reality to a new reality where you have predictable income. That takes having a system that you work each and every time. You're not rehashing something new each and every time. You're working that same system. It's a repeatable system. It's value based pricing, and clients understand and see value. We all know that. We all know the discount stores. We all know the high priced value stores. We know the discount cars What they look like. We know the valuable, expensive, beautiful cars. We know what they look like and what they should cost. Your clients know also. And when you present this in a calm way, clients will make a calm decision. So we all know this. Now we have to use this to our advantage. I had you pull out your workbook in day one. You were supposed to download that. You can also download it even now. The download is in each and every one of your emails for the workbook. I'd like for you to pull that workbook out now. And this is where you write. There is really power in writing pen to paper. So with your workbook, it's great when you can print it out. It's a PDF, you can print it out. I'd like for you to keep this workbook long after this three-day challenge is over, and I'd like for you to look at it every single month, let's say the beginning of every month, to look at that workbook and ask yourself, are you growing as a photographer, as a business? You're not staying the same. Either you're either getting worse or you're getting better. Nothing stays the same. This workbook shows you where you are and how to grow. So I asked you on day one a very scary question. I asked you to make a goal to double your numbers. I asked you to write down two different numbers and to double them. And I know that part may feel scary, right? It doesn't have to. When I ask you to double what you made over the last twelve months and to look at that number, that's a number that can be a goal. Now, how do you get there? With a system. The system helps you get there. This, this doubling your number, this new income goal of what you made last year or in the last twelve months, it may feel impossible, but with a client conversion system in place where you're not guessing, you're not making last minute decisions, you're just working your plan, it becomes easy and predictable. But you've got to have this system in place and not make fear-based decisions. I know that it's hard to do at first. It takes practice, but you can do this. I want you to imagine this. What would it look like to run your photography business, be it a hobby, business, on the side, wherever it is for you right now. What would it look like? Imagine this with a clear, straightforward System instead of struggling to survive. What would that look like? Better yet, what would that feel like every month to know that you had clients coming in, every month to know that you're not worried about income? That would be a good feeling. I want you to take that in because that's what a system can give to you. Now, where is the system breaking down? Ask yourself this honestly. This is not for me. I want you to ask yourself these questions and think about each of them. Are clients asking your price, then going quiet? Ghosting. They ask for your price, you give your price because you want to honor what they asked, and then they disappear. There's a way around that, and that is called having a system in place to do those things I talked about in the beginning. Connect emotionally. Giving a price doesn't have an emotion. Maybe fear, but not the right emotion. The system I teach teaches you how to change all of that so they don't disappear and they don't ghost you. If those inquiries are disappearing, it's because they're only looking at numbers and only thinking with one part of the brain, and it's not the emotional side. Are clients booking you one time and never referring you to another client? Or even worse, are they ref- never coming back after that first time? That's the lack of a system. And it's not our fault. As photographers, it's not our fault because we weren't taught this. You learn this by going through the ups and downs of business, and that's why I'm here teaching this. So you now know it's not your fault, it's just that we haven't been taught the real reason about having a business and running our business in a way that feeds our soul is by having structure. A system is framework, it's structure. Do you feel uncomfortable when you present your price? Somebody asked your price, and all of a sudden you gotta figure out how you're gonna give it. If that's what you're feeling each and every time, that's also the lack of a system. The system takes all of that away of guessing how you're gonna do something. It gives you a straightforward path to doing it. If even one of these things I've just mentioned is happening It's not a talent issue, and very often, photographers, we feel it's a talent issue. It's not. It's a system gap. That's all that is. It's not about your talent. Pricing success is a process. It is not a number. Don't think about the number. Whatever you charge, that part doesn't matter. As a matter of fact, when you have a system in place, you can raise your prices and attract better clients who see and understand your value. So let's do this right now. Let's go through three steps to pricing success, three steps to having success with raising your prices, getting your price. Step one, you've got to dream it. You gotta visualize where you want to be with your prices, and actually see people paying you what you know you are worth. Before I go on, I want you to even just close your eyes and think about that. What does that feel like to be able to charge what you want and have that client hire you? Take that feeling in right now, because it's a good feeling. Define your price goal clearly. I had you write it down on day one. I know that's a scary one. But I want you to take that in right now and ask yourself, what would a true breakthrough for you look like and feel like for you? For each of us, it's very different. But for you, what would it feel like to have a real breakthrough in your photography business? Only you know that. What would that look like for you? If you had that workbook, do me a favor and write that down in your workbook so you understand what it feels like. Sometimes we hide from things that we, we need to know. When you write it down, and you're writing this down for yourself, and it's not for anybody else, when you write these things down and look at them, your own handwriting, not on your computer, not on a, on a device, your handwriting, pen to paper, pencil to paper, whatever you wanna do, when you look at that, it hits differently. This is why I really love when you can write. So imagining things, sometimes it's hard. So I have this picture here for you to just imagine how beautiful life can be. Take this picture in right now. We've all seen a moment like this, and we all know what this feels like. Even though we see a moment like this throughout our lives very often, it never gets old, right? There's nothing like seeing a beautiful sunset. It makes everybody stop and take it in. If you're on vacation on some great island or somewhere beautiful on a ship, it doesn't matter where you are, and the sun sets, everybody pauses, stops, and takes in that great, beautiful feeling. That's what your business can feel like, where you stop, take it in, and feel like, "Okay, I am growing. I'm not where I was before. I'm on the other side." That's why I'm here today to help you get there, to take it in and feel it. So dreaming it is very important. Setting three goals is important as well. I asked you on day one to set a big, scary goal, and I know that can be hard. So let's break it down now to three different goals. You had that big, scary goal. That was your first one. You wrote that down on day one. I asked you to double your numbers. But let's also make two more goals that aren't as difficult, so we can visualize this as well. Besides that big, scary goal, make a second goal, a solid goal. But this needs to be a number where you are proud of, of where you're growing. You're not where you were, but you've grown enough where you feel proud in that number. You've got to know if you're growing or not. You can't just go through and not knowing these numbers. They are important for you to see if you are growing or not. Then make a third goal. This goal is a safety goal. This is the minimum price that still moves you forward. So now you should have three goals written down. That big, scary goal. Then a goal that's a proud number. You're, you're growing. It's not the big, scary goal, so you're not doing, like, doubling your income, but you're growing enough, maybe twenty-five percent more than what you were making, and that makes you feel good. Then make a goal where you're moving forward. You're not where you were, but you're moving floor- forward a little bit. Maybe you've only added one more client from where you had last year. That is still growth, and I want you to celebrate when there's growth in any way. You have to feel good, take it in, and acknowledge that. So having goals is very important. You can't just willy nilly go through things and not take account of what's happening. You have to because you need to honor it and celebrate your growth. Let's go to step two, your client journey. This is the journey that your client goes on the moment they inquire about your work and hiring you. Your client journey determines what your prices mean. Maybe you've never heard about a client journey before. You're going to hear that a lot from me because it is very important. If there is no client journey, clients disappear. They ghost you. They do not refer you. That's not a business. That's a hope. I want you to have a business where you're thriving. And guess what? No matter where the economy is, I know we're going through challenging times all around the world, but people who are thriving, they're not as worried. When you have a system, it is economy proof. It's recession proof. And we all need that. Trust me, I've been through so many throughout the 30 plus years of my career. Everything, dot com bust, you know, 9-11, financial upheaval in the market. All those things don't matter when you have a system. Not as much. People go out of business because they don't have a system. I don't want that to be you. Prices without a journey, they feel expensive. But prices inside of your journey feel intentional. Do you see that difference? You've got to understand that difference because that is a very important step. Step two is a very important step for you to keep clients, to get referrals, to feel good about working all the time. This is a system in place. Let's talk more about that client journey because it is so very important. Most photographers respond. When you're asked about your prices, you respond with your prices. Book photographers, those who have clients all the time, they design the response. They're not responding by a reaction. Everything is designed. The system is designed. You get an inquiry from a potential client. That's the first part of the journey. Your response to your client begins their journey. What you show to your client is part of now What you show is not just based on what they ask. What you show ignites part of your design in the journey. Your potential client's emotional journey is the first important step you must take. I didn't say anything about showing the prices. Number one, when they ask your price, you respond by igniting an emotional journey. This takes them by surprise 'cause it's not what they're expecting. They're expecting for you to answer their question with your price, and instead, you do something different. You see, client pricing confidence, your client journey determines what your prices mean. Before you can give your price, you have to establish that. On day one of the workshop, you saw where clients fall through the cracks, and this is a big part of the crack. When you just respond with your prices, that's a crack, and they fall through, they disappear, and they ghost you. Today, you're seeing why this kills pricing confidence in photographers, in you. It's not your fault. Stop beating yourself up about that when they disappear. But from this day forward, you now know where the cracks are and why they are disappearing. Step three, confirm it. Use calm, positive language when you speak with your clients. Now, you're probably saying, "Well, Matthew, it's coming through a text message or an email or, or a DM." Still, the language that they read needs to feel that way as well. Calm, positive. I want you to think about how does your message feel? Very often we respond not thinking about what our clients will feel when they read it. It should feel calm and positive. It should reinforce your value throughout the entire process of the journey, and you have to always think customer first. Step three is important. Calm, positive, value, process, and thinking customer first. You're thinking about them. Clients don't just pay for photographs. I mentioned this on day one as well. They're not buying photographs. They pay you for security. They wanna know you can off-- you can give them what they're asking for, and they wanna feel safe about that They wanna trust you. They wanna trust the process. And you having a process, a journey that they go on, builds the trust that you are a professional, that you know what you're doing. It gives them peace of mind, and that peace of mind helps them make that decision. Your system that's designed communicates value before you ever say one word, before you ever speak to them. Wouldn't you want that? A calm way that gives security, trust, and peace of mind so they can make a clear decision. Let's take a look at what that looks like with a before and after picture. Before is a typical inquiry response. They ask you for your price, and you're just like, "Okay, here are my rates. Let me know what you think." And you know what that leads to. Them disappearing, not responding, being quiet. Let's look at the other side, the after. When you are using a client conversion response, clients respond to you in an emotional way because you create an emotional connection right away from that very first response. You reinforce their vision for the shoot, for hiring you. They have a vision right away in their mind, but you're gonna reinforce their vision. You frame the experience of what it feels like to work with you. I haven't mentioned anything about price yet. You anchor value before pricing, then you get booked by them. Then there's a conversion experience. Then you have a happy client, and you have a client that's referring you. Now, look at that before and after and ask yourself, where are you? Are you just giving your price and saying, "Let me know"? That's why they are disappearing, not hiring you as much as they should be hiring you. This is a big difference. And now you know. It has not been your fault. It's just about the structure. You don't build this all at once. You build it one calm decision at a time. Makes a big difference. Now, let's have a reality check. If your client journey is unclear in any way, if there's any doubt, your prices will always feel heavy To your potential clients. If there's any fear, they walk away. If there's any doubt, they walk away. It has to be crystal clear. So ask yourself, is your process clear to your clients when they inquire? Will they know what's gonna happen? 'Cause if they don't, they're not going to say yes. So what's next for day three? On next Tuesday, we'll be diving into most important part of your journey. The most important part of your journey. On day three, I'm gonna show you something extremely important. A client conversion system is not just an idea, it's something you can install in your business. Whether it's your business or a hobby, or you're just thinking about making it your business, or you want extra money on the in, on the side. I'm gonna teach you how to install it. I'm gonna show you how to install this system. So join me for day three, 'cause day three is the most important day of this three-day conversion. I told you today it's not gonna be as long as it was on day one, but I wanna thank you for being here because today you saw it's really not your fault. You talked... We talked about pricing today. We talked about these three steps you need to take. When we end today, we're about to end today right now, I want you to look at your journal. Look at what you wrote down from day one, and then also today in day two. Take a good look at that. Day three, we're putting it all together and fixing your journey. That's what this is about, you moving forward. I wanna thank you for your time today. I wanna thank you for being here. Day three, we're putting all this together. I wanna see you grow. I wanna see you make steps. I wanna see you look at where you were before this challenge and look at yourself after this challenge, and see how life can be much better on the other side If you have questions, do me a favor. Go to the Facebook group. We have a pop-up Facebook group. In all your emails, besides the workbook, you also have a link to our pop-up Facebook group. The Facebook group is live whenever we're doing this challenge. And then it goes away. We put it in hiding until the next time we do this a few months later. But for right now, it's live, which means any question you have from today or from day one, you can go through and put it in there. I'll go through, check out all the messages and respond right away. On day three, you will be able to ask questions at the end live. All right, everyone. Thank you for today. I'm going to contact my client and talk to her about how we can do more and grow together. Thank you for today. Thank you. Make sure you are here on time for day three because day three is the most important day out of all these days. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for being here. I'm so glad to have you here. Have a great rest of your day or night, wherever you are in the city, in the world. And I'll see you on day three of this client conversion challenge. Thank you, everyone. Be good. See you soon. Bye.

Challenging days in photography Today is a very exciting day in a big, big way. I wanna move my screen out the way so I can now present full screen to everyone. Today is a challenge in many ways for photographers, and today we're talking about the challenge. But before we dive into this today, I want to make a statement about where we are as an industry. It's challenging, and I believe it will get more challenging. So this is why this three-day challenge is so important for us, and why I've called it a challenge versus a workshop. We are in a challenging environment right now, so going forward it's not going to be easy. However, if you are prepared for the shift that's coming, you can not only make it, you can thrive. So that's why we're doing this challenge. Welcome to day one of the Client Conversion Challenge. My name is Matthew Jordan Smith. I've been a photographer for a very long time in this industry, and have seen it go through all kinds of changes, from, from when we were all shooting nothing but film, to the transition. The first big shift in my career was from film to digital, and now we are about to see an even bigger shift. Uh, forgive me also 'cause I'm, I'm fighting a cold, but I do have my tea here. We are about to go through maybe the biggest shift of any of our, our lives in terms of photography. I think photography over the past 200 years, it's only 200 years old, almost 200 years old, so it's still a baby, but I believe photography is about to go through the biggest challenge, shift, shakeup it has e- Ever seen. Way more than going from film to digital. And this, this three day challenge is going to prepare you for the shift. I'm talking about AI. We all know that's, it's not just coming, it's here, and it's making major shifts in our career, and it will, uh, going forward, especially commercially. I've been known for shooting celebrities and covers and advertising, and I believe that world is definitely going to shake in a big, big way. But every part of photography, um, has the potential to shake. So I want to prepare us so we can thrive no matter what. So I say all this from having all this experience of working as a photographer for decades. Also, with decades of also sharing the joy of photography, teaching all over the world, sharing what I believe is the best art form in the world, photography, and I wanna do it for the rest of my life, and I wanna help others thrive. And I have students all over the world who I've helped have success, so everything you're about to hear today is gonna help you have success. It doesn't matter where you are, doesn't matter what you're shooting. If you're working with people in any way, I think this is gonna help you going forward for the rest of your journey to make you successful so you can thrive, not just once, but long term as this industry, as photography changes massively. So I know maybe a lot of us might be feeling lost in the crowd these days. I get it. It's a very crowded field of photography. I think that AI is gonna shake that up as well. But no matter where you are, these three days of this challenge are gonna prepare you to thrive no matter what happens. Because the one thing that can't be replaced is human connection. I want you all to hear that very clearly. The one thing that we all, we all crave is human connection. Remember the pandemic? What do we all crave when it's taken away? Connection with other people. Remember that. No matter what AI does to this industry, people will always crave that human connection. So I get it. You know, it's a crowded field, but over the next three days, these next three days of this workshop, they happen today then Thursday and then the following Tuesday. That gives you time to take everything in, do the homework. There is homework to do. You all have a link in your email to the workbook. You will need that each and every day. If you have not downloaded the workbook yet, after today's session, download the workbook and then do the work that we're going to talk about today so you're ready for day two. This is going to be important. The homework is not for me. It's for you so you can grow. I'm going to share a lot of information. All of it is here to help you not only grow, but thrive no matter what's coming our way through all the struggles that are definitely coming through AI and so much more. We are in the midst of a shakeup, but don't worry, I've got your back and I've been through struggles before in this industry and all you have to do is persevere and do these things that really promote connection. Let's get going. Today, you will discover why talent alone has not turned into more income in your photography. I see a lot of talented photographers and today, this is the shakeup part, talent can be, can be hidden. You can fool people without having any talent simply because of AI. So it will be harder to just make it on talent alone because clients can't tell, is this person really talented or is this something else? Is this AI? They're thinking that. So maybe you're wondering why your hard work hasn't created consistency in terms of clients all the time. We'll go through all that today. You're going to find out the real reason why clients hesitate and sometimes they disappear. And why, more importantly, why none of this is a personal failure. We all work, many of us, we work alone, so we internalize everything that happens and many of us take it personally. You don't have to. It's not your fault. There is a shift that's happening and part of that shift is causing all of this anxiety in our industry. But guess what? There's another way. Something's missing, and I'm gonna help you find that piece and turn things around. All right. Everything I share is to identify your specific photography struggles. We're not talking about the rest of the stuff that's been going on in the world. Today is all about photography, and it's meant to point out what you may be overlooking. You know, when we are stuck in our own head, we tend to imagine all kinds of problems, and thinking that it's, oh, our website or our pictures or we're not posting enough. It's none of that. So don't worry about that stuff. But there is something you may be overlooking, and I want to address that. At the end of these three days, I'll give you an opportunity to go further if you'd like. Now, of course, you're gonna get a lot in these next three days of this workshop. However, for those who want to go further, I'll give you the opportunity to go further with me one-on-one and deeper as you want to go further. But let's dive deeper into this. You'll also have an opportunity, too, to work with me personally if you want those faster results. You know, that's, uh, what I do a lot. I help people really learn how to thrive in this industry, and that's why I'm doing this workshop. Um, I'm calling it a challenge, but it's also, like, really a workshop. The challenge is getting over the photography challenges we have today. So welcome to this client conversion challenge. These three days are designed to help you clarify, um, where you are, clarify where you want to go, and give you direction on how to get there. This is your step forward as our industry changes. You know, there's a lot of struggles in photography. We've all seen them. If you've been doing it for a long time, you've been through several changes in our industry, through struggles, and some people fall out. I don't want you to be one of the ones that falls out. So this challenge is to help you move forward. Let me first talk about who this is not for, because I only work with people, so I don't have any experience in terms of making income when it comes to landscape photography, nature photography, birds, cars. I've got friends who do all of that, but I've never made one penny doing that. Now, yes, I do love doing all types of photography, um, going on safari, you know, shooting, uh, stuff, whatever. But in terms of making a living, it comes from working with people. So this workshop, this challenge, is for photographers who are making a living working with people. Maybe you're not making a living yet. Maybe it's your hobby. Wherever you are, if you work with people in any way, you do portraits, you do weddings, you do, um, boudoir, whatever that is, if you work with human beings, I'm here for you, 'cause I know what you are struggling with, and I'm gonna help you thrive long term. More of my, my tea with my lemon and honey in it today. So this isn't about learning to do more. This, this struggle, you're already doing a lot. I know that. I see that. I see so many photographers online. I hear what you're saying. I see what you're saying. You're doing enough right now, but this, this challenge is about prioritizing what to do consistently. That's what's gonna make the difference. When you know what's missing, you can finally stop spinning your wheels doing all this other stuff that we do that may be wasting time. Today is about understanding, understanding why photography has felt so hard, even though you're a very talented photographer producing great work, doing everything that we've been taught to do. Let's go further. Before we start, I want you to n- I want to name something that a lot of people are carrying around with them, and I don't want you to carry it around or feel ashamed about it, but I hear it all the time. I see it all the time, and that's feeling embarrassed about what you charge or discounting and trying to hide that you're discounting. You don't need to be embarrassed or feel ashamed or, or, or any of those feelings because it's a struggle today, and I see photographers struggling just to maintain, and part of that makes you feel like you're behind other photographers. You are not. You're not behind. It's just part of the struggle today, and everybody, a lot of people are going through it. And quietly maybe you're asking yourself, should you give up on photography? We are seeing that. We're hearing the whispers. Um, I have friends who are constantly saying, "Oh, how is business?" And I know where that comes from. I get it. That doesn't have to be you. So this isn't about more, more hustle. It's not even about motivation. It's not about even you having more confidence. It's about structure. Above everything, motivation, hustle, confidence, structure is going to change your business where you can thrive long term, not just for a week. You can hustle for a while, but then you're gonna burn out. Structure makes your life so much easier. So step one, I want you to use your workbook. For those who have not downloaded your workbook, in each of your emails, there's a link for you to download the workbook and to join the Facebook page. The Facebook page is a pop-up Facebook page that's just for this challenge. It goes into sleep mode after the challenge, but right now it's live as we do this challenge. So step one, if you don't have the workbook, just do this on a piece of paper or do it right after this workshop. Um, I want you to count your clients in the past year. So the past 12 months from today, how many clients have you had? This number is important for us to know. We can guess or we can, like, think, "Oh yeah, I think I had, I had a lot of clients." But that's just a guess. If you don't know the exact number, you're guessing. I don't want us to guess anymore. You need to know this to move forward, especially as our, as our world changes. So why am I asking you to count your clients over the last 12 months? It's not to make you feel any way, good or bad. It's just information. You'll need this information going forward. Okay. Now let's go into questions about this. I'm asking you about your past 12 months so you can hold up a, up a mirror to look at your business to see where you are. Unless you know where you are- You won't know when growth happens, and this workshop, this challenge, is about you growing, getting more clients. How will you know if you've had more clients if you don't know how many clients you've had in the past? That's why I want you to write down... And it's not for me. I'm never gonna ask you to show that number. I want you to write this down for yourself. The workbook is for you to look back on month after month and see whether or not you are growing from where you were. This, this challenge is about growth in your business. Now, out of those clients that you had those past 12 months, how many of them have you worked with more than once? Repeat clients. So that number, I want you to write that number down also. It's important to know how many repeat clients you've had out of all your clients. Now, why is that important? It is extremely difficult to find a new client every single week, every single month. That's a hard, hard road to... A hard, a hard mountain to climb. However, when you have repeat business, then you have a machine working in your business. Now, I want you to think about this. How many clients were referred to you by other clients? These are three really important questions for you to ask yourself. Don't skip this. Don't skip this, or you may find yourself really struggling as our industry changes. We are in the midst of change, so this information, please do not say, "Oh, I'll do this later on." Do it. Don't put it off. You put it off at your own peril. This, this is important information to help you grow. So write the numbers down and take a good long look at them. These numbers, it's not, it's not a math exercise. It's about truth, for you to understand your numbers. AI is lying to us, deceiving people, but numbers, numbers don't lie. Numbers tell you everything about where you are, and they're gonna tell you when you are growing. And when you see yourself beginning to grow one more client than you had last year, one more client that becomes a repeat client, that turns into that client referring you to other clients, that turns into 10 extra clients, and then you see that number and what that one small difference makes, it's a wake-up call. So this, this is a truth exercise, so please don't skip any of this. All of this throughout this entire challenge, each and every day is extremely important. So please show up. Please do the work. This is for you, and it will add to your bottom line. All right, let's keep going. Your numbers are not a verdict of your worth. We've just said that a little bit as well. It's just numbers for you to see where you are. It's a snapshot of where you are. This challenge about... It's about where you want to go, how you're gonna grow. That's what this is all about. Now, the referral part is a big part of our industry, and you being successful long-term, and you having a predictable income. Referral rate. If your referral rate is less than 40%, you do not have a referral engine in place. You've got to have that. Maybe you, you've worked a lot, and then you have a month where there's nothing. That's called feast or famine. I've got a lot of friends who've been through it. I've been through it before. You have to have a referral engine, a way for clients to refer you, and you have to ask. You have to put it in place in your business. Without that, you are wishing and hoping every month for work. You're doing all these things that we're taught to do besides the things that really make a difference. Without a referral engine in place, your business becomes unstable. And the shift that we're going through now, it will become more unstable, so this is extremely important for us to grow. Step two, write how much. We went through numbers earlier talking about how many clients. Now step two, I want you... And this is just for you. It's not for me. Don't show this to anybody else. It's just for you to see. This is a truth exercise, part two. How many of you know how much you made as a photographer in the last 12 months? Look at that number. I know we've all done taxes and all those things. Hopefully by now you should know how much you made as a photographer. Even if it's a hobby you're doing on the side, you have a full-time job and you shoot on weekends or, or whenever you have a break, uh, for extra income, add up that extra income just by itself, not your other work, just your photography income. You should know that amount of work that you've done over the last year. This number is also important. You can't just guesstimate, "Oh, I think I made..." That's not good enough. You need to be exact. To see when you are growing, you have to have an exact number. If you don't know the number now, go back and find out so you're ready for day two of the workshop. So when we're talking about numbers, I want you to do me a favor and notice what comes up in your body. Are you holding any tension in your shoulders, in your neck? I want you right now to all just do me a favor, take a deep breath and release it. Let all that go. There's no shame about any of this. There's... Let the tightness go, let the frustration go. Whatever you're feeling, let all that go. This is just information, and once you have the information, then you can really grow. This is not making you feel bad about anything that's happening, or maybe you're doing very, very good, and you feel great about what your, what your numbers are saying about you. Still, there's room for growth, and this is about growth, moving you forward. Most photographers, you know, they don't fail because they aren't working hard. I see... As a matter of fact, almost every photographer I know personally is working very hard. I see it. I hear it. I see your posts. I see what everybody's doing. People fail because they never learn, they've never learned how to build something that supports them. That's the difference. What we're taught is about using the gear. That doesn't really support you. Buying gear does not support us. We all want all the shiny things. I do, too. Trust me, I want the best cameras, lenses, lights. We all want that stuff, but I'm talking about the business, how you support yourself so you can buy all the new great- latest, greatest. So we have to have business coming in to do that. So let's go into step three. Whatever number you wrote down, be it the number for the clients that you shot, be it the number for the income, I want you to double both those numbers. Take a good look at that number now. This is why it's important to have the workbook, so you can write these numbers down. If you don't have the workbook, if you did not download it, do it after this, we finish today, and do this work. And look at it, look at the numbers and start thinking about what does it take to get there? I know it might feel impossible when we talk about doubling numbers, doubling the number of clients, doubling the number of income, but it's not. This is just powerful information that we all must have. We can't put our heads in the sand and ignore this. It might feel impossible. I get that. But this is not about ability. This is about the lack of something that's important that's probably missing in your business, and this workshop, this challenge is here to help you get this. Let me share a story with you so you know that I'm not just, you know, uh, talking off the top of my head. For those who don't know, um, I live in Japan now, but I used to live in the States. And in the States I made a living, uh, photographing a lot of celebrities, um, some of the biggest celebrities, like Oprah I've shot since the mid-'90s, um, and shot throughout, um, into the 2000s. Um, but now I live in Japan. So I moved where nobody knew my name, knew my work, and didn't care about the celebrities in America that I shot 'cause I was in a new country. So in a big way, it was like starting from scratch for me. It was like beginning my, my career all over again. I had no work. I had no clients. I was on empty. I did not speak the language. I was struggling and I was depressed, wondering if I made a mistake by moving to this other country, thinking that my career in the States would move me forward. It did not. I tried posting more. I lowered my prices. I'm not ashamed to say it. I lowered my prices. I tried other types of photography. Nothing was working. Nothing. I was depressed, ended up getting on my knees and praying to God, asking for guidance, asking for help, asking... Have I made a mistake? Should I, should I move back to the States? Can I make it here? And the funny thing that happened when I humbled myself and asked for help, everything changed. It was there at my darkest hour when I was about to quit photography altogether, that the Creator reminded me how I began my career. It wasn't about the gear. It wasn't about all that stuff that we think about. There was no posting back then. It wasn't all these things that you think help get us work. In the beginning of my career, I had a way to convert a stranger into a client. I call that a client conversion system. And at the beginning of my career, I had one client. That's it. For a long time at the start of my career, there was one client, and that client hired me over and over and over again, and people saw that. And then other clients saw it, and they started hiring me over and over and over again. A client conversion system. Now, moving to another country, guess what? That makes no difference. You still need a way to convert a client, and it begins by having one client first and having that client refer you to other clients, and then it snowballs. So the system didn't change. My environment changed. All I had to do was go back to the system. This system is gonna work through no matter what happens in our industry. Going from film to digital, that shakeup. Now AI, that huge shakeup. A system is gonna make it where you can thrive no matter what. These three days of this, of this challenge are gonna show you that and teach you that. When I realized that success wasn't tied to location, it was tied to structure, my whole world changed. So no matter where you are in the world, doesn't matter, big city, small city, small town, big town, none of that matters. It's about structure. You see, the problem isn't effort. The problem is that no one has taught you how to engineer demand. That's what a s- system does for you. More of my tea here. Being a struggling artist, we've all heard that. Oh, yes, I'm a struggling artist. That's not anything to be proud of. It's a red flag in your business. If you are a struggling artist, it sounds cool, right? It's not. It's, it's not a rite of passage. It's a red flag in your business that something is missing. This is where many photographers realize something uncomfortable as well, and it's not your fault, because I think the industry has taught us this. It's taught us to sell our pictures. That's never been the real way to be successful. We're taught if we make beautiful pictures, if we have great sharp images, if everything's perfect, that we'll sell more work. We'll get more clients, and it's not true. And going into this world of AI that we are in, it's especially not true, 'cause every image will be beautiful and perfect. Clients are not buying perfect pictures. We've been taught they were, but it's not true. They buy how they felt working with you. I want you to really understand that and hear that clearly, because this is gonna be a wake-up call for a lot of people. We're posting more pictures thinking that, oh, we need better pictures, better website, better Instagram, better whatever. That's not what's gonna keep you working. I said it in the very beginning, it's that human connection. How they felt working with you is far more important. Selling photos leads to inconsistent income. It leads to random unreliable bookings, no way to confidently raise your prices, 'cause you're competing against everybody else who's doing the same thing. It's constant guessing, second-guessing. We've been through that before, many of us. I have been through that before, so I'm sure you have, too, and emotional burnout. That's what selling pictures does. But the thing that turns your business around is having a client conversion system, a way for them to come back over and over again, a way to have a referral engine in your business so that clients see your work, they experience you. I'm not talking about the pictures. They experience what it feels like to work with you, and that's why they refer you to others. They talk about what it felt like for them to work with you. The pictures are secondary. Stop selling pictures. The truth, creative talent as a photographer does not equal success in photography. Maybe once upon a time it did, back when there were less photographers, back when it was only film and it was a harder hurdle to become a photographer. That was the past. It does not exist anymore. Creative talent, that can be done at the click of a button now. We all thought that we have to be talented to be successful, and now we're learning that anybody can show talented work by the press of a button. That's machine. What about that human connection? The truth, working hard in photography does not equal success in photography. So many photographers are working hard. Inconsistent income is not a normal thing for any business. Not in photography, not in any business. It's the result of a broken or a missing, missing client conversion system. Every business needs this engine to be a business. Every single one, including ours as photographers. We have to have a way to bring clients in. If we don't, that's feast or famine. Working a lot for two months and then nothing for three months. That's ghosted inquiries. People see your work, they inquire about you, they get your prices, and they disappear, which leads to you undercharging and leads to burnout. That's all the signs that you do not have a system in place. Struggling, limited work, maybe that's where you are today. There's another way that can change all of that. That's consistent work, booked all the time, consistent income, and joy in photography. This is where I want each and every one of you to be, on this side of the equation. Now, if you don't fix that problem, AI is going to make it much worse. And we don't know what's coming down the pipeline, but I can tell you this: no problem stays the same. It usually grows and gets better. So you either fix the problem or the problem gets worse. So how do you do that? Consistently booked, clients all the time, consistent income. You've got to have a proven system where you have a way to convert that stranger into a client, and that client into a consistent client who refers you to others. That's that referral engine I talked about earlier. Now, the reason clients aren't booking you, this is what photographers think, "Oh, I don't have enough followers." A lot of us have, you know, given in to that follower thing. It's not what we think it is. Maybe you're not posting enough, or it's your location, or it's your age, too old, too young, too whatever. Cheaper competition next door, oversaturated market. These are the things that occupy our mind and keep us from moving forward when the truth is there's no client journey. I want you to think about this. What is your client's journey to becoming a client? Maybe you don't have a lead conversion system in place. Maybe you're not doing things consistency, consistently. Maybe there's no emotional connection yet. All this happens when you have structure in place. Without a client conversion system, clients fall through the cracks. That can change. That doesn't have to be. So you've tried to raise your rates maybe, and maybe that's not working yet. Many try to raise their prices without fixing the experience of working with you. A system can fix all that. Without a system that builds trust, they're not going to hire you. People don't hire you if they don't trust that you can deliver. They don't trust that your images are real. If they don't trust that the images that they've seen are gonna look like the images that they get. A system in your business fixes all of that. A client conversion system builds consistency and confidence in you and in your clients. You see, without this, it's like jumping off a cliff without a rope. A client conversion system is your safety net. It keeps you working. It gives you peace of mind. It lets you thrive. At my lowest point in my career, I was thinking I wasn't good enough. I was thinking like, "Oh, maybe I'm too old for this again. Maybe the world has changed, and it doesn't work in this new country the way it did in, in America." It's not true. It's not true. You can thrive no matter where you are, no matter your age. Young, old, doesn't matter. Male, female, it doesn't matter. Race, it doesn't matter. You can thrive by having a system. What changed everything was surrendering what I thought I knew, and this is a big one, because we are by ourselves in our own head and wondering what the problem is, thinking that we know what the problem is, but we're overlooking something that is so simple to see, but we're not holding that mirror up to see it. That's why I had you write those numbers down, and if you did not do that, please do that at the end today. That is important to know those numbers. And then once you have that, you can work on the client conversion system as we go into day two and day three, which is extremely important. So you now know a client conversion system is important. And if you didn't bring in, uh, a way for clients to come back, that referral system, that's not having a system in place. A client conversion system that didn't rely on posting every day or, or hoping for referrals, a client conversion system that made it normal for people to find you versus you going out all the time and searching for new clients. Wouldn't that feel good for clients to find you organically versus you hustling to find clients all the time? But first, you've gotta put that client conversion system in place. The client conversion system will attract clients, convert clients, and deliver repeat clients to you, but you've got to have the system. The system, what is it? It's a framework that helps you do three critical things in your business as a photographer. Attract the right clients. Everybody is not your client. It's gonna help you attract your ideal client. Convert that interest into bookings with clarity and confidence for your clients and for you. And deliver an experience that's extremely valuable, more valuable than the pictures. Remember we talked about that? Clients are not buying photographs. They may think they are, but they're really buying the experience of working with you. People pay more for how great they feel than just for a picture. This framework can change everything. Without it, you may not be in business long as our world changes. So client conversion framework, step one is emotional attraction. I didn't say the pictures. I didn't say posting more. Emotional attraction. Stage two is trust conversion. If there is any doubt, they disappear. They ghost you. Trust conversion is stage two. Stage three, amplify the experience so you are unforgettable. This is what they talk about. This is part of the referral engine. Stage four, that referral momentum. Once you have it going, you put gas on the fire to amplify it. These things change everything, and you have to have them in your business. It protects you. The client conversion system is your protection for your business. It gives your art a container that it needs to thrive in the real world as the world changes. It's never going to stay still. But with this system in place, you can thrive long term. When I put a cl- a client conversion system in place in my business, everything changed. I could raise my rates. I could book more confidently. I could stop living in anxiety and move forward, and that feels great. You don't need more hustle. You don't need a bigger following. We've all been taught that we need that. It's not true, not for clients. Maybe if you want to have, like, you know, a, a sponsor, maybe that might be important, but in terms of your business of photography, you need a client conversion system in place, and that's what changes everything. Let's go over what you learned today. Today you didn't just learn, you saw your truth. Your numbers are your truth. You looked honestly at your past 12 months. You discovered that inconsistent income is not a talent problem. Talent, we're gonna see more and more, we're already seeing it, everybody looks talented out there now. Everybody looks talented. What else do you have? You need that client conversion system. You saw that referrals don't happen by accident. They must be engineered. You realize why working harder hasn't created consistency in your business. Feast and famine, anxiety, clients ghosting. That's by not having a system in place. You identified the real reason clients hesitate, disappear, or ghost, and you learn not to take it personally, and you understood that this isn't a personal failure. None of this is a personal failure. You've got to understand that it's not your fault. This is our world business environment changing, and we have to change with it to survive. Today, you discovered the real problem, and it's not you. It isn't your talent. It isn't your effort. It's the absence of a client conversion system. This is the game changer. Now, your challenge for today. Number one, if you did not fill out your numbers, I want you to immediately after we're done, we're almost done today, as, as soon as we finish, before you do anything else, and this is for you, write your numbers down. Please take this time f- you're gonna thank me for this, not just next week or next month, but for the rest of your journey as photography. These numbers are your line in the sand to see where you are so you can see your growth. So before next session, make sure you have those numbers written down. How many clients that you booked in the last 12 months, please do this. Those numbers, they all, they're all important. How much you made in the last 12 months. I want to know that, and I want you to think about your dream version. That dream version is you doubling those numbers. It's not a dream. This can be real. It may seem like a dream when you write it down. But this is not. This is your challenge in these three days, to do the work all three days. To grow, it takes work. Not just sitting and listening to me, but doing the actual work. That's what brings change. In the next session, we'll open up the system that gets you there. I want to thank you for being here. For those who are seeing this as the recording, if you didn't make it to the live one, I'm gonna put this up for everybody to see who, who's registered. So if you registered, you get the recording of this, so you won't miss a thing. But when you're here live, you feel it differently, right? Make sure you come to part two and part three, because this is important. Day by day, you're gonna see, "Okay, I can thrive long term." That's what this is all about. So what's next? In your next session, I'll walk you through the three pillars of the client conversion framework we talked about. But on day three, I'll show you how to fully install it. Join me on Thursday for day two. I'm so glad you guys were here today. Today's challenge, also join me on the Facebook page. You can ask any questions there. You can go in and put your pictures there. There's a link in your email for the, for the workbook and for the pop-up Facebook group. This Facebook group is only live when I do these, these challenges. So it'll go into sleep mode until the next time I do it. But right now, it's live. Join there, put your pictures up, ask questions. I'll jump in there, answer questions. Make sure you have access to everything before day two. So I want to thank you all for being here. My name is Matthew Jordan Smith. Um, if you're coming in late and you're just seeing it, my name is Matthew Jordan Smith. I've been doing photography for over three decades. I love it. I've seen a lot of change, and I'm doing this challenge for you so you can thrive long term. Thank you all for being here. I look forward to seeing you on day two. Until then, I'll keep nursing my, my voice, and hopefully this, this cold will be gone before Thursday, and we can all thrive together. Until Thursday, have a great rest of your week. Do the work. Make sure, your challenge is to make sure you do the work. Write your numbers down. Write your future numbers down we talked about. Look at them, let go of all anxiety, all stress, take that deep breath, and let's move forward. I'll see you all on Thursday. Take care, everyone. Bye, guys.

Three-Day Client Conversion Challenge Overview Speaker 2: This is the week that changes everything. Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Speaker 2: This is the week that changes everything.... Speaker: A week where you can grow beyond your wildest dreams. Change from struggling to thriving. Speaker: But to do that, you're going to have to make a choice. Speaker: And this is your challenge to join me this week Speaker: for the beginning Speaker: of the three-part client conversion challenge. Speaker: So why challenge? Speaker: You already know it's a challenge trying to make a living as a photographer every single day. You know the challenges. Speaker: So what's blocking you from getting bookings? It's not your talent, and you know that. Speaker: You've done everything you're supposed to do, posting consistently, Speaker: running discounts, mini sessions, attracting the wrong clients. Speaker: Maybe you've even had potential clients reach out, get excited, and then disappear. You've also watched other photographers who are less talented than you. Stay booked while you wonder what in the world is missing. Speaker: And the worst part, you're starting to wonder if this was meant for you. Speaker: So let me tell you about this challenge, this three-day client conversion challenge. It is live this week, starting on Tuesday. Speaker: This challenge is gonna show you exactly why your photography business isn't attracting consistent clients, . And give you a clear path to change that. Speaker: This isn't some challenge full of vague tips. Speaker 3: This is a three-day journey. On day one, we dive in to figuring out why so many talented photographers are struggling. Speaker: And why working harder isn't leading to more work. More clients. Speaker: Why referrals feel random? Speaker: And that hidden gap that most photographers overlook in their business. This could be one of the biggest problems you're having. And day two, we're going to go deeper. Why do clients hesitate? You know what that is. They're excited when they Speaker: first see your work, they inquire about your work, and then you hear nothing. Speaker: They hesitate and they disappear. They ghost you. I know many photographers are struggling about raising their rates. Speaker: I'll give you a tip. It has nothing to do with courage. Speaker: We'll go into that invisible gap that makes clients feel unsure about booking you. Speaker: And we'll go deep into why chasing clients doesn't work. You already know what this is like because you're doing that. What are your results? Join me in the challenge and let's figure this all out. In day three, we go much deeper. Speaker: You see there's a mindset that a lot of photographers have and it's keeping them stuck in a feast or famine cycle. You wanna learn how to position yourself so clients choose you Speaker: without price shopping. And we'll dive into specific language shifts that make everything change for you. Speaker: This is a three-day challenge. Speaker 4: But the biggest challenge is for you to take action right now for yourself. Speaker: In the show notes, you'll find the link where you can register, put you in your calendar, and show up. It's three days, Tuesday, Thursday, and then the following Tuesday. Speaker: There is no need to make excuses. Speaker: When it comes to your life, to your growth, Speaker: no excuse will do. Speaker: If you put this off, you're saying to yourself you're fine staying where you are. Speaker: But for those of you who want to really grow, Speaker: change your life in photography. This is your challenge right now. Speaker: Go to the link. You'll find it in the show notes, or you'll find it on my Instagram bio, under Matthew Jordan Smith. Go to the link, sign up, then show up. Speaker: As soon as you sign up, you'll have the opportunity to download your workbook. Speaker 5: Don't fill out your workbook yet. We'll do that together in day one, day two, and day three. There's also a Facebook page dedicated just for this challenge. So make sure you also join the Facebook group. The link to both the workbook and the Facebook group is in your email after you sign up. So make sure you do those two things before you join in the workshop. Speaker 5: There you can share your thoughts, share your work, ask questions and so much more. Speaker: These three days should change everything for you. Speaker: A lot of us are stuck working by ourselves. Speaker: Facing the challenge of trying to figure everything out alone. That doesn't have to be you. If you're ready, come and join me. Speaker: That's it. Speaker: Today is simple. Speaker: A simple challenge. Speaker: Challenging you to grow or stay where you are. Speaker: This is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I'm Matthew Jordan Smith, and I look forward to seeing you this week in day one and day two of the challenge. Yes, it's a three-day challenge, but it happens Tuesday, Thursday, and then next week on the following Tuesday. Come and join me. I look forward to seeing you all very, very soon. Speaker: Let's grow together. Speaker: Until Tuesday, I look forward to seeing you in the three-part client conversion challenge. Speaker: Bye for now. SIGN UP HERE

Why Your Photography Prices Feel Too High (And How to Finally Fix Your Pricing Confidence) Speaker: Treating your pricing like a math problem is. Well, it's a lot like trying to measure the value of an unforgettable Michelin star meal. Right. By simply adding up the cost of the raw ingredients.Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Like sitting in the back room of the kitchen with a calculator.Speaker: Exactly, yeah. You sit down, you have this incredibly transformative, culinary experience, right?Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: And then you try to justify the final bill by saying. The chicken was maybe $4. The carrots were 50 cents. And I mean, there was maybe a dime's worth of salt.Speaker 2: Right. Which completely misses the magic of the whole thing.Speaker: It totally misses the magic. 'cause you aren't paying for raw carrots. You're paying for the atmosphere, the chef's, you know, 20 years of absolute mastery and, and just the way you feel when you walk out of that restaurant.Speaker 2: Yeah. That lingering feeling.Speaker: But yet when it comes to pricing our own creative work, we are constantly just sitting in the back room. Basically counting the carrots.Speaker 2: That is such a perfect way to frame it, because that reduction to, uh, like a sterile mathematical equation, it strips away the entire context of the service,Speaker: right?Speaker 2: We tell ourselves that, okay, X hours of labor plus y dollars of equipment depreciation equals our rate, and it's just a fundamentally flawed way. To calculate valueSpeaker: because it ignores the human elementSpeaker 2: exactly. It completely ignores the psychological weight of what is actually being delivered to the client.Speaker: Which brings us to the core of today's deep dive. We are looking at a really insightful audio essay by the renowned photographer, Matthew Jordan Smith.Speaker 2: Such a brilliant guy,Speaker: incredible work, and the mission today is to explore the deep psychology of pricing creative work. Specifically how to move from that rigid market-based math equation to a model that is firmly rooted in emotional value and client impact,Speaker 2: right?Speaker: But honestly, to you listening right now, I want you to consider your own physical reaction to pricing.Speaker 2: Oh, that's a good point.Speaker: Think about whether you've ever hesitated or maybe felt your chest tighten up or noticed your voice. Go just a little bit soft right before you tell someone.Speaker 2: You're right. Everyone does itSpeaker: right? Whether you are a photographer, a freelance designer, maybe a consultant, or, or just navigating a salary negotiation. Yeah. That visceral hesitation is exactly what we are dismantling today.Speaker 2: Yeah. And that hesitation is just incredibly common. And Smith points out something pretty confronting right out of the gate about why it actually happened.Speaker: Okay, cool. Is it,Speaker 2: he argues that it is not an economy problem. It's not a market saturation problem either.Speaker: Right.Speaker 2: It is entirely a self-trust problem. I mean, independent creatives often put together a quote, send it off, and immediately brace for rejection.Speaker: Oh, the ghosting situation.Speaker 2: Yes. They live in constant anticipation of that deafening silence after the rate is sent.Speaker: It is visceral, isn't it? You send the email, you stare at your inbox, and your brain immediately starts writing this narrative that like you've deeply offended them with your audacity.Speaker 2: Oh, totally. You're like, who do I think I am?Speaker: Exactly. And to avoid that awful feeling, creatives often start looking sideways.Speaker 2: Looking sideways. Yeah.Speaker: Right. They look at what their competitors are charging just to find a number that feels quote unquote safe.Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.Speaker: But wait, I have to push back a little bit on this.Speaker 2: Okay. Let's hear.Speaker: It isn't looking sideways, just, I mean, isn't that just basic market research?Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: How do you draw the line between being aware of the market and being totally controlled by the fear of it?Speaker 2: That's a really fair question, but think about your own analogy. Okay. Building your business by looking sideways is essentially like trying to wear someone else's prescription glasses.Speaker: Oh wow. Yeah.Speaker 2: You know, you are trying to look through a lens that is calibrated for their vision, their insecurities, their specific business model.Speaker 2: It's not gonna give you a clear vision of your own worth.Speaker: It just gives you a massive headache.Speaker 2: Exactly. It distorts the whole landscape.Speaker: Yeah.Speaker 2: And the psychological ripple effect of that distorted vision is profound. When you choose a quote unquote safe competitor-based price, your intention is rooted almost entirely in the fear of not being chosen.Speaker 2: Yeah. You are preemptively shrinking yourself to fit into a space where no one can object to you,Speaker: because if you're cheap, they can't say no.Speaker 2: Right. But Smith highlights this fascinating cognitive reality. If you don't stand firmly in your pricing, the client won't stand firmly in booking you.Speaker: Wait, really? Explain that?Speaker 2: Yeah. It comes down to how the human brain assesses risk when a client senses hesitation. And that can be implicit through a price that feels defensively low; their risk-aversion heuristics just kick right in.Speaker: So they start wondering what the catch isSpeaker 2: exactly.Speaker: Like if the price is a defensive posture, it signals a complete lack of belief in the product.Speaker 2: Yes. And that lack of confidence transfers directly to the buyer. I mean, high-value clients are rarely out there looking for the absolute cheapest option.Speaker: Right. They are bargain hunting.Speaker 2: No, they are looking for the surest option. They want the psychological comfort of knowing that the professional they just hired is absolutely certain of their own capability.Speaker: That makes so much sense.Speaker 2: So by softening your tone and lowering your prices out of fear, you inadvertently train your clients to view you as a risk rather than a solution.Speaker: Man, that's heavy.Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: So the only way to step out of that fear-based race to the bottom is to recognize that, well, maybe we are totally misunderstanding the product itself.Speaker 2: They definitely are.Speaker: Right. Like if we are stuck comparing the cost of our pixels and paper to someone else's pixels and paper, we've just lost the plotSpeaker 2: completely.Speaker: And Smith introduces this massive paradigm shift here. He states really plainly. You are not selling photos,Speaker 2: which is wild for a photographer to say,Speaker: right? But if the product isn't photos, what is it?Speaker 2: Well, Smith argues that you are actually selling confidence, identity, and legacy.Speaker: Legacy.Speaker 2: Yeah. The client isn't lying awake at night thinking, you know what? I desperately need some high-resolution JPEGs on a hard drive.Speaker: No one has ever thought that in the history of the world,Speaker 2: right. The desire is emotional. They're thinking, I wanna finally feel comfortable in my own skin, or I wanna remember the specific fleeting version of my family.Speaker: It's like, okay. You know that old marketing adage,Speaker 2: the drill one?Speaker: Yeah. People don't buy a quarter inch drill, they buy a quarter inch hole.Speaker 2: Right, right.Speaker: But in this case, I feel like it goes even deeper than that. They aren't just buying the hole in the wall. They are buying the intense feeling of pride when they look at their family, perfectly framed, beautifully lit, hanging right there in their living room.Speaker 2: Yes,Speaker: they are buying a physical manifestation of their own legacy,Speaker 2: and that is exactly why the shift matters so much by moving the focus from technical specifications like, you know, shutter speed, lens choice, lighting setups,Speaker: the nerdy stuff,Speaker 2: right, the technical stuff. Moving from that to the emotional impact changes the entire cognitive framework of the pricing conversation. We are talking about price anchoring here.Speaker: Okay, unpack that for us.Speaker 2: So when a client anchors your service to a commodity, like a standard eight by 10 print, they naturally just seek the lowest price.Speaker: Sure. Paper.Speaker 2: Paper, right? But when you anchor your service to a psychological transformation, the value becomes subjective, and frankly, it becomes infinite.Speaker: Because you can't put a price tag on thatSpeaker 2: Exactly. You cannot put a standard market rate on making someone feel beautiful for the first time in a decade.Speaker: Wow. That is powerful. But you know, it's easy to assume that selling confidence is only necessary for everyday clientsSpeaker 2: like amateurs.Speaker: Yeah. People who aren't used to being photographed. We tend to think that seasoned professionals are somehow immune to that vulnerability. But Smith shares an anecdote that just completely shatters that assumption.Speaker 2: Oh, the Samuel L. Jackson story?Speaker: Yes. It proves that this emotional vulnerability goes all the way to the top.Speaker 2: It is the perfect piece of evidence for this. I mean, Jackson is a Hollywood legend,Speaker: the coolest guy on the planet,Speaker 2: right. His entire life, career and public persona are built on being in front of a camera.Speaker 2: He projects absolute confidence. Yeah. Yet Smith reveals that the very first words out of Jackson's mouth when he stepped onto the set were, and I quote, I hate taking pictures.Speaker: Wait, really? Samuel L. Jackson.Speaker 2: Samuel L. Jackson.Speaker: That is wild. A massive unflappable movie star admitting he hates the process of being photographed.Speaker 2: Yeah,Speaker: it really highlights how universal that vulnerability is.Speaker 2: It's everywhere.Speaker: Every single person who steps in front of a lens is silently asking, can I trust you to see me? Well,Speaker 2: yes,Speaker: but that brings up a really pivotal question. If the client, even a massive movie star is secretly terrified, how can the professional holding the camera afford to project their own fear about their pricing?Speaker 2: They can't. That's the thing. It creates a massive contradiction in the power dynamic of the room. In psychology, there is this concept called co-regulation. Co-regulation,Speaker: okay?Speaker 2: Basically, it's where one person's nervous system responds to and mirrors the state of another person's nervous system. The photographer's primary job is to take the client's fear completely off the table.Speaker: To be the anchor in the room,Speaker 2: to be the regulated, calm presence. And you cannot effectively remove a client's fear if you are simultaneously radiating financial anxiety.Speaker: Like if you're apologizing for your rates,Speaker 2: right? Or overexplaining a line item on an invoice. If you do that, you are introducing chaotic, dysregulated energy into the relationship before the shoot even begins.Speaker: Oh man. And the client definitely absorbs that anxiety.Speaker 2: They interpret it as a lack of professional safety.Speaker: They don't just think, oh, the photographer is just insecure about their pricing strategy.Speaker 2: No, they feel it viscerally and they think this person is unsure of themselves, which means I am not safe in their hands.Speaker: Wow.Speaker 2: Confidence in your pricing is really the very first indicator to a vulnerable client that you are capable of handling them with care and authority.Speaker: Okay. Projecting that quiet authority when you might be secretly terrified of losing the gig. I mean, that requires more than just faking it until you make it.Speaker 2: Yeah. Faking it doesn't work here.Speaker: Right? It requires a fundamental rewiring of how you conceptualize and describe what you actually do. And honestly, understanding this emotional vulnerability in theory is a great aha moment. But how do we practically communicate that to justify our rates?Speaker 2: Well, Smith provides a very specific practical messaging framework to solve exactly this.Speaker: Let's hear it.Speaker 2: It's a simple pen and paper exercise that forces clarity. You have to physically write down the sentence. My work helps people fill in the blank.Speaker: Okay. My work helps people blank,Speaker 2: right? And the way you fill in that blank dictates your entire business model. He contrasts a generic completion of the sentence with powerful, transformative ones.Speaker: Give me an example of a weak one.Speaker 2: A weak version is I take photos for families.Speaker: Yeah, that sounds like a cheap, commoditized errand. It carries the same emotional weight as, I don't know, I file taxes or I restock shelves.Speaker 2: Exactly. It describes the physical action, but leaves a complete vacuum where the meaning should be and nature of whores a vacuum.Speaker: It really does.Speaker 2: When your messaging is vague, your prices feel completely arbitrary to the client because there is no anchor to the value, and honestly, more dangerously vague messaging creates a cognitive vacuum for the creator themselves,Speaker: right? Compare that to Smith's stronger examples. He says things like, I help busy parents finally have photos where they feel present, connected, and proud, or.Speaker 2: I help women who feel uncomfortable see themselves as confident and beautiful.Speaker: It almost sounds too simple though, I have to ask, right? Can changing just a dozen words on your website actually overhaul your entire business model?Speaker 2: It really can because it isn't just a marketing trick. It's about clarity of meaning.Speaker 2: That linguistic shift rewires the freelancer's own self-trust. It creates a cognitive feedback loop,Speaker: so you start believing it yourself.Speaker 2: Exactly. When you articulate the emotional transformation you provide, your brain anchors your own worth to that profound outcome. You read your own copy and realize, wait, I'm doing something deeply important.Speaker: And when messaging is clear like that, your pricing makes logical sense to both you and the client.Speaker 2: Yes. The clarity of the message creates the internal justification for the price. When you believe you are delivering a life changing transformation, your entire posture changes on a sales call.Speaker: You stop apologizing.Speaker 2: You stop over explaining. You stop negotiating against yourself. You know that instinct to follow up a quote three hours later with an unprompted discount.Speaker: Oh, the panic discount,Speaker 2: right? That vanishes because you understand that discounting a transformation actually cheapens the emotional outcome for the client.Speaker: Wow. And to truly internalize this shift from math to meaning, from a mathematical commodity to emotional legacy, we can look at Smith's own body of work as the ultimate proof of this.Speaker 2: He really loves it.Speaker: He does the deep dive highlights, his published books. There's Lost and Found Future American President and Aretha Kool.Speaker 2: Which by the way, he mentions is available @ wrcool.com,Speaker: right? Wrcool.com. But the key takeaway from the source is that none of these books are really, quote unquote about photography.Speaker 2: No, not at all. They are explorations of identity, confidence, and how we see ourselves. They serve as these physical reminders of what happens when a creative fully owns their vision.Speaker: Viewing a creative portfolio, not as a resume of technical skills, but as a museum of human identity. I mean, that totally flips the script on what a creative is actually worth to society.Speaker 2: It really does. You become a documentarian of the human experience and the macroeconomic impact of this mindset shift goes way beyond just a single creator's bank account.Speaker: How so?Speaker 2: Well. By deciding that your work matters and speaking about it as if it does, you don't just elevate your own business. As creatives step into their confidence, the entire industry becomes stronger.Speaker: That makes sense.Speaker 2: And clients are ultimately served better because they get the privilege of working with professionals who create the emotional safety required for them to be seen the way they deserve.Speaker: That is beautifully said. We've covered a tremendous amount of ground today. We moved from the trap of competitor-based pricing through the realization that you are selling confidence rather than a commodity, all the way to communicating that transformation boldly.Speaker 2: It's quite a journey.Speaker: It really is. And to you listening, remember that stepping into your value.Speaker: It means you can stop attracting clients who hesitate and haggle and start attracting those who are absolutely ready for the impact you provide.Speaker 2: And you know, we can actually take this entire framework one step further.Speaker: OhSpeaker 2: yeah. Just as a final provocative thought to mull over, we've talked exclusively about how, my work helps people, exercise applies to professional pricing and business models.Speaker: Mm-hmm.Speaker 2: But what if you apply that exact same, fill in the blank exercise to your personal life.Speaker: Oh, interesting.Speaker 2: If you asked yourself right now, my presence helps my friends and family fill in the blank, what would you say? How am I recognizing your own emotional impact? The transformation you bring just by walking into a room completely changed the way you value yourself in your everyday relationships.

Photographing Israels hidden diversity through warSpeaker: To make a fine art photography book you usually need, you know, a pristine studio, perfectly controlled lighting, and well, a massive budget,Speaker 2: right? Yeah. Like a whole controlled environment.Speaker: Exactly. But to create the book we're looking at today, the photographer actually needed a geopolitical evacuation plan.Speaker 2: Wait, seriously. An evacuation places.Speaker: Seriously, we are talking about five years of dodging. Burning tires. Navigating literal war zones. Oh yeah. Surviving a global pandemic on top of that.Speaker 2: Wow. I mean, that sounds less like a fine art project and more like, I don't know, a high stakes anthropological survival mission.Speaker: It really does. And honestly, looking through this incredible stack of sources you sent us for this deep dive, I. That is exactly what it was. She was photographing everyday people who didn't even realize they belonged in a museum.Speaker 2: Right. And since you brought us this fascinating material today, our mission is to really unpack this extraordinary interview transcript between the renowned photographer Matthew Jordan Smith, and his student Kaela Ellis.Speaker: Yeah, so welcome to the Deep Dive everyone. We are digging into Kala's Monumental Project, which is a, um, a 360 page photo book titled Whispers of the Ancients, A Visual Expression of Time and Culture.Speaker 2: It's just a massive undertaking.Speaker: It's huge, and right off the bat, I wanna make something very clear to you, the listener.Speaker: This is not just a collection of pretty pictures designed to sit quietly on a coffee table.Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely not.Speaker: No. This is an intense, gritty journey across. 22 different locations in Israel and it completely shatters the, you know, the geographical and cultural stereotypes most people hold about that region.Speaker: The sheer grit required to pull this off is just staggering.Speaker 2: Staggering is definitely the right word for it, but you know what really anchors this entire discussion isn't just how physically difficult it was to print a book.Speaker: Right. There's a deeper purpose here.Speaker 2: Exactly. It's about the underlying function of the art itself and why visual history is so critical.Speaker 2: C is actively preserving these cultural whispers,Speaker: whispers of the ancients, like the title says.Speaker 2: Yeah, because these are transient, incredibly fragile histories that can and honestly often do vanish entirely if someone doesn't take the time to. Physically document them and pin them to a map.Speaker: I wanna trace the momentum of this because the origin story of this massive historical document is just wild.Speaker 2: It really is. It's not your typical art world story.Speaker: Not at all. It doesn't start with a giant grant or a museum commission or anything like that. It literally starts as a homework assignment,Speaker 2: which. Crazy to think about,Speaker: right? Like how does a routine photography class snowball into a 360 page international artifact?Speaker 2: Well, it's the ultimate overachiever trajectory really. So going back to 2019, Cella was enrolled in a photography lighting course with Matthew Jordan Smith.Speaker: Okay.Speaker 2: And the assignment was incredibly straightforward to shoot a portrait that reflects who you are. So she decides to photograph a friend of hers who originally hails from Benin, and she styles her as an African queen.Speaker: The execution of this single shoot is where you really start to see the genius.Speaker 2: Oh, for sure.Speaker: Because when you look at the final image, which by the way actually became the cover of the entire book, and it's printed on page three 30, you'd assume she had like a full Hollywood costume department,Speaker 2: right? It looks so opulent.Speaker: But she didn't even sew the garments. They took raw fabric, literally just wrapped it and pinned it directly onto her friend right there in the moment.Speaker 2: No sewing it all just pins.Speaker: Just pins. They added a gold turban. They captured something so deeply striking that it just demanded a bigger canvas.Speaker 2: Yeah, and the technical choices she made in that specific moment are what allowed the whole project to scale up later, a friend actually encouraged her to think bigger than a standard eight by 10 print, suggesting she create these massive wall sized pieces of art,Speaker: which is a huge leap.Speaker 2: It is. But luckily Kala shot this image on a Nikon D eight 50,Speaker: which for those who don't know, has a massive 45 megapixel sensor. But, um. For anyone who isn't a total camera nerd, why does that specific piece of hardware matter so much to this story?Speaker 2: Well, it matters because of the actual mechanics of printing.Speaker 2: If you take a standard photograph from like a typical camera or your phone and try to blow it up to the size of a museum wall, the image literally falls apart.Speaker: Right. It gets a blocky,Speaker 2: exactly.Speaker: Mm.Speaker 2: The pixel stretch, the edges blur, and it just turns into a digital mosaic. Yeah. With a massive high resolution sensor like the D 50, the camera is capturing this almost microscopic level of detail.Speaker: It's gonna holds up when it's huge.Speaker 2: Precisely correct. When you blow that image up to wall size, it doesn't blur at all. Uh, you can literally see the physical weave of the raw unowned fabric she pinned to her subject. You can see the texture of the skin. It retains all of its majesty.Speaker: So because she had that solid technical foundation, she goes to a fine art print house in Tel Aviv to blow up five of her images.Speaker: And this, I love this part. This leads to an encounter that reads like a scripted movie scene.Speaker 2: It really sounds completely made up.Speaker: It does. So she's at the print house picking up these massive framed museum grade prints. One of them is leaning against the counter. An older woman walks in, sees the print.Speaker: And is absolutely floored by, itSpeaker 2: just stops in her tracks.Speaker: Yeah. She turns to the man standing next to Cella and asks, are you photographers? And the guy just points to Cella and says, no, I'm just the driver. She's the photographer.Speaker 2: That is the pivotal moment right there, because that older woman who walked in was Roy Biari, who is a highly renowned artist.Speaker 2: Author and curator,Speaker: what are the odds?Speaker 2: I know, right? So they swap business cards. Kala looks her up later, realizes the sheer magnitude of who she just met in the art world and emails her and Roni invites her for coffee. In Tel AvivSpeaker: though, Kala actually clarifies in the interview that she only drinks tea.Speaker 2: Yes, she's very specific about that. But she goes anyway. She brings her portfolio. They sit down and they have that meeting.Speaker: And the result of that team meeting is Roni securing Kala, an outdoor exhibition in a public park, featuring 38 of her massive images,Speaker 2: 38. It's huge for a first exhibit.Speaker: It is, and it was supposed to run for three months, but the public response was so overwhelming they actually extended it to five months.Speaker 2: Wow.Speaker: But I have to stop you there because I want to challenge the framing of this whole sequence.Speaker 2: Okay. Let's hear.Speaker: It is so, so easy to look at that print house encounter and say. Wow, what a lucky break. Getting discovered at the print shop feels like the photography equivalent of, you know, getting discovered at a Hollywood di, theSpeaker 2: classic Cinderella story.Speaker: Exactly. But based on the sources you provided us, was it really just a lucky break or did Cist preparation manufacture that exact outcome?Speaker 2: I would actually argue that luck had almost nothing to do with it.Speaker: Really? None at all.Speaker 2: Well, this is just a perfect example of weaponized preparation. The curator, Roni Biari didn't just see a single good photo leaning against a counter.Speaker 2: Think about the whole sequence of events.Speaker: Okay. Layout.Speaker 2: Cilla walked into that shop having shot on a high res D eight 50, so the image could survive scaling. She had already invested the money in museum grade paper, which is not cheap. When she sat down for tea, she had a fully realized professional portfolio ready to open.Speaker 2: Roni didn't discover a lucky amateur. She discovered an artist whose infrastructure was already primed and ready to be scaled to a gallery level.Speaker: That distinction is so important, so the infrastructure is there. She gets the gallery exhibit and it's a huge success. And then her mentor, Matthew. Ask is the most terrifying question an artist can hear.Speaker 2: Oh, I know it's coming.Speaker: What'sSpeaker 2: next? Yeah,Speaker: what's next? He pushes her to turn this momentum into a book, but deciding to scale up a localized gallery show into a 360 page book spanning 22 different geographical locations. Well, that turns this artistic dream into a total logistical gauntlet.Speaker 2: Honestly, calling it a logistical nightmare almost does it a disservice.Speaker 2: We are talking about five years of brutal grinding, stop and go momentum.Speaker: It wasn't just a smooth process,Speaker 2: not even close. First you have the outbreak of COVID to 19, just to get the administrative side of the project off the ground. She had to pitch the city art director while standing in a public hallwaySpeaker: in a hallway,Speaker 2: yet both of them wearing masks because nobody was allowed to meet in a closed office.Speaker 2: Everything was restricted.Speaker: Once the pandemic protocols finally started to ease up the geopolitical realities of the region set in, we are talking about literal war zones here.Speaker 2: Yeah. The physical danger was very real,Speaker: right? Based on the historical facts detailed in the interview transcript. K three Liz's trips to the printing press in Hanon were completely halted because the area was physically hit during the war.Speaker: She couldn't progress at all. She just had to wait out the conflict.Speaker 2: Exactly. And the danger wasn't just during the manufacturing phase either. It was ever present during the actual field photography.Speaker: Yeah. Tell me about the Jericho shoot.Speaker 2: So there's a specific shoot detailed in your sources that took place in Jericho near the Mount of Temptation, and the environment around the shoot just became incredibly volatile.Speaker: Like how volatile?Speaker 2: Well, the crew literally had to pack up their gear and flee the area before sundown to escape a sudden riot involving burning tires and rock throwing.Speaker: Just, I mean, picture the sensory experience of that for a second. The driver notices the escalating danger. He realizes that their vehicle has Israeli license plates, which could instantly make them a target in that specific chaotic moment.Speaker 2: It was a huge liability.Speaker: Huge. So he has to make a split second decision and cleverly navigate them out of the danger zone, using a much longer alternative route by the Salt sea just to get the crew out safely.Speaker 2: Quick thinking on his partSpeaker: for sure. But the contrast here is just staggering to me. You have Kala behind the camera, meticulously adjusting pinned fabrics, dealing with lighting, coaxing out these serene, regal, timeless portraits of her subjects.Speaker 2: Yeah. Creating total calm.Speaker: Exactly. While the environment inches behind the camera is chaotic, dangerous, and completely unpredictable. Yeah. It's like extreme photojournalism dressed up as fine art.Speaker 2: It really is. And the creation of the art in this case mirrors the history of the land itself.Speaker: How so?Speaker 2: Well, the process of making this book was enduring highly complex and born out of intense geographical and social pressures.Speaker 2: The book isn't just a record of the faces on the pages. The physical object of the book itself is an artifact of the exact historical moment it was created in. It survived the very landscape it is documenting,Speaker: which naturally leads to the biggest question, right? Why?Speaker 2: Yeah, why do it?Speaker: It's one thing to survive a riot, to get a photo, but looking through these notes you send us, the real question is why risk your physical safety?Speaker: Why navigate literal war zones and riots just to take these portraits?Speaker 2: It's a huge risk.Speaker: It is. So to understand the urgency here, we really have to look at the cultural story that Kala felt absolutely compelled to tell.Speaker 2: Right? And to understand that motivation, you really have to look at her personal background.Speaker 2: So Kala originally lived in Chicago. Then moved to Liberia in 1967 as a young girl and finally relocated to Israel in 1970.Speaker: So she's been there a long time.Speaker 2: Oh, she has lived there for decades. Yeah. And her primary driving goal with this massive project was to forcefully dismantle the global misconception that Israel is an entirely white country.Speaker: Right? She wanted to hold up a mirror to the reality she walked through every single day. Because we rely so heavily on these completely curated, flattened media narratives. We miss the actual human beings living on the ground.Speaker 2: We miss the nuance completely.Speaker: We really do. The book highlights an immense, often, completely overlooked diversity in the region.Speaker: She is photographing Filipinos, Indians, Arabs, Iranians from Baghdad who arrived in the 1960s, Ethiopians and various established black communities,Speaker 2: and she didn't just set up a studio somewhere and ask people to come to her. She went deep into these communities. To capture them authentically in their own spaces.Speaker: I think the Yemenite wedding story is a perfect example of that.Speaker 2: Yes. In one instance, she reached out to a social worker to help her find a Yemenite family to photograph. She ended up being invited to the wedding of a complete stranger, a Yemenite bride named Gila.Speaker: And she didn't just snap a photo and leave, right?Speaker 2: No, not at all. Kaila stayed at the wedding until one in the morning.Speaker: Which speaks volumes about her anthropological approach. By staying until 1:00 AM she isn't just getting opposed staged shot of a bride. She is immersing herself deeply enough to document the authentic lived culture. She is literally earning the right to capture that whisper.Speaker 2: That's a great way to put it.Speaker: Another incredibly profound example of this is her portrait of the Chic of Sag of Shalom.Speaker 2: Yes, that is a crucial piece of this puzzle. The chic represents a black community that has been rooted in the region for generations,Speaker: and their history is wild.Speaker 2: It really is. To understand why this matters, you have to look at the history detailed in the transcript.Speaker 2: This community actually helped the British find water wells and survive the incredibly harsh desert landscape back when the British governed the area.Speaker: That's amazing.Speaker 2: They even have an entire museum dedicated to this specific history of survival and cooperation.Speaker: That completely rewires how you think about the history of the region.Speaker: It makes you stop and ask, you know, how much of our global worldview is shaped simply by an absence of imagery? We don't see these everyday realities, so we just assume they don't exist.Speaker 2: That is precisely the mechanism at work in this book. Visual representation, rewrites, assumed histories.Speaker: Yeah.Speaker 2: Kala is forcing the viewer to recontextualize the term Middle East.Speaker 2: She notes that we tend to use it as a modern political buzzword, usually associated with conflict, but she wants to return it to its ancient definition,Speaker: the literal middle ground.Speaker 2: Exactly. Geographically and historically, the Mediterranean is the literal middle ground. It was the ancient trade route connecting Europe.Speaker 2: Africa and the Far East across the Red Sea and the Mediterranean,Speaker: right?Speaker 2: For millennia, people have been migrating, trading and settling in this exact spot. It has always been a crossroads of humanity,Speaker: and what I absolutely love is that she doesn't just ask you to take her word for it. She provides receipts.Speaker: She includes customized maps for all 22 locations featured in her book.Speaker 2: Which is such a brilliant, deliberate editorial choice.Speaker: Yeah, it really is.Speaker 2: She isn't just showing you diverse faces floating in a void or a sterile white studio. By including those maps, she's pinning these diverse cultures directly onto the historical geography.Speaker: Making it undeniable.Speaker 2: Exactly. She's giving the reader tangible proof of this diversity. It anchors the transient whispers of the past directly into the physical dirt of the present.Speaker: It's one thing to change how a reader sees the middle ground, but looking at these sources, what strikes me is that the act of taking these photos, of spending five years looking so closely at these 22 locations, it completely rewired Catherine's own brain too.Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely.Speaker: How did this journey fundamentally change her as an artist?Speaker 2: Well, it served as an absolute masterclass in the psychology of portraiture.Speaker: Okay. Unpack that bit.Speaker 2: When she approached many of these subjects, they lacked confidence. They didn't see themselves as fine art, mostly because society had never framed them that way.Speaker 2: Cella had to learn how to coax their true personalities out.Speaker: How did she do that?Speaker 2: She would joke with them, make them feel profoundly comfortable and use lighting and styling to elevate them. And she did this until the exact moment they saw themselves in the mirror.Speaker: Oh, wow.Speaker 2: The transcript notes that they were often left completely speechless.Speaker 2: By their own reflection.Speaker: It's almost like a neurological override. These subjects are walking in carrying decades of societal messaging that tells them they aren't meant for museum walls.Speaker 2: Exactly.Speaker: And she isn't using the pinned fabric and the lighting to project a fake beauty onto them. She's using her camera to strip away all of that psychological baggage until they finally see their own baseline royalty, what is already there.Speaker 2: That's spot on.Speaker: And what's crazy is that even her own crew experienced this blindness.Speaker 2: Yes. The crew's reaction is so telling. They would be setting up a shot looking at the physical location with their naked eyes, and all they would see was literally a pile of junk.Speaker: A pile of junk.Speaker 2: Yeah. They couldn't understand her vision at all.Speaker 2: The environment looked chaotic and completely unusable to them, but then they would look through the lens of her camera and realize she found the absolute perfect framing. She saw the art where everyone else saw the mess.Speaker: It's like a sculptor finding the statue inside a block of marble, which really highlights the profound overarching theme of this entire five-year journey when you strip away the logistics and the history.Speaker: This is ultimately a story about the concept of sight.Speaker 2: Sight. Yes. ThinkSpeaker: about it. She starts by capturing the invisible whispers of ancient history, making them visible to a world that assumed they didn't exist, and now she is embarking on a new project that is entirely heart. Strikingly about the preciousness of sight itself.Speaker 2: It's an incredibly poignant pivot for her new project. She's shooting a 30-day lunar cycle photo series. She's photographing her subject every single day for a full month, and the subject is an Ethiopian woman who is slowly irreversibly going blind.Speaker: Oh man. Just let the weight of that sink in. It's heavy.Speaker: Kala is creating a visual document for this woman. She is using her skills to ensure that this woman has a tangible, beautiful, dignified memory of this part of her life before she loses her sight entirely.Speaker 2: That is just incredible.Speaker: The trajectory of Kala's work is astounding. She goes from making the unseen history of an entire nation visible to the world, to preserving the visual reality for one single woman before her world goes dark.Speaker: It is a profound testament to the sheer power and responsibility of the photographer's eye.Speaker 2: It really is. When you look at the full scope of the sources you provided us, it's just breathtaking. A five-year journey that begins with a simple lighting class assignment and some unowned pinned fabricSpeaker: Who would have thought,Speaker 2: right, and it moves through the survival of riots, the navigation of wars, and the conquering of a global pandemic, ultimately resulting in whispers of the ancients.Speaker 2: It is the ultimate reminder of what happens when weaponized preparation, relentless grit, and an expansive vision all collide at once. For you listening right now since you brought us this material, if you wanna experience this visual history in its final physical form, it is important to note that the book is a highly limited run.Speaker: Very limited.Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. There are only 400 copies available in existence.Speaker: Ah.Speaker 2: If you want to dive deeper into the imagery, you can find it by going to culturalgymsphotography.com.Speaker: Culturalgymsphotography.com. You definitely need to check that out, especially if you wanna see the stunning cover image of the African Queen from Benin on page 330 that we talked about earlier.Speaker 2: Sure. Take it.Speaker: Seeing how that raw fabric translates on a massive scale is worth the visit alone.Speaker 2: Either the project that will completely challenge and recalibrate how you view the everyday world around you.Speaker: Which brings us to our final thought for today. We've spent this entire time talking about how Kala captured the hidden histories of everyday people.Speaker: So I want you to think about your own life. If a photographer were to walk into your life right now and take a portrait of you in your everyday environment, what ancient whispers of your own ancestors, your culture, and your unique history would be visible in the frame?Speaker 2: That is a deeply fascinating question to sit with.Speaker 2: What are we projecting that we don't even realize?Speaker: Definitely something for you to mull over as you go about your day. Thank you so much for bringing us this incredible stack of sources and for joining us on this deep dive. We appreciate your time, we love your curiosity, and we'll catch you on the next one.

The $800 Decision You’re Avoiding (And What It’s Costing You) Speaker: Have you ever felt that, um, that incredibly specific, just crushing frustration of knowing you are genuinely talented at what you do.Speaker 2: Oh, it's the worst,Speaker: right? But your calendar and your bank account just completely failed to reflect it. I mean, having immense talent, but absolutely zero bookings is honestly like, uh, like engineering, a million dollar sports car, but you forget to install a steering wheel.Speaker 2: That is a great way to put it.Speaker: The neighbors might be, you know, highly impressed by the paint job while it just sits there in your driveway. But. You aren't actually going anywhere.Speaker 2: Yeah. It is a profoundly isolating place to be. And uh, today we are exploring this really fascinating set of notes from photographer Matthew Jordan Smith.Speaker: Yes. Titled, uh, the $800 Decision you're Avoiding and What it's Costing You.Speaker 2: Right. And our mission for this deep dive, it isn't just to talk about the photography industry.Speaker: No, not at all. It's for anyone listening. We wanna uncover the psychological roadblocks that are keeping any creative entrepreneur from turning their passion into a stable, profitable business.Speaker 2: Exactly. And you know, to reveal the exact mathematical and strategic shift that you need to fix it.Speaker: But to understand the solution, we really first have to look at the daily reality for a lot of creatives, because, I mean, the source material outlines this. Very specific, incredibly painful morning routine.Speaker 2: It really sets up why this strategic shift is just so desperately needed.Speaker: Yeah, so picture this, you wake up, reach to your phone and check your dms. Zero new inquiries,Speaker 2: this complete silence.Speaker: Total silence. Then you open Instagram and literally the very first thing on your feed is a competitor posting, you know, fully booked this month with that little prayer hands emoji.Speaker 2: The prayer hands emoji and rationally. I mean, you wanna celebrate their success, right? Rationally, but emotionally, it triggers this immediate internal spiral. It breeds what the notes actually call quiet fears.Speaker: Yeah. Those thoughts of, um. What if this never works outSpeaker 2: or that creeping suspicion of like, maybe I'm just not as good as I think I am,Speaker: and it leads to this moment of sheer desperation where you just think, maybe I should just shoot weddings.Speaker: The notes have this great, painfully accurate joke about this. People don't pivot because they suddenly discover some deep burning passion for weddings, right? Mm-hmm. They do it because they just want the revenue.Speaker 2: The quote is literally, I don't even like cake that much, but I like paid invoices.Speaker: Okay.Speaker: Let's unpack this. Is this comparison trap and you know, this imposter syndrome. Is that unique to creatives?Speaker 2: Well, no, not really,Speaker: because to me, eating the wedding cake represents any like soul sucking compromise we make out of pure financial panic rather than actual strategic growth.Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: Is this just a fundamental hurdle for anyone trying to monetize a passion?Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. Anytime someone tries to turn a core part of their identity, whether that's, you know, their art, their consulting, their coaching into a service, this dynamic appears.Speaker: It's so personal.Speaker 2: Exactly. The paralysis really comes down to this false equivalence the brain makes. The brain naturally equates a lack of immediate business with a lack of inherent talent.Speaker: So essentially no money means no talent.Speaker 2: That is the trap. Your booking rate is simply a reflection of your conversion systems, right? It's not a referendum on your worth as a human being or an artist,Speaker: but when you're trapped to that emotional quicksand, you just can't see the difference.Speaker 2: No, you can't. You'll rewrite an email quote 10 times, literally lowering your own price before you even hit send,Speaker: because you're just terrified. They'll say no.Speaker 2: Exactly. You seriously consider compromising your whole vision just to survive.Speaker: But the lifeline out of this quicksand, according to the notes, is remarkably simple. I mean, it is not about burning your portfolio to the ground.Speaker 2: No.Speaker: And it's not some massive life overhaul.Speaker 2: The entire premise from Matthew Jordan Smith rests on changing one single variable in your business. It is the $800 decision,Speaker: right?Speaker 2: You don't need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to figure out how to book one extra client per month at $800,Speaker: not 10, not 20,Speaker 2: just one.Speaker: Let me walk through the cumulative math on this. Yep. Because honestly, this is where the scale becomes staggering to me. One extra booking a month is $800.Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.Speaker: Over a year, that becomes $9,600,Speaker 2: almost $10,000 from finding just one more person every 30 days.Speaker: Yeah. And over three years, that $800 a month turns into $28,800. Wow. And over five years, it becomes $48,000. $48,000 from one additional booking every month. We aren't talking about going viral or you know, becoming a global sensation.Speaker 2: No, not at all.Speaker: But wait, I mean, $800 a month sounds completely achievable on paper, but let me push back here for a second. Sure. If I'm a freelancer who's already exhausting my network and my Instagram reach is virtually zero, an extra $800, might as well be a million dollars. Where is this magical client actually coming from? Are we just assuming some sudden influx of traffic?Speaker 2: No, we aren't assuming new traffic at all. The underlying mechanism here is about capturing the audience that is already looking at your work, but they're just quietly walking away.Speaker: Okay, interesting.Speaker 2: And the reason people ignore this really manageable micro step, and instead they obsess over these massive, exhausting goals like going viral, it comes down to the psychology of compoundingSpeaker: because human beings are notoriously terrible at visualizing long-term accumulation.Speaker 2: What's fascinating here is that our brains are actually evolutionarily wired to react to immediate, massive rewards.Speaker: Like a giant feast or a sudden windfall.Speaker 2: Exactly. We don't have a biological mechanism to get really excited about incremental growth. If you tell an overwhelmed creative, they need to generate $48,000 to save their business, they freeze.Speaker: The anxiety just completely takes over,Speaker 2: but breaking that daunting $48,000 goal down into a highly achievable $800 a month micro step. That bypasses the brain's panic response.Speaker: It makes it safe,Speaker 2: right? It shifts you into a state of actionable focus. We all understand compounding interest in a bank account, right? But we totally fail to apply that same mathematical law to client acquisitionSpeaker: that makes so much sense. But if you just, you know, nod along to this, write one client a month on a little sticky note, and then change absolutely nothing about your daily operations. The notes outline some pretty brutal losses.Speaker 2: Yeah, the literal mathematical loss is obvious that $48,000 over five years, it just vanishes,Speaker: poof, gone.Speaker 2: But the notes argue. The real tragedy is the intangible loss. The opportunities you couldn't afford to take, the clients you never impacted and the confidence you just never built,Speaker: which leads to five more years of exactly what we described in that painful morning routine, guessing, hoping, scrolling, and just wondering what if this could have worked?Speaker 2: Exactly.Speaker: And the main revelation of the text is how to prevent this. To capture that one extra client. You do not need a hundred new marketing strategies.Speaker 2: Definitely not.Speaker: You don't need to figure out the algorithm for a viral TikTok post. Mm-hmm. And you definitely do not need to buy more expensive gear.Speaker 2: No, you really don't.Speaker: Wait. Here's where it gets really interesting, because it's like a struggling tennis player who keeps, um, double faulting on their serve.Speaker 2: Okay. I like that.Speaker: Instead of just practicing their swing. They keep going to the pro shop to buy more and more expensive rackets. They think a, you know, a carbon fiber frame is gonna magically fix their technique.Speaker 2: Yes.Speaker: But the notes point out you really only need one core skill, and that is the ability to convert interest into bookings. That's the swing.Speaker 2: That is the swing,Speaker: but why is conversion the absolute most avoided skill when it is quite literally the only one that actually pays the bills? Why do we keep buying the rackets instead of practicing the swing?Speaker 2: Well, because tweaking your art or redesigning your logo or buying new lenses, those are inherently safe activities.Speaker: Oh, wow. Yeah.Speaker 2: Carbon fiber racket feels like progress, but it is really just sophisticated procrastination. You are in control and there's no one there to tell you no.Speaker: That's so true.Speaker 2: Conversion requires vulnerability. The moment you focus on selling, you introduce the real risk of rejection. You have to actually ask for the business.Speaker: And a no feels like a rejection of you as a person, right? Not just the service you provide.Speaker 2: Exactly. But shifting your focus to conversion is the ultimate act of taking control. It's deciding your success won't be dictated by the mere hope that someone stumbles across your page and decides to navigate the entire hiring process entirely on their own.Speaker: So how does someone actually master conversion without feeling like a, you know, a sleazy salesperson,Speaker 2: right?Speaker: Because nobody wants to be that person pushing a hard sell in the dms,Speaker 2: right? Nobody likes that.Speaker: The notes breakdown Matthew Jordan Smith's three-day client conversion challenge to fix this exact gap. Let's dive deep into the mechanics of this, starting with day one, which is why people aren't saying yes.Speaker 2: Okay, so this is all about understanding the unseen obstacles, stopping your potential clientsSpeaker: unseen, obstacles.Speaker 2: Yeah. A potential buyer might look at your portfolio, absolutely love your work, but then encounter a point of friction that they simply don't vocalize.Speaker: Like what though? Gimme a concrete example of an unseen obstacle,Speaker 2: okay? Um, it could be a really confusing pricing structure.Speaker: Oh, I hate those,Speaker 2: right? If a client has to do complex math just to figure out your packages, they aren't gonna email you for clarification. They will simply close the tab.Speaker: Yep. Moving on to the next person.Speaker 2: Or if you're a consultant, the unseen obstacle might be that your client doesn't actually understand what a strategy session entails. It sounds like work to them,Speaker: like homework.Speaker 2: Exactly. They don't know how long it takes or what they need to prepare, and instead of asking, they walk away to find someone whose process just seems simpler. Day one is about getting out of your own head and identifying those specific friction points in the buyer's mind.Speaker: But why on earth would you start day one with analyzing why they say no? Wouldn't it make way more sense to start with like how to pitch them or how to show your best work? Why start with diagnosing the negative?Speaker 2: Well, if we connect this to the bigger picture, you absolutely have to diagnose the friction before you can prescribe the cure.Speaker: Okay?Speaker 2: If someone is saying no because they're intimidated by your onboarding process, pitching them harder is only going to push them further away. Showing them more beautiful portfolio pieces won't solve their confusion about your pricing.Speaker: Oh, I see. You have to know where the leak is before you start pumping more water into the bucket.Speaker 2: Exactly. Which flows perfectly into the mechanism of day two, how to create an experience people trust. And trust isn't just a buzzword here. It is the actual currency of conversion. It's about making people feel safe and seen before they ever sign a contract or hand over their credit card.Speaker: Okay, but how exactly do you engineer that feeling of safety without even talking to them?Speaker 2: By anticipating their needs before they articulate them. Think about the onboarding experience, right?Speaker: Yeah.Speaker 2: If you are a photographer sending a brief, beautifully designed guide on what to expect during the shoot or how to prepare their wardrobe, that shows the client you have guided people through this process hundreds of times.Speaker: You remove the fear of the unknownSpeaker 2: precisely. A personalized welcome packet, or even just a quick video message, shifts you from being just a vendor to being a trusted advisor in a crowded market where literally everyone has a camera or a consulting framework, empathy and preparation are the ultimate differentiators.Speaker: Trust converts faster than a discount ever willSpeaker 2: always.Speaker: That brings us to day three, how to position your value so they book. And the focus here is eliminating the dreaded phrase. I'll think about it.Speaker 2: Yes, you eliminate “we'll think about it” by communicating the transformation, not just the features of your service.Speaker: Okay?Speaker 2: This happens when the perceived value massively outweighs the price,Speaker: but how do you articulate that transformation clearly, like in a practical sense?Speaker 2: Well, clients don't buy an hour of your time and they don't buy 50 digital files. They buy the feeling of confidence or the preservation of a legacy or the elevation of their own brand,Speaker: right?Speaker 2: Day three is about aligning your communication so the client clearly sees the gap between where they are and where they wanna be, and then they recognize that your specific service is the only reliable bridge across that gap.Speaker: That brings everything full circle back to the numbers. You have a choice between securing $48,000 over five years, which is, you know, gaining stability, freedom, and confidence, or letting it just disappear into the void of “I'll figure it out later.”Speaker 2: Yep.Speaker: The call to action in the notes is very specific. Go to Matthew Jordan Smith's Instagram page and click the link in his bio to join the challenge.Speaker 2: But the brilliant part of the source material really is the meta realization embedded in that call to action. The exact moment you go to his Instagram and click that link, you have already started the challenge.Speaker: Oh, because you are literally experiencing the exact same psychological journey your future clients will go through.Speaker 2: Mm.Speaker: They land on your page, get curious, explore, and decide whether to click your link.Speaker 2: Yes.Speaker: So what does this all mean to me? It's like walking into a meticulously designed retail store. The window display catches your eye. That's the Instagram feed, right?Speaker 2: Great analogy.Speaker: And the lighting drawing you in, that's the clear messaging in the bio. And the layout naturally leads you straight to the register, which is the frictionless booking page without you ever feeling pushed. You don't feel sold to. You feel accommodatedSpeaker 2: exactly.Speaker: By clicking his link, you are walking through his retail store. How does experiencing the customer journey firsthand like that change how a creative views their own marketing?Speaker 2: It forces you to realize that empathy is the root of all conversion. By observing your own behavior in that moment, analyzing what specifically made you pause, what made you curious enough to click, what level of trust you needed to hand over your email address, you decode the exact mechanism that will make your clients click yours.Speaker: So you stop seeing marketing as this aggressive act of persuasion.Speaker 2: You start seeing it as a guided journey. You are just trying to build the same bridge for them that was just built for you. You understand the emotional beats of taking someone from “I'm just looking” to “I'm ready to book” because you literally just walked the path yourself.Speaker: That's incredibly powerful. Let's summarize the core insights we've pulled from this deep dive. Ultimately, business success for a creative entrepreneur isn't about being the absolute most talented person in the room.Speaker 2: No, it's not.Speaker: And it's definitely not about having the most expensive gear or the perfect carbon fiber tennis racket.Speaker 2: Talent is the baseline, sure. But the engine is the mathematical power of small wins.Speaker: One single $800 booking a month compounds into a life-changing $48,000 over five years. And the key to unlocking that math is mastering one singular skill, the ability to move an audience from passive interest to active trust.Speaker 2: Conversion.Speaker: Conversion. Yeah. So whether you are a photographer, a consultant, a graphic designer, or a coach, this $48,000 decision applies directly to you. It's about having the confidence to definitively prove to yourself that your passion actually works as a stable, viable career.Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: It's about engineering that sports car and actually installing the steering wheel so you can drive it,Speaker 2: which leaves us with one final essential thought to consider today. If moving someone from looking to booking is entirely about removing psychological friction, look closely at your own process today.Speaker: Step into the shoes of your potential client.Speaker 2: What is the invisible point of friction in your customer's journey? Is it a confusing layout on your website, a delayed response to their initial email, a lack of clear, confident pricing? Find that invisible barrier because it is quietly costing you your own $48,000.

JOIN the 3-Day Photography Challenge Speaker: Imagine for a second. That, uh, you're walking down this really busy city street,Speaker 2: right?Speaker: And you pass this just incredible bakery.Speaker 2: Okay. I'm picturing it.Speaker: And sitting right there in the front window is without a doubt, the most magnificent mouthwatering cake you have ever seen in your life. I mean, an absolute masterpiece.Speaker 2: No way.Speaker: Yeah. And there's an actual crowd of people standing outside on the sidewalk. They're taking pictures with their phones. They're cheering, they're clapping for the baker inside.Speaker 2: Still like a pretty successful bakery.Speaker: Well, here's the thing. You step a little closer to the glass and you notice something completely bizarre.Speaker: The front door to the bakery has this giant heavy steel padlock on it. It's totally locked.Speaker 2: Wait, really?Speaker: Really? The lights in the dining area are off and uh, the cash register on the counter is literally gathering dust.Speaker 2: Wow. That is, um. That's a striking and frankly tragic image. You know, you have this abundance of external validation.Speaker 2: All this applause, but absolutely zero commerce is actually taking place.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker 2: The admiration is just physically walled off from the business itself.Speaker: The cash register is gathering dust while the bagel gets a standing ovation, and the crazy part is you are the baker. And that locked door, that's your booking process.Speaker 2: That is hard.Speaker: It does.Speaker 2: I thinkSpeaker: today we are taking a pro bar to that padlock. Welcome to this deep dive. We have a mission today that I am incredibly excited about.Speaker 2: Me too. We're getting into some really good stuff.Speaker: Yeah. Because we're unpacking this highly specific, really hard hitting document by Matthew Jordan Smith.Speaker: It's titled, uh. Why you're not getting booked and how to fix it in three daysSpeaker 2: and it is so needed.Speaker: Oh, totally. We're exploring that incredibly frustrating gap between having immense creative talent and you know, actually getting paying clients. If you've ever felt like you have all the passion in the world, but your business consistency is just missing, this deep dive is for you.Speaker 2: I think it's really vital to set the context right outta the gate here while the source material comes from the photography world. It operates on a much, much deeper level.Speaker: Yeah. It's not just about taking pictures.Speaker 2: Not at all. It's essentially a masterclass in the psychology of client conversion. It strips away the art and looks at the behavioral science of why people actually pull out their wallets to buy a service versus just.Speaker 2: You know, casually appreciating art from a distance.Speaker: Okay, let's unpack this because the core struggle Matthew outlines here is just so brutally relatable. It starts with this phenomenon that I like to call the social media mirage.Speaker 2: The social media mirage. I like that.Speaker: Right? Because we all know the cycle.Speaker: You spend hours, maybe days updating your portfolio, you curate everything. You post your absolute best work online, and the comments just start rolling inSpeaker 2: fire emojis everywhere.Speaker: Exactly. A wall of fire emojis. People are saying, stunning, you're a genius. And in your head you're thinking, okay, the floodgates are finally opening,Speaker 2: right?Speaker 2: Because the dopamine hit in that moment is potent. I mean, from an evolutionary standpoint, your brain is getting signals of social acceptance. You feel successful.Speaker: Yeah. Your nervous system registers those emojis as a tangible victory, but then, uh, reality sets inSpeaker 2: it always does.Speaker: Despite the hundred fire emojis.Speaker: You check your inbox and you have zero bookings. Crickets. Matthew jokes in the text that not even your cousin wants to book a session with you.Speaker 2: That's rough, but it's so true.Speaker: So what do you do? You assume it's like a technical error. You think, oh, the algorithm hit it, or maybe my caption wasn't engaging enough.Speaker: So you post again, new caption, same breathtaking work,Speaker 2: and you get the exact same result. A bunch of digital applause and $0 in the bank.Speaker: Yes, the source material highlights this almost agonizing image of sitting there. Constantly refreshing a totally quiet inbox. Almost like the inbox somehow owes you money.Speaker 2: A painful behavioral loop for sure.Speaker: The text literally says, you get so desperate, you start considering booking yourself just to feel something. Just to see a notification.Speaker 2: Oh man, that is. That's dark,Speaker: right? But I have to push back on this a little bit. On behalf of everyone listening who is frustrated by this, shouldn't great work just speak for itself?Speaker 2: You'd think so, wouldn't you?Speaker: Going back to my bakery analogy. If you bake the objectively best cake in the world and put it in the window, why are people just clapping? Why aren't they breaking down the door to buy a slice? If the work is good, why do likes not translate to dollars?Speaker 2: What's fascinating here is the distinction between admiration and purchasing intent.Speaker 2: We constantly conflate the two. Especially today.Speaker: Right, because they feel the same on social media.Speaker 2: Exactly.Speaker: Yeah.Speaker 2: But psychologically they operate on completely different circuits.Speaker: Yeah.Speaker 2: When someone leaves a fire emoji, they're reacting to the art. They're just saying, this is pleasing to look at.Speaker: It doesn't mean they wanna buy it.Speaker 2: No, because liking a photo requires. Absolutely zero commitment. There's no vulnerability, no exchange of resources, and no real trust involved.Speaker: It's totally passive consumption like they're treating your business page like a museum.Speaker 2: Bingo. They're consuming your content as entertainment. The false positive of that engagement tricked your brain into thinking marketing just happenedSpeaker: when really you just hosted a free art exhibition.Speaker 2: Right. The viewer hasn't crossed that mental bridge from this person is talented to, I have a specific problem and I need to hire this person to solve it.Speaker: So if the problem isn't the quality of the work, like if the cake itself is fundamentally delicious, what is actually broken? Well.Speaker 2: This leads logically to a really hard truth about the client's mindset, and it requires a complete paradigm shift.Speaker: Matthew delivers this hard truth with zero sugarcoating. He basically says, the problem is not your photography. It's not your lighting, it's not your camera or your editing.Speaker 2: It's just that you aren't. Converting interest into actual clients,Speaker: which is a bitter pill to swallow. Creatives love to hide behind their craft.Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. If business is slow, the default defense mechanism is, I need a better camera, or I need to learn new software.Speaker: It feels so much safer to critique the art, which you can control than to critique the business process, which involves facing rejectionSpeaker 2: precisely.Speaker: Which brings us to what Matthew calls the 50 millimeter lens fallacy.Speaker: When a client looks at your work, they are not sitting there analyzing the technical specs.Speaker 2: No. They have no idea what those specs even mean.Speaker: Right? They aren't saying, oh, I really hope they use a 50 millimeter lens with an F. 1.4 aperture for that creamy Boca. They don't care about the jargon,Speaker 2: nor should they.Speaker 2: When you focus your messaging on your gear, you build a wall of cognitive friction. You speak a language they don't understand, which just makes them feel intimidated.Speaker: Here's where it gets really interesting though. The source compares this to buying a luxury car.Speaker 2: That's a great comparison.Speaker: Yeah, and think about the psychology of why it works.Speaker: When someone walks into a high-end dealership to buy a sports car, they aren't grilling the sales person about the exact torque of the engine bolts.Speaker 2: Right. They assume the engineering is good because of the price tag.Speaker: Exactly. They are buying the feeling of driving that car down the highway on a sunny day.Speaker: They're buying status, thrill, confidence.Speaker 2: The client is buying a results and a feeling.Speaker: Yes. Instead of asking about the 50 millimeter lens, Matthew points out the clients are asking themselves highly internal emotional questionsSpeaker 2: like, will I look good?Speaker: Right. Will I feel confident? Will I be comfortable?Speaker: And most importantly, can I trust this person with my money and my image?Speaker 2: And if your process doesn't communicate that emotional comfort right from the start, the client hesitates and hesitation is the death of conversion. They close the tab and disappear.Speaker: So we know they're buying a feeling, but where exactly is the bridge collapsing?Speaker: The source outlines three specific roadblocks.Speaker 2: Let's trace the client's journey through those roadblocks. The first major failure point is selling a commodity instead of a transformation.Speaker: Think about it. They find your site. The first thing they look for is in a priceless. They're looking for a mirror.Speaker: They wanna see themselves in your work,Speaker 2: right?Speaker: But if your site just says 10 photos for $500, you've instantly reduced yourself to a commodity. You're just selling a deliverableSpeaker 2: because a photo is just a digital file. The transformation is the journey from feeling awkward to feeling empowered and beautiful.Speaker 2: If you just sell the file, you compete on price,Speaker: which is a race to the bottom. If you sell the transformation, you compete on value. But let's say they want that transformation and they send you an email.Speaker 2: Here comes the second roadblock.Speaker: Yep, an undefined experience. The journey from that first inquiry to the final delivery is a complete black box.Speaker 2: This is a massive point of failure. Human beings crave certainty.Speaker: Hmm.Speaker 2: If I email you and your response is vague, my anxiety spikes. I don't know how payment works or what the next steps are.Speaker: It's like getting into a taxi and the driver just sits there staring at you in the rear view mirror. In total silence, you feel responsible for driving the interaction.Speaker 2: That is an incredibly apt analogy. And what happens? Your stress spikes and you just wanna get outta the car.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker 2: When things feel unclear, a client's biological response is to freeze. Ambiguity is risky, so they just don't move forward,Speaker: which leads right into the third roadblock.Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: Attracting maybe clients, because your process is a black box.Speaker: You attract people who love your work but don't value it.Speaker 2: They get to the end of your messy pricing email and say. Let me think about it.Speaker: The dreaded five words and the source translates this perfectly. Let me think about it. It's just polite code for, I'm not convinced.Speaker 2: It's the ultimate polite rejection.Speaker 2: They're saving face while running away from the friction of your process.Speaker: So our creatives accidentally training their audience to devalue them. Like does leaving the process vague make you look like an amateur?Speaker 2: If we connect this to the bigger picture. Absolutely. Ambiguity is the enemy of conversion.Speaker 2: When you don't lead with authority, you force the client to figure out how to hire you,Speaker: which is too much work for them.Speaker 2: Exactly. The maybe client isn't trying to waste your time, they're just the symptom of your murky process. They take the easiest off ramp. Let me think about it.Speaker: Okay. We know the problem.Speaker: It's the locked padlock on the bakery door. The million dollar question is, how do we fix it? How do we shift to consistent paying clients?Speaker 2: This is where the source gets highly tactical.Speaker: Yes. Matthew Jordan Smith introduces this specific solution. The three day client conversion challenge, and I love that it's explicitly not fluff or theory.Speaker 2: It's not just inspirational quotes.Speaker: No, it's a focused three day shift. Let's break it down. Day one is all about figuring out exactly who your client is, what they're worried about, and why they're hesitating.Speaker 2: You have to step out of the artist's mindset and into the customer's shoes. You can't alleviate their anxiety if you don't map their fears first.Speaker: Right. Then day two, which Matthew calls the game changer is about creating an experience that sells for you. Making people instantly comfortable and guiding them to confidence.Speaker 2: You are engineering word of mouth here, designing the emotional arc of their experience before they even arrive, so they become an active advocate for your business.Speaker: Love that. And finally, day three, positioning value. So people say yes, this is where you build boundaries. You eliminate the need to overexplain or defend your prices.Speaker 2: It's about confidently communicating your worth.Speaker: It's like gaining a superpower. You finally have the armor to stop apologizing, and you attract the right clients while repelling the price shoppers.Speaker 2: This raises an important question, though. How much mental energy and income are you losing every month because you haven't formalized this shift? The difference between a struggling amateur and a booked professional is in these three steps.Speaker: I couldn't agree more, and that's why. To stop guessing and chasing clients, you need to join this challenge.Speaker: I'm speaking directly to you right now, the link to join the three day client conversion challenge. Is in Matthew's Instagram bio.Speaker 2: It's right there waiting for you.Speaker: Yep. Pull out your phone, go to Instagram and follow him at Matthew Jordan Smith. That's Matthew Jordan Smith. Click the link in his bio, join the challenge, and stop losing clients to the, let me think about it void.Speaker 2: It's such a vital step to actually open that bakery door and let people in.Speaker: So to recap, this isn't about becoming a better photographer. Your cake is already delicious. It's about turning your talent into a business machine that actually works.Speaker 2: You have to build the door. Unlock it and invite them inside with confidence.Speaker: One last time. Head over to Instagram. Follow Matthew Jordan Smith and click the link in his bio.Speaker 2: And as we wrap up, I wanna leave you with one final thought to ponder. If clients are ultimately buying the feeling of working with you, take a look at your current booking process, your emails, your website.Speaker 2: What is the feeling you're accidentally giving them right now?Speaker: Wow, that is a heavy question, but such a necessary one. Thank you so much for joining us for this deep dive. Take that padlock off the door and we'll catch you next time.

Stop Saying You Capture Memories Adam: I wanna start today by, uh, painting of a picture, and I'm warning you now for a huge chunk of our listeners, especially the creative professionals of photographers. Sarah: Hmm. Adam: This is gonna feel, well, let's just call it visceral. Sarah: Visceral is definitely the right word. We're going right for the nerve ending today. Adam: Okay? So a picture of this, you've just finished editing a gallery. You've been at the computer for hours, maybe even days. You've got your coffee, you're scrolling through and you look at the screen with this, just this swelling sense of pride. Because objectively the work is undeniable. Sarah: Mm-hmm. Adam: The lighting is cinematic. Adam: The composition's perfect. The emotion is raw. You look at it and you think, okay. This is it. This is the level where the calendar should be full. Sarah: It's that moment of creative peak. You feel like you've finally cracked the code on the art itself. You've mastered the craft. Adam: Exactly. You feel invincible. Sarah: Mm-hmm. Adam: But then you tab over to your inbox uhoh and it's quiet. Or you know, maybe there are a few inquiries, but they're lukewarm. You get the classic, Hey, how much you charge, you reply. Heart pounding a little and then ghosted Sarah: Danish. Yeah, Adam: and that is the most frustrating disconnect in the entire industry. Adam: It's the silence that follows all that effort. Sarah: And it triggers the spiral, doesn't it? You sit there and start thinking, is the market saturated? Is it the economy? Do I need to buy that new mirrorless body to compete? Adam: Oh, totally. Maybe if I had better bo of a book, Sarah: we immediately look for external excuses or we blame the gear. Sarah: It's a classic defense mechanism. You know, if we can blame the economy, we don't have to look at our own business strategy, Adam: but today we are diving into a stack of resources that suggests the problem isn't your camera, it isn't the economy, and here is the kicker. It isn't even your photography. Sarah: The problem is your language. Adam: It's your language. Sarah: It's a fascinating premise and honestly, a bit of a relief once you get it. We're unpacking insights from Matthew Jordan Smith today. He's a heavy hitter, world renowned celebrity photographer, Nikon ambassador and host of the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Adam: And his core argument is that we're basically talking ourselves out of a sale. Sarah: We are accidental experts at it because of the words on our website, in our emails, in our captions, Smith calls this whole process a verbal audit, and I have to warn everyone up front. He warns us too. This is probably gonna sting a little. Adam: Oh, I definitely felt that sting reading through this. It's uncomfortable because he's basically saying, your work is great, but your mouth is losing you money. Sarah: That's a blunt way to put it. Yeah. But yeah, the central idea here is that uncertainty kills bookings. A potential client lands on your page and feels even, uh, like a microsecond of confusion about what they're getting or why it matters. They don't click book. Adam: They click back. Sarah: Yeah. Adam: And they're gone. Sarah: They're gone. Adam: So let's diagnose this. What are we actually doing wrong? Because I look at a lot of photography websites and they all seem. I don't know. Nice. They seem friendly. Sarah: That's exactly the problem. They're nice, they're safe. Smith identifies a whole category of phrases that he says are basically business poison, precisely because they are so common. Sarah: He calls it fluff. Adam: Give us the greatest hits. What are the main offenders? Sarah: Okay, you've got capturing memories. I love working with families. Let's create magic. Timeless images. Adam: Wait, hold on a second. Capturing memories. That's literally the job description. Why is that? Poison. Sarah: It is what they do, but it's a commodity phrase. Sarah: Oh. I mean, if you and a photographer down the street and a college student with an iPhone are all capturing memories, how does the client distinguish between you Adam: Price? That's the only variable left. Sarah: Bingo. You force them to price shop. When the language is identical, the only thing that's different is the dollar sign. Sarah: Smith argues that capturing memories is just vague. It could mean in a blurry selfie, it could mean a vanity fair, spread it. It doesn't convey any real value, Adam: so it's filler. It's what you write when you don't know what else to say. It's like a chef saying, I cook food. Sarah: Yes. That's a great analogy. Adam: Well, I hope so. Sarah: Yeah. Adam: But are you making a grilled cheese or are you making a five course tasting menu? Sarah: Exactly. If a chef says, I cook food, you expect to pay five bucks. If they say, I curate a culinary experience, you expect to pay 200. Language sets the expectation, Adam: and right now most photographers are signaling that they're just service providers, Sarah: like a plumber fixing a leak. Sarah: You do a task, you get paid. But high-end clients, the ones everyone wants to book, they aren't looking for a service provider. They're looking for a guide. Adam: That distinction feels really important. Service provider versus guide, how does that actually play out in the text on a website? Sarah: It comes down to logistics, speak versus transformation Speak. Sarah: Most photographers are fluent in logistics speak. You get a 45 minute session, 20 edited JPEGs, and an online gallery. Adam: I see that everywhere. It's the standard package description. It feels necessary though. Sarah: It is necessary eventually, but it's not what sells the session. It treats photos like groceries. You get 20 apples, but Smith poses this question and it really stops you. Sarah: What are people actually buying? Because they're not buying JPEGs. They don't care about file formats. Adam: They're buying what the photos represent. The feeling. Sarah: He goes deeper. He says they're buying relief from regret. Adam: Oof. Relief from regret. That hits heavy. That sounds. Almost existential. Sarah: It is profound, right? Sarah: But think about the psychology of a parent booking a family session. They aren't thinking, oh, I have some empty wall space. No, they are looking at their toddler, realizing that in six months. That little face will be different. They feel time passing. Adam: They're terrified of forgetting who their child is right now. Sarah: So they're buying an insurance policy against their own memory, failing precisely. They're buying proof that this time mattered. Now, if that is the emotional storm inside your client. That fear of loss, and you meet them with, you get 20 JPEGs. Adam: It's a massive disconnect. You're speaking a different language. Sarah: You're talking specs, they're feeling existential dread. You're bringing a spreadsheet to a therapy session, Adam: right? You're answering an emotional need with a logical product list, and that just creates hesitation. The client thinks this person doesn't get it. Sarah: They don't understand how important this is. Adam: Okay? So we know the problem. We're boring people with logistics and fluff. But Smith doesn't just critique. He offers a fix. He calls it the delete and replace exercise. Sarah: This is the practical part. If you're listening and you can pull up your website right now, do it. Just, you know, visualize your homepage. Sarah: This is where it gets real. Adam: The assignment is to hunt down those vague phrases, capturing memories, has to die, timeless images gone. What do we replace it with? Sarah: We replace it with the truth of the transformation. Smith says to shift the focus from the process, taking photos to the stakes. What happens if you don't? Adam: Gimme a concrete example instead of capturing memories, Sarah: okay, try this. Preserving the season of life you'll never get back. Adam: Wow. Okay. That lands differently. Sarah: Why? What do you feel when you hear that Adam: urgency? Season you'll never get back implies that if I don't do this now, I've lost something forever. Adam: Capturing memories. Sounds optional. I could do that next year. But preserving a season sounds necessary right now. Sarah: Exactly. You've moved from Nice to have to must have. He has another one for family photographers that I loved. Instead of book your fall family session, which just sounds like another chore on my to-do list. Adam: Right. It feels like an obligation. Like get oil changed. Sarah: Totally. Instead, he suggests because childhood doesn't wait, or even better, one day this will be the photo your children hold onto. Adam: Oh, that's the one. One day. This will be the photo your children hold onto. That shifts the whole perspective. It's not about me looking good for a Christmas card anymore. Adam: It's about creating an heirloom for my kids. Sarah: It casts the client as the hero of their own story. And it moves the conversation from, is this worth $400 to, is my family's legacy worth preserving? Adam: And for most people, the answer to that second question is an automatic yes. You can't put a price tag on that. Sarah: You're anchoring the price to something invaluable, not to a piece of photo paper. And speaking of price, this is where photographers get the most defensive. Adam: Well, I've seen this a million times. Investment starts at. Yeah, where packages begin at, usually in a smaller font, like tucked away at the bottom of the page. Sarah: It's so timid. We're signaling, I know this is expensive. Please don't be mad at me. Adam: Smith says, stop being defensive. You need to frame the price as the vehicle for the result. So instead of, my pricing starts at $500, what's the better way? How do you say that with your chest out? Sarah: He offers this script. My clients invest between 400 and $900 to make sure this season of life is never forgotten. Adam: My clients invest. That's clever. It's social proof. It implies other people do this. It's normal. Sarah: And notice the word choice. Invest not cost. Cost is money Lost investment is money that gives a return. The return is the memory saved. It changes the whole psychology of the transaction. Adam: It's subtle, but it completely changes the posture of the photographer. Adam: You aren't asking for money. You're stating the standard. Sarah: Correct. And I know we have listeners who don't do families. Maybe you do branding headshots that feels, you know, drier, right? Harder to get emotional about a LinkedIn photo. Adam: Yeah. It's hard to get existential about a headshot. Relief from regret feels like a stretch there, Sarah: but the stakes are still there. Sarah: They're just different. Smith says, stop saying I offer branding photography. Instead say, I help business owners look like the authority they already are. So clients stop questioning their prices. Adam: Oh, that is sharp. So clients stop questioning their prices. You're connecting the photo directly to the client, making more money. Sarah: You're solving their problem. Their problem isn't that they don't have a picture of their face. Their problem is they wanna stop hagglers. If you can articulate that, you're not a photographer anymore, you're a strategic partner. An asset, not an expense, Adam: which leads to what Smith says is the real root cause because we can change the words today. Adam: We can copy paste these scripts. Mm-hmm. But he argues if you don't actually believe them, it won't stick. Sarah: And this is the sting coming back. He says, this ist really a marketing problem. It's a self-trust problem. Adam: Go deeper on that. Why a trust issue. Sarah: He says, the reason photographers use vague, fluffy language is that deep down they don't fully trust that their work actually changes people. Sarah: They're afraid to claim the magnitude of what they really do, so they soften it. They make it small to be safe. Adam: There was a quote in the notes that just, it really stood out to me. When you don't trust your value, your language gets smaller and small language creates small bookings. Sarah: It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, isn't it? Sarah: If you speak timidly, you attract clients who treat you small. They haggle. They micromanage. They treat you like the hired help because you haven't established your authority. Adam: So the goal isn't to sound affordable or available. Sarah: Mm-hmm. Adam: What is the goal then? Sarah: The goal is to sound inevitable. Adam: Inevitable. I love that word. Adam: In this context. Sarah: You wanna be the only logical choice. You want the client to think, I have to hire you because nobody else understands my need the way you do. If you can articulate their problem better than they can, they automatically trust you with the solution. Adam: It's like when you go to a doctor, if the doctor says, well, I guess we could try this. Adam: I don't know. It's kind of expensive. What do you think? Sarah: Yeah, Adam: you run. Sarah: You run. Exactly. You want the doctor who walks in and says, I know exactly what this is. It's serious, and here's how we're gonna fix it. Photographers need to have that same doctor energy, Adam: doctor energy. I'm writing that down. Sarah: You are the expert on legacy. Sarah: You have to act like it. Adam: Now, Smith makes a prediction about the future of the industry looking toward 2026, and it's not about AI or new gear. Sarah: No. Although those things matter. He predicts that the photographers who will thrive won't necessarily be the ones with the most raw talent. It'll be the ones who are the clearest Adam: clarity wins. Sarah: In a noisy world, clarity is currency. Everyone's a photographer. The person who cuts through the noise isn't the one shouting louder. It's the one making the most sense. Adam: I wanna pivot slightly because there's a really interesting connection in the source material to a book he released called Aretha. Adam: Cool. And at first I thought, okay, is this just a product plug? Mm. But it fits perfectly into this conversation. Sarah: It's not a plug, it's a totem. The book is photos of Aretha Franklin, but in this context, Smith uses it as a physical representation of embodied boldness, Adam: embodied boldness. 'cause Aretha, I mean, she didn't ask for permission to be in the room. Sarah: She owns the room. She owned her voice. She never used small language. Smith talks about having this book on his desk, not just as decoration, but as a reminder. When you're writing that email, when you're setting that price, you look at that book and remind yourself, don't shrink. Be bold. What would Aretha do? Adam: It's a physical anchor for that mindset shift because it's hard to stay in that doctor energy when you haven't had a booking in three weeks and the rent is due. Sarah: It is so hard. Doubt creeps in. Imposter syndrome is real. You need physical reminders in your environment that tell you that you're allowed to take up space. Adam: So let's paint the final picture. Let's say a listener takes this to heart. They do the verbal audit, they rewrite the bio, they stop apologizing for their price. What does their business look like in a year? Sarah: The vision Smith paints is really compelling. He says, imagine waking up to inquiries from people who already trust you before you've even spoken to them. Adam: That's the dream, the pre-sold client, Sarah: it means you stop negotiating, you stop overexplaining your process. You stop panic posting on Instagram because you're desperate. You speak clearly. You price calmly. You attract people who respect that. Adam: It sounds like moving from a frantic hustle to just a calm authority, Sarah: that's the shift. Sarah: And Smith emphasizes this. Clarity spreads. It's not just about you making more money. When photographers start using better language, it elevates the whole industry. It teaches the public that photography isn't just a commodity. It teaches the world that this work matters. If we keep calling it snapping picks, they'll treat it as cheap. Sarah: If we call it preserving legacy, they learn to value it as such. Adam: So we're actually training our clients on how to treat us Sarah: 100%. Your photography was never the problem. Your language was. That's the mantra. Adam: It's actually really liberating when you think about it. Sarah: Yeah, Adam: because you can't control the economy. Adam: You can't control the algorithm, you can't control the weather on a shoot day, Sarah: but you can control the words. You type on your homepage today. Right now, you don't need a loan, you don't need a degree, you just need a notepad and some radical honesty about what you actually provide. Adam: I wanna leave everyone with a thought that really stuck with me. Adam: We talked about how clients are buying proof that their life mattered. That's a massive responsibility. Sarah: It is. It's a sacred trust. You are the historian for that family. You are deciding what gets remembered. Adam: So here's the question for you to mull over today. Does your current bio or your homepage convince a stranger that you are capable of handling the weight of their legacy? Adam: Or does it just say that you own a nice camera? Sarah: That is the question. If you can answer that with confidence, the bookings will follow. Adam: Huge. Thanks to the insights from Matthew Jordan Smith for this deep dive. It's definitely made me rethink how I introduce myself, and I'm not even a photographer. Sarah: Same here. Sarah: It applies to everything. Time to go edit some bios. Adam: Go check your words, everyone. We'll see on the next one. ✍️📸

Why Clients Hesitate Even After They Love Your Work Hi, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Let me begin by describing a moment and see if this feels familiar to you. Someone comments on your work. They send you a direct message. They say things like, I love your photos. Your work looks beautiful. This really connects with me. You feel hopeful. And then nothing. No booking, no follow up. No yes. And you are left thinking, if they love my work, why aren't they hiring me? That question is one of the most frustrating experiences a photographer can have. You know what I mean? So today we're going to answer it clearly, calmly, and without blaming you or your work. Here's the truth that most photographers never hear. People don't book photographers when they simply admire them. They book you when they trust themselves inside the experience. You see, admiration and action are not the same thing. And the gap, that huge gap between them, is where most bookings fall apart. When they say, I love your work, it isn't the green light we think it is. So let's slow this down. When someone says they love your work, what that really means is your images caught their attention, your style resonates with them, your taste is clear. And that is important. But it's only the first step. Because the next question they're asking is much quieter and much more personal. What would it feel like to be photographed by this person? If they can't answer that question clearly, they hesitate even when they love what they see. You see, most photographers are showing results. Very few show the process. You show finished images, beautiful faces, strong aesthetics. But clients are imagining their own awkwardness, their discomfort, their fear of looking bad, their uncertainty about what to do in front of your camera. If your messaging doesn't bridge that gap, that admiration stalls and goes quiet. Not because you did anything wrong, but because no one showed them the way. This is not about posting more. It's not about better captions. It's not about more reels or reach or consistency posting. This is about emotional orientation. People don't move forward when they feel disoriented, even if they're impressed with your beautiful work. They move forward when someone helps them understand what happens next, how they'll be guided, what role they play, and how they'll be taken care of. Listen to this language. I create authentic portraits. I capture real moments. My sessions are relaxed and fun. Now, none of that is wrong. But none of that tells a nervous client what to expect, the one who's on the edge. So they fill in the blanks themselves. And when people are already self-conscious, the story they fill in is rarely generous. Now, here's the shift that changes everything. Stop trying to be impressive. Start taking them through the process. Instead of asking, does this show how good I am? Ask, does this help someone imagine themselves feeling great? That's the difference between admiration and trust. Trust is built when language answers questions. Questions like, will I be told what to do? Will I feel rushed? Will I feel judged? Will I regret this? Trust sounds like, most of my clients feel awkward at first, and that's expected. I guide you the entire time. Or my process is structured so you never have to guess what to do. Or maybe something like this. You don't need to be confident when you arrive. That comes later. That language creates movement, and movement turns into bookings. And here's the part that really matters. Because a lot of photographers are also saying things quietly to themselves. It's the quiet voice that's filled with fear. What if I'm over promising? What if I sound arrogant? So a lot of photographers stay vague. But vagueness doesn't feel humble to clients. It feels uncertain. And you already know any type of uncertainty creates hesitation. And if there's any hesitation, it turns into a ghost situation. So what's the real reason why clients ghost you? Most clients don't disappear because they lost interest, like you might think. They disappear because they couldn't decide. And indecision usually means one thing. I like this, but I don't feel confident yet. Now, your job is not to convince them. Your job is to steady them. So here's a question you can ask yourself when reviewing your site, your Instagram, your captions, how you respond to people. If someone has never been photographed before, would my messaging help them feel less alone? If the answer is no, change your language. Change your messaging. You don't need more content. You need more containment. And when you close that gap, inquiries turn into bookings. Price resistance goes away. Clients show up more often. And sessions feel easier, not because your work has changed, but because the experience becomes clearer. Today, let me leave you with this. People already admire your work. That's not the problem. They just need help crossing the bridge from admiration to taking action. And that bridge isn't built with more talent. It's built with clarity, guidance, and confidence to say, I know how to take care of you. When you offer that, people stop hesitating and they move forward. I hope this episode helps something click for you. If it did, leave a five star review. It helps this podcast reach photographers who are stuck blaming themselves instead of adjusting their language. Feel free to share this episode with one photographer who keeps hearing, I love your work, but isn't seeing it turn into bookings yet. I'll see you next time on the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Until then, lead gently. Bye for now.

The Inquiry Moment: Where Authority Is Won or Lost Today, let's talk about what happens when somebody inquires about hiring you. You get a message or a DM or maybe even a call, someone is interested in hiring you. We call that the moment of inquiry. And today's episode is all about why the way you respond matters more than your images, more than your portfolio, more than you think. I want you to think about the last time someone inquired about your work, about hiring you. Was it an email, a direct message, in person, however it happened? Did it make your heart beat a little faster? Now, be honest with yourself. When you replied, were you trying to convince them or were you guiding them? Because in that moment, before pricing, before packages, before availability, your authority was either established or quietly handed away. And most photographers don't even realize what's happening. This is a powerful moment. The moment someone inquires about your work is not administrative. It's emotional. It's the moment where a client is deciding, can I trust this person to take care of me? They're not thinking, are they nice, are they enthusiastic, are they flexible? But will I feel safe, guided, and understood by this photographer? Are they the one for me? And the language you use in this first response answers that question immediately. And sadly, most photographers are not thinking this way. Most photographers respond with something like this: I'd love to work with you. Let me know if you have any questions. Yes, that sounds kind. It does sound polite. It sounds accommodating. But it also sounds unsure. And here's why that matters when your goal is to get the booking. When a client is already nervous about being photographed, uncertainty in any way feels like risk. Permission is a trap. That type of response does something subtle. It asks the client, is this okay? Do you approve? Do you want me? And that puts the client in charge of a process they don't actually want to manage. People don't want to lead their photographer. They want to be led. Now, compare that to this response. Based on what you shared, here's how I'd approach your session and why it works well for people who feel the way you described. What's the difference? One response waits. The other holds. One asks for permission. The other offers leadership. And leadership is calming to your client. You see, there's a journey. Your client or potential client begins the journey, but then they're handing it off to you. And that's when it's time for you to take control and guide them on your journey. Clients reach out because they're uncertain. They don't know what to wear, how to pose, if they'll like themselves in your pictures, if they're making the right choice by choosing you as their photographer. When you step into leadership, you relieve that burden. You are saying, you don't have to figure this out. I've got you. That's not sales. That's care. So why does this feel so hard for so many photographers? Here's the deeper layer. Many photographers soften their language because they don't fully understand or trust themselves yet. They're afraid of sounding arrogant. They're afraid of being rejected. They're afraid of being too much, so they stay agreeable. But agreeableness is not confidence. And clients can feel the difference. I don't want to confuse things because authority is not attitude. Let's be clear about that. Authority is not dominance. It's not being cold in any way. It's not feeling indifferent. Authority gives clarity and does so with kindness. There's a big difference. It's saying, I understand your concerns and I know how to guide you through it. Now we know the problem. Now let's fix it. Here's a structure you can use every single time. Step one, reflect what they said. Let them feel heard. You mentioned feeling uncomfortable in front of the camera. Step two, offer your approach. This is where your authority lives. In sessions like this, I focus on guiding you step by step, so you never feel unsure. Do you see how that feels? It changes things. Step three, recommend the next step. Direction matters. The best next step for us is to dive into a quick consult so I can tailor the session just for you. That's what clients want to hear. Notice you're not asking what they want to do. You are showing them what works. They begin the journey, and you take the reins from there. So what happens when you take the lead, when you shift to guidance? Clients respond faster. Price resistance drops away. Sessions run smoother. Respect for you and your work increases, not because you changed your pricing, but because you changed your posture. And this moment shapes everything that follows. How you show up in the inquiry moment sets the tone for the session, the relationship, the sale, the referral, consistent clients from that point on. If you begin from authority, everything else flows smoothly. This kind of quiet leadership is exactly why clients return to you over and over again. This is the moment when you stand in your authority. Authority doesn't shout. It doesn't need to. It holds. Let me leave you with this today. You don't need to convince people to trust you. You need to give them something solid to trust. The moment when they inquire about hiring you isn't about being chosen. It's about choosing to lead. And when you do that, the right clients don't hesitate. They exhale. They feel held. And they say yes. If you are enjoying these podcast episodes, let me know. If you feel stuck and I haven't touched on your topic, drop me a line. It helps me to prepare future episodes. I want to hear from you. Thank you for your time. Thank you for listening. I look forward to seeing you next week on the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. And yes, I'm Matthew Jordan Smith. You can find me on Instagram simply under that, Matthew Jordan Smith. Until then, lead with certainty, speak with care, and trust yourself enough to guide the process. Bye for now.

Why Some Images Stop Us Cold (And Why Yours Can Too) This has been an emotional year. Maybe you've noticed many people around the world are experiencing emotions they've never felt before. And most of those emotions are based on pictures. Have you stopped to think about that? This year, we've all seen the images that stopped us in our tracks, images that made us pause, images that made us feel something in our chest before we could explain why. Images that stayed with us long after we scrolled past them. And I'm not just talking about photographers noticing this, I'm talking about people everywhere. Across cultures, across borders, across languages being moved by photographs that feel alive, like you were right there seeing it and feeling it. And I want to ask you something important today. Have you ever stopped to think about what it took for that image to exist? Because somewhere in the middle of the chaos, the noise and uncertainty, certainty, and yes, the pain a photographer found clarity. They didn't just see what was happening. They felt it, and they trusted that feeling enough to press the shutter. Here's the truth most photographers overlook. We don't react to images. We react to emotion. That's every person on the planet, always have, always will. For a photographer, an image without emotional truth is just information. An image with emotional truth becomes an experience. An experience, bad or good, is what people remember forever. Think about the images that stopped you this week. Not the technically perfect ones, not the trendy ones, not the ones with the big lighting or sharpness. The ones that stopped you were the ones that made you feel something you recognized. Grief, pain, empathy, relief, strength, tenderness, or the lack thereof. Defiance. Hope. Those images didn't shout. They told the truth. I know many photographers get stuck here. They think emotional images come from big events, dramatic moments, extreme circumstances, and I'm not saying that they don't, because in many cases they do. But not all emotional images come from drama. They do come from presence. From being open enough to feel what's happening while it's happening, instead of trying to control it, pose it, or sanitize it. And that openness, that's the real skill. And let's be totally honest right now. Many photographers, maybe many people, disconnect from their own emotions because it feels safer. For photographers, safer is focusing on settings, safer to hide behind technique, safer to stay busy adjusting instead of feeling. But when you numb yourself, your image is numb too. You can't photograph what you refuse to feel. And when you allow yourself to be emotionally present, something changes. Not just in your work, but in how your clients experience you. Here's something I want you to hear clearly. Clients don't choose photographers based on style. You see, when you are emotionally present, clients relax faster. They trust your direction. They show you real expressions. They stop performing, and suddenly the images deepen, not because you changed your gear, but because you changed how available you were to connect emotionally. Emotion's a funny thing. It works like a mirror. When you allow yourself to be open, your clients unconsciously mirror that openness. If you're guarded, they will be guarded. If you are distracted, they'll stay surface level. If you're present, they'll arrive too. And that's when the images people respond to are created. I know this is an emotional episode, but let's talk about something practical for a second. If people respond to emotion in images, what do you think they respond to in words? The same thing. When your messaging in your marketing is emotional and honest, not dramatic, not performative, but real, people feel it. Instead of saying, I create beautiful portraits, try asking, what do people feel after working with me? Do they feel calm, at peace, seen, grounded, strong, loved? I'm talking about emotions. Emotion doesn't just shape your images. It shapes how people choose you, how they remember you. And here's a practice you can start immediately, no camera required. Before your next photo session, ask yourself, if I were the client, what would I feel walking into my space? During the session, notice what is the emotional temperature right now. After your session, reflect. What moment during your shoot felt the most real? Now, why does all of this matter now? Maybe you've noticed the world is loud. People are overwhelmed. Attention's fractured. The images that cut through the noise, they aren't louder. They're truer. And photographers who learn to trust emotional truth, not perfection, will always matter. They always have. Let me leave you with this today. You don't need to manufacture emotion. You need to allow it. The images that stop people cold aren't planned. They're created by photographers who are willing to be human first, and technical second. When you trust what you feel, your images begin to trust you back, and the world feels that. When your images carry truth, people don't just look. They connect and they remember. If this episode reminded you why you picked up a camera in the first place, drop me a message on Instagram. I'd love to hear from you. Leave a five star review. It helps this podcast reach more photographers who are searching for meaning, not just metrics. And share this episode with anyone who needs to hear it today. Maybe what we all need is permission to feel. I'll see you next week on the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Until then, stay present, stay honest, and trust the emotion you already carry. Bye for now.

Your Portfolio Might Be Working Against YouI've got a question for you. Did you ever think your pictures, your portfolio, your Instagram, that it could be working against you? This episode, it is designed to relieve pressure, restore self-trust, and give clear, actionable guidance, without turning into a technical critique.It speaks directly to photographers who feel stuck, overworked, underbooked, and quietly afraid that deleting images means losing ground. Maybe you already know this. More photos does not mean more bookings. People often ask me, Matthew, how many pictures should I include? How many should I show?I know where that comes from. We think the more we show, the better. And if you've been adding more to your portfolio, hoping this next image will finally be the one that convinces people. I want you to pause with me today, because your portfolio is probably not failing because your work isn't good enough. It may be failing because it's trying to do too much, and that's not a skill problem. It's a clarity problem. Let's get something straight right away.Your portfolio is not a gallery.Have you ever had a friend pull out their smartphone and start showing you pictures, and a hundred photos in, you're wondering, when will they stop? How can I get out of this? That's how clients feel when you show too much, when you keep adding pictures. So let me say that again. Your portfolio is not a gallery. It's not your personal archive. It is not a scrapbook of everything you've ever been proud of.And it's not the thing that proves that you're legitimate. Your portfolio, your images, it has one job. It is a filter. Its job is not to impress everyone. Its job is to quietly say to the right person, your safe. Here, this photo shoot will go well. I know how to guide you. I see you. If your portfolio tries to speak to everyone, it clearly speaks to no one. Most photographers keep too many images in their portfolio for emotional reasons, not strategic ones. You keep images because you remember how hard they were to get. They represent growth. They prove you can do a certain kind of work. You are afraid removing them means erasing progress. I get it. I've had the same feelings in the past. But you've got to remember. All of us must remember, clients don't see your journey. They see a wall of uncertainty.And uncertainty is not what they're looking for when they already feel vulnerable about being photographed. You see, when a potential client scrolls through your portfolio or your Instagram, or your images in any way, they are asking one thing over and over again, will my experience look and feel like this?Not, is this photographer versatile? Can they shoot many styles? Had they worked with lots of different people? Those are photographer questions. Clients want a predictable experience. They want to know, will I feel awkward? Will this photographer guide me? Will I recognize myself in these images? Will I feel respected, calm, and confident before the shoot? During the shoot and after? If your portfolio doesn't answer these questions clearly, well, they hesitate. Let's discuss the three things your portfolio must communicate.Every single image that you show should support at least one of these three things. Number one, emotional safety. Do the people in your images look grounded? Do they look at ease? Do they feel like real human beings, not a performance, not ai, not perfect? For those who are just finding this podcast, you may not know this, but I live in Japan, and there's a phrase here that I love. It's called Wabi-sabi. And what Wabi-sabi means is beauty in imperfection. That's more important today than ever before. Clients are scanning for safety, not perfection. Number two, transformation. Can someone imagine themselves before and after your session? Do your images suggest confidence gained, not just poses? Transformation. Transformation that builds desire. And number three, consistency of voice. Do these images feel like they belong together, or they feel like different photographer is trying on different styles? Consistency creates trust. So the three things you need to show in every picture, emotional safety, transformation, and a consistent voice. Maybe you're thinking, Matthew, but what do I take out? And as we know, a lot of photographers avoid this. So here's what you need to remove. Images that feel like you're proving something. Work that no longer represents how you want to serve people. Photos you keep explaining when asked about them. If your image requires an explanation, justification, it does not belong. Your pictures. Your portfolio should not need footnotes. Photography, great photography speaks for itself. Maybe you're thinking Matthew, but I need variety. Variety is overrated. Clients don't want variety. They want certainty. Variety says, I can do anything. Certainty says I can do this. And I do it well, each and every time. And certainty is far more comforting than range. Let's talk about something you can do this week. Open your portfolio and ask image by image, would I want to be this person? Do I understand how I'd be guided? Does this image reflect how I want clients to feel? If the answer isn't an immediate yes, remove it, not forever, not because it's bad, but because it's not serving the role your portfolio needs to play right now. You see something important happens when photographers edit their portfolio with intention. They stop chasing approval. They stop trying to impress other photographers. They start trusting their voice. And that trust, it comes up everywhere, in inquiries, in pricing, in sessions, and how you speak about your work. This isn't about fewer images, it's about stronger leadership. This simple principle can be found in my latest book, Aretha. Cool. It's not a collection of everything I ever shot on her. It's a curated body of work that reflects trust, consistency, and a long-term relationship built on listening. You can get a signed edition of Aretha Cool at arethacool.com and only there. It's your reminder that editing is not lost. It's authorship. Let me leave you with this today. You don't need a bigger portfolio. You need a clearer one. You don't need to show more. You need to show what matters. Your future clients are not looking for proof that you can do everything. They're looking for reassurance that you can take care of them. Choose images that reflect that truth. And trust that clarity, not volume, is what creates clients. If this episode made you rethink your portfolio, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me on Instagram, under Matthew Jordan Smith, Matthew with two T's. Leave me a message, follow me. Share your thoughts on this episode, and while you're at it, leave a five star review. It helps photographers who are quietly doubting themselves find this perspective sooner. And share this episode with one photographer who's afraid to delete old work, when what they really need is permission to move forward. I know it's hard to take away old images that you love. I've been guilty of it too. But we must, especially if you want to move forward. This is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, and I'm Matthew Jordan Smith. I look forward to seeing you next week. Trust that less really can be more. Bye for now.

Stop Trying to Be Booked - Start Being Chosen Hello everyone and welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I hope you are having a great day wherever you are. Hard to believe we're in another year. 2026, and if you're listening to this podcast on the day it comes out, we're now past the first month. And maybe you're thinking, I wish I could get booked more as a photographer. I wish I had more clients. Clients who paid me. What I deserve to be paid for my talent. I know you're talented. I see your work. I see you. You're doing everything you know, but you're still not getting clients. If that's you, this episode is for you. Getting booked, getting clients, that's passive being chosen. That needs to be earned. And if you've been working hard. Posting, responding quickly, lowering your prices. Sounding extra friendly, yet still not getting booked, not getting clients. This episode is going to explain why. You see most photographers. They don't lose clients because of lack of talent. They lose them because they're showing up like they're hoping to be picked instead of standing like someone worth choosing. It's a big difference, and I want you to feel the difference between those two very different energies today. If you're honest, you've probably had moments where an inquiry. Comes in and your body reacts before your brain does. You know that feeling. Your heart speeds up. You think, don't mess this up. You overexplain. You soften your language. You try to sound agreeable, flexible, enthusiastic, easy. You tell yourself you're just being kind, but what you're really doing is this. You're trying to reduce the risk of rejection by shrinking your authority and clients smell that a mile away. Even if they can't name it, they feel it. The photographers who are both constantly, they don't chase alignment. They create it. They don't want to be approved. They don't audition for work. They don't sound like they're grateful just to be considered. They lead, and you've really got to hear this leadership, it's what makes clients feel safe, not friendliness, not enthusiasm, not flexibility. Safety authority. Now, let's be clear about something that's a little uncomfortable when you're trying to be booked. Your energy is focused on you. You want the job. And because of that, you're stuck with your fear, thinking about your income, your calendar, and maybe even your worth. But when clients are choosing a photographer, they're focused also on themselves. You've got to understand this. How they'll feel, whether they'll be awkward in front of your camera, if you'll make them look bad, if they'll regret spending the money. If your response doesn't re-center their experience, they hesitate. Not because you did something wrong. But because no one stepped into the role of guiding them. Yes, that's your role. You must guide your clients. You must guide your new potential clients. I want you to think about the last time somebody sent you an inquiry. Maybe it was an email or a DM, but they contacted you. They liked your work, and they wanted to find out what it takes, how much it costs to work with you. Ask yourself honestly, did I try to convince them? Or did I guide them through the process? Most photographers are defaulting to something like this. I'd love to work with you. Let me know if you have any questions. Yes, that sounds polite. It also sounds unsure. Now compare it to this. Based on what you shared, here's how I'd approach your session and why it works well for people who feel the way you described, do you see that difference? Do you feel the difference? One is asking for permission, the other offers leadership. You need to guide your clients through the process , so they can see themselves working with you. They get a glimpse of what it's going to feel like. Now, let's clear this up because this is where a lot of photographers get stuck. Leadership does not mean being cold. I'm not saying that it doesn't mean being dominant. Very different thing . It doesn't mean acting like you don't care if they book you or not. I'm not saying any of that. Leadership means I trust myself enough to guide you clearly. Clients don't want to manage the process. They want to relax inside of it and relaxation. It only happens when someone competent is holding the frame. That has to be you. So here's a direct upgrade you can use starting today. Instead of saying, I'd love to work with you, try something like this. From what you shared, it sounds like you want a session where you feel supported and not rushed. Here's how I can structure that. Do you see how that feels different? Let's do another one. Instead of, let me know what you're thinking. Try something like this. , The next step I recommend is a quick consultation so I can tailor your session for you. Maybe you do a call or a zoom call. This isn't pushy. It's direction and direction leads to a calm client. Who feel secure in what you're going to give. I know this may sound like it's hard, but here's the deeper reason many photographers struggle with this shift. Authority requires self trust. Before external validation, you have to believe your process works before a client is going to confirm it. You have to believe it. You have to stand behind your approach before anyone will ever say yes to working with you. And yes, that might feel scary, especially if you've been told to be humble, grateful, or flexible to succeed. But humility is not the same as minimizing yourself. Stop giving your work away just to be chosen. Let's talk about the consequences of all of this. When you're responding to a client or a potential client in an overly enthusiastic, overly accommodating mode, clients price shop you , sessions feel chaotic. You overdeliver and undercharge, and here's the big one. You feel resentful afterward, not because your clients are bad, but because no one led the process. You see, leadership protects both of you. You are not a vendor. You are not a button pusher. You are someone people trust with how they see themselves. This is intimate work. And intimate work requires confidence, not performance confidence, but grounded certainty, certainty that says, I know how to guide you through this. When I think back about past clients. And Yes, I always think about Aretha Franklin. I, I, I love her. I, I loved working with her. I worked with her for 13 years and everything I've been talking about, it's really why the book Aretha Cool exists. Aretha Cool is my third book, and when I first met her, I just published my first book. The first book was called Sepia Dreams, and it was photographs and interviews of 50 African American celebrities. She was not in the book. I gave her my first book at the end of the shoot, and she loved it, but then she looked at me and said, why am I not in this book? And she didn't really say that kindly, and it hit me, wow, this is the Queen of soul, and she's not in this book with 50 incredible stars. So I told her, then I promise you, one day I would make a book just on you. And true to my word, after 13 years of working with her, I created Aretha Cool. That book is packed with confidence from her side and from mine. What am I talking about? After the first time working with Aretha, she gave me her number. And she told me, if you ever need me for anything, give me a call. Yes. I was shocked that the Queen of soul said that to me. But here's where confidence comes in. I called her about a month later and told her my idea about a shoot. You see, you have to take control sometimes. And not be afraid to do so. Yes, she's a big star, but we had a connection. I felt that on the first shoot, when you feel that, then you can run with it. I gave her my idea. She loved it. That was the second shoot, and that led to 13 years of us working together. If you wanna see what that looks like, get your signed copy of Aretha Cool by just going to arethacool.com. There are two versions of the book. The book is almost sold out, but there are a few copies left. They're all signed. There is a standard edition. You'll see that on the website, aretha cool.com. Each one is signed, but then there's something special as well. There's a limited edition version of Aretha. Cool. That's packed with a lot of wonderful extras. You'll see that on the site as well. From the limited edition version. There were 100 special books. There are about 32 left right now. If you want one of the super special editions, go to arethacool.com. Yes, I loved working with Aretha, but I love all my assignments with all my clients. And I want you to love it too. So let me leave you with this. You don't need more inquiries. You need to show up differently inside the ones you already get. You don't need to convince people to hire you. You need to let them feel held by your clarity. So stop trying to be booked. Start being someone who can be trusted because when you lead with clarity instead of hope, clients don't just respond. They choose you. I want to thank you for your time today and if this episode helped you feel steadier, more grounded, more willing to take up space, please leave a five star review. It helps this podcast reach other photographers who are still stuck trying to earn permission. Feel free to share this episode with one photographer who believes enthusiasm is confidence when what they really need is authority. Thank you for your time today. I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you again next week. On the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, I'm Matthew Jordan Smith. Bye for now.

You’re Not Invisible - You’re Unclear Let me start today. By saying something I know many of you are secretly afraid is true, you are not being ignored because you are untalented. You are not unseen as a photographer because the market is saturated. You are not overlooked because you started too late. You are being passed over because people don't know how to choose you. And that hurts because invisibility feels personal. It feels like rejection. It feels like you're shouting into the void while everyone else somehow gets heard. But today I want to take that weight off your chest because what you are experiencing is not failure. It is unclearness, but the great thing is unclarity is fixable. Most photographers who come to me say the same thing in different words. I just feel invisible, but invisibility isn't actually what's happening. What's happening is this, when someone encounters your work, your website, your Instagram. They just don't feel guided. They don't know who you are specifically for. They don't know what problem you solve. They don't know why. Choosing you would feel safe, grounding, and reassuring. So they keep scrolling. And not because you're forgettable, but because your message doesn't give their nervous system anything to hold onto. I also know that many photographers are trying to appeal to everyone, and that is costing you jobs, is costing you clients. It is the most common trap photographers fall into. I hear it all the time. You say things like, I work with everyone. I photograph all kinds of people. I'm open to all sessions. I get it. I know why you do this. Because narrowing your focus feels risky because you are afraid. Clarity will shrink your opportunities. Because somewhere deep down you're thinking if I say no to anyone, what if no one chooses me? But here's the truth that no one tells you. General messaging doesn't create safety. It creates uncertainty. When clients don't immediately recognize themselves in your words, they don't lean in, they hesitate and hesitation doesn't turn into bookings. Your ideal client. It's not browsing photography with excitement. They're browsing with self-consciousness, fear of looking awkward, doubt about their body, their face, their presence. They're looking to see if you can solve a problem with your photography. You see, they're asking silently, will this photographer know what to do with me? I know you took great pictures of somebody else. It made them stop for a second, but what can you do with them if your language as a photographer doesn't answer that question and do so clearly they won't reach out. No matter how beautiful your images are, now here's the coaching moment. Most photographers resist if your message could belong to any photographer. It belongs to no one. And the reason this is hard is because clarity requires ownership. It requires you to say, this is what I stand for. This is who I'm here to serve. You can't serve everybody, and when you try, you're serving no one. When you say, this is what I know how to do exceptionally well, that resonates, and that level of ownership forces you to trust yourself more than the algorithm, the trends, or any of the photographer's approval. Let's stop for a second. I like for you to pause after this episode and complete this sentence. Without softening it, without adding disclaimers. Say this out loud. I am a photographer for people who you fill in the blank and want to feel, fill in the blank. I, let me say that again and say this out loud. I am a photographer for people who fill in the blank space and want to feel fill in the blank. Not anyone. Not everyone, not a little bit of everything. Be honest if you're having a hard time filling it in. Let me give you a few examples. I'm a photographer for people who hate being photographed and want to feel calm and respected, or I'm, a photographer for people who've never liked photos of themselves and want to finally feel proud. Or maybe this one. I am a photographer for people who feel invisible in their own lives and want to be seen clearly. If your chest tightens as you say it, that's clarity activating. I know that feels scary, but here's what no one tells you. Clarity feels like exposure because when you are clear, you're no longer hiding. You are saying, this is the impact my work has, and if someone doesn't choose you after that, it feels personal. But here's the flip side. When someone does choose you from a place of clarity, they arrive pre- trusting you. They show up calmer. They listen to your direction. They value your pricing. Clarity brings you the right clients. Let's do a real time upgrade instead of saying, I love capturing authentic moments. We've all seen that. Try something like this. I guide people who feel awkward in front of the camera, so they never have to wonder what to do with their body or their face. If you're saying something like, I offer lifestyle portrait sessions, try something like this. My sessions are structured so you feel supported, not exposed. You see specific language creates relief and relief creates inquiries. Now, today's episode, it isn't really about messaging. It's about whether you trust yourself enough to define your value without apology. Most photographers aren't unclear because they don't know what they do. They're unclear because they're afraid to claim it. But here's the truth. I want you to hear clearly. You don't become confident after you are booked. You get booked after you practice confidence. Let me leave you with this. You are not invisible. You are in the middle of learning how to speak from truth instead of from fear. The photographers who get booked, they're not louder. They're clearer. They're clear with their message. They don't explain themselves endlessly. They don't try to be everything to everyone. They don't wait for permission to take up space. They decide who they are for and let the right people find them, and that could be you too. Now, if this episode helped you breathe just a little easier . Or see your work differently, please leave a five star review. It helps this podcast reach more photographers who need this message right now. A lso share this episode with one photographer who keeps saying, I don't know why no one's booking me. Thank you for your time today. I hope this helped in some way to make you clear about your message and your value. Until next time. Bye for now.

The Real Reason You’re Undercharging (And Why Clients Feel It) Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Today's episode is going to hit home for a lot of photographers. Why do I say this? Because I hear about this issue all the time. I actually see it all the time and every time I do, my heart sinks. Today we're going to dive deep. You are not charging enough for your photography. And clients, they feel it first and foremost. Undercharging is not being generous. It's confusing. And clients can feel it. They know you paid a lot for your camera and your lights and your gear. In their head, they're adding everything up and it just doesn't add up. Now pricing. It's not math, it's emotional truth. You see, when you undercharge, you are quietly saying. Please, please don't expect too much from me and clients hear that loud and clear. So here's. Here's what's really happening. You don't fully trust the impact of your work. Not yet anyway, so you soften your price to reduce the risk of being seen. But clients, they don't want cheap reassurance. They want confident containment. There just needs to be one shift instead. Of justifying your price, anchor your price to outcome. Say something like this. This experience is designed so you never feel awkward, rushed, or unsure of how you look. That's not you being arrogant as a photographer. That's clarity for your client. When you are confident, clients feel that as well. Maybe you are wondering what that looks like when a client feels confident and you feel confident. I had one client who's passed away, but she was very confident from the start. I'm talking about Aretha Franklin. The soul singer with the voice that we will all remember forever. Aretha Franklin was a very confident woman and she only wanted confident photographers working with her. My price, it showed confidence. And it showed her that this is the person for me. If you want to see that for yourself, not just see the pictures, but look deeper on the client side and the photographer side and see what that does for you. You can get your signed copy of Aretha Cool right now by going to arethacool.com. That's the only place where you can get a signed copy of the book. When you get your copy, take a deep look deeper into the pictures, deeper into the images, so you can see what embodied confidence actually looks like in creative work. That confidence carried us through for 13 years up until the time she passed away, but she's not the only one. For over 30 years, I've been shooting clients in a confident way and charging a price to match, and you can do the same. When you're confident about your price, your clients feel it. But it starts first with you. Stop giving your work away. Undercharging is not being generous. Every shoot you do is wear and tear on your gear. Eventually, you'll have to upgrade. How can you do that when you give your work away for pennies? It doesn't add up. Stay with me, we're gonna work to improve your confidence. So you can charge what you are worth. And when you do, your clients will see it. And yes, they'll pay what you are worth. If this reframed pricing for you, do me a favor and leave a five star review. And then send it to your friends who you know, who are also undercharging. It is time to thrive and charge what you're worth. All right, everyone. Have a wonderful rest of your day or evening. I look forward to seeing you again this time next week on the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I'm your host, Matthew Jordan Smith. Bye for now.

Why Clients Aren't Booking You Hello everyone and welcome back to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I'm your host, Matthew Jordan Smith. Today we're going to talk about something that hurts, but in a clarifying way. Why clients aren't booking you. Many of you know what that feels like. And I want to say this slowly, because most of you have already decided the wrong answer. It's probably not your photos. If your work is strong, but your calendar is empty, this episode is just for you. And if part of you is wondering, is it me, I want you to stay with me today. Because what's missing is not your talent, it's not your effort. You are working hard. It's not visibility, it's certainty. If you didn't know this, let me be the first to say it. Clients are not hiring images. They're hiring how they expect to feel when they work with you. Yes, your photos made them stop scrolling. If they didn't, they wouldn't even be here. That pause, that's proof. You're talented. So if they paused, if they looked, if they clicked and still didn't book, then the question they were asking wasn't, is this photographer good? They already know you're good. The real question was, will I feel taken care of here by this photographer? And that's where most photographers lose them. We live in a time where good photography is everywhere. Now, that doesn't make your work less valuable, but it does change what clients need in order to choose. When someone lands on your website or your Instagram today, they're not relaxed, they're anxious. They're wondering, will I look awkward? Will I hate my photos? Will I feel exposed in some way? Will this be at all uncomfortable? And here's the part that matters. If your language doesn't answer those fears clearly, then they move on. Not because you failed, but because no one made them feel safe yet. Now let's talk about the way photographers talk, because this is where self trust leaks. If I hear one more photographer say, I just love capturing moments. I'm passionate about people. I offer lifestyle sessions. I already know why clients are hesitating. That language isn't wrong, but it's insider language. It's how photographers talk to other photographers, and yes, it's how we've been taught. You hear it at photo conferences and workshops, but get this. Clients don't book insider language. They book decisive leadership. Vague language, even when it sounds poetic, feels like uncertainty to someone who's already nervous. Here's my coaching moment. When you hide behind general, safe, familiar photography language, you're not being humble. You are avoiding the risk of being specific. Because being specific says, this is what I do, this is who I help. This is the result you expect. And that level of clarity requires self trust on your part. So here's the shift I'd like for you to make starting today. Stop talking about what you love. Start talking about what you solve. That's what clients want to hear. Of course you love photography. We all do. You should, but your client isn't hiring your love. They're hiring relief. Here's an example that changes everything. I help people who hate being photographed finally see themselves with pride. That one sentence does more than ten beautiful images. Why? Because it uses their language, not photo language. I'm telling you all of this from experience. The first time I photographed Samuel L. Jackson, the very first thing he said to me was this, I hate taking pictures. Imagine that. He told me it felt like standing naked in front of lights with no lines to say. Awkward. Exposed. Uncomfortable. Now listen closely. That's not celebrity language. That's human language. Maybe one of your clients has said something similar to you. I hate photos. I feel awkward. I don't know how to pose. I never like pictures of myself. If they're already telling you the problem, why aren't you reflecting it back in your message? You see, when a client reads, I help people who hate being photographed, their nervous system relaxes. They think, oh, this person sees me. They understand me. And once someone feels seen, they're far more willing to trust. This is not louder marketing. It's braver language. Here's a hint most photographers miss. Your clients are telling you how to market to them. Every single session, when you listen deeply and mirror their words back to them, you create alignment. That's how you build long term relationships, long term clients. That's how you get repeat work, and that's how you create careers like the one I had photographing Aretha Franklin for 13 years, Vanessa Williams, Tyra Banks, Samuel L. Jackson, Oprah Winfrey for decades. I didn't guess what any of them needed. I listened and then I led. Stop talking about pretty pictures. Pretty pictures are assumed. That's the baseline. The real question is what do you provide beyond the image? How do you guide people? How do you protect them emotionally? How do you help them feel different when they leave? That's what clients are paying for, even if they don't say it out loud. When I created my last book, Aretha. Cool., the idea wasn't just to make a photography book. It is a record of what happens when you trust. Listening, leadership, and presence come together over time. All the original books on Amazon, they're all gone. There are now only original signed copies left, and you can only find them on ArethaCool.com in the US and in Japan. And yes, you heard me right. Every copy is hand signed because this work deserves intention. Today, let me leave you with this. You are not unbooked because you lack talent. You are unbooked because your message hasn't caught up with your ability yet. And that's good news, because messaging, that can change and change quickly. So listen to your clients. Listen to your potential clients. Use their words, lead with certainty, and stop hiding behind pretty pictures. Your work matters, but your clarity. That's what leads people to choose you. If this episode helps something click for you, leave a five star review. It helps photographers who are stuck find this message sooner. Share this episode with one photographer who keeps blaming the algorithm when what they really need is clearer language. I look forward to seeing you all next week, right back here on the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Until then, live bravely and trust yourself a little more than you did yesterday. Bye for now.

When You Forget Why You Started, Listen to This Hello my friends and welcome back to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I’m Matthew, and today’s episode is a little different. It’s not about strategy. It’s not about booking more clients, although everything we’re talking about today will help with that in the long run. Today, it’s for your heart, because I know that being a photographer isn’t just a job for you. It’s not just about making money, although yes, you deserve to be paid well. But somewhere deep down, photography became part of how you understand the world, how you see people, how you feel connected to something bigger. And when the bookings slow down, when the algorithm isn’t your friend, when you’re comparing yourself to everyone else who seems to be doing better, it’s easy to forget why you picked up the camera in the first place. So, let’s get real for a second. Let me ask you something. When was the last time you took pictures just for you? Not for the gram. Not for a paying client. Not for your portfolio. Just because something moved you. Because light hit someone’s face in a way that made your heart skip. Because your gut said, capture this. If it’s been a while, you are not alone. A lot of photographers go through seasons of burnout, creative exhaustion, quiet resentment. We give everything to our clients. We show up with energy. We edit into the wee hours of the night, and slowly we forget to feed the artist inside us. But here’s the truth. You can’t pour magic into your client work if you’re bone dry inside. You have to shoot for your soul. You have to make images for you. Isn’t that why you picked up the camera in the first place? In the very beginning it was for you. So today, I want to help you come back to that spark. Let’s go back to the beginning. Do me a favor, close your eyes, unless you’re driving of course, or in the gym on the treadmill. But if you get a moment, find the time and close your eyes and imagine this. You are holding your very first camera. It’s clunky. You don’t know what you’re doing, but you feel something. The possibility. The idea that you can freeze time. That you can show someone how beautiful they really are. You’re not thinking about pricing or marketing or email funnels or any of the business stuff. You just love photography. You are thinking, wow, I get to do this. That feeling is your anchor. That’s your breakthrough. Not just as a photography business owner, but as an artist. You didn’t choose photography just to pay the bills. You chose it because something in you knew this is how I show love to the world. That feeling needs to be protected. I want you to understand something. The soul work is the real work. What if I told you that the most profitable thing you can do this week was to plan a shoot just for you? No rules. No pressure. Just art. Maybe it’s photographing your aging parents. Maybe it’s photographing your siblings. Maybe it’s photographing you doing something you do every day, but you’ve never taken a picture of that moment, like drinking your first glass of water or brushing your teeth. A self-portrait of you doing what you do every single day, but make it fun, just for you. Maybe it’s capturing a picture of a friend the way you see them. Not for them, but for you. Or maybe it’s really just a real self-portrait, yes, even if that terrifies you. Or maybe it’s a stranger on the street, or a dancer, a poet, a farmer, whoever lights you up. Now, there are some rules to this. Don’t shoot this for social media. Shoot it just for your spirit. Because when you feel, your work feels. And when your work feels, it connects. That’s what builds word of mouth. That’s what clients remember. That’s what sets you apart. So what does that look like? Recently, at the end of the month last year, I was on a trip. It was my first trip ever to Africa, to Kenya. It’s the end of the day. We’re out on the savannah and the sun is setting. I’ve seen a million beautiful sunsets in my life, but my first sunset in Africa, in Kenya, was the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen in my life. I am not kidding. I have never seen a sunset quite like this. I was frozen. It spoke to my soul. Moments like that are just for you, and they remind you why you picked up the camera in the first place. Those moments connect with your soul. Your soul work is what builds word of mouth. That’s what clients remember. That’s what sets you apart. So please don’t think shooting for yourself, shooting for your soul, is selfish. It’s essential maintenance. It is essential maintenance for a photographer who wants longevity. If you are in a rough season right now, I want you to know this is not the end of your story. You are not behind. You are not failing. You are becoming. Every great artist I’ve ever known has had seasons where the flame burned low. But it always came back when they made space for themselves again. So here’s your invitation. Create something this week that has no purpose except to bring you back to life. And if you need that permission, you just got it. Here’s what I’ve seen happen over and over. When photographers return to the soul of their work, new ideas start to flow. Inspiration finds you unexpectedly. Clients start showing up out of nowhere. You remember what you have to say through your lens and the world feels it. And best of all, you fall back in love with your gift. And that’s not just good for your mental health, that’s good for your business, because when your work carries meaning, your marketing becomes magnetism. People can feel when you are lit up inside, and that is what they are drawn to. So today, instead of pushing harder, give yourself the gift of coming back. Back to why you started. Back to what moves you. Back to the joy, the freedom, the awe of being a photographer. Your breakthrough isn’t just in strategy. It is in remembering that you are an artist and that the world needs what only you can see. Today is your reset, and everybody needs time to reset. This has been the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I’m Matthew. I’m proud of you. I believe in your gift. Go make something just for you this week and let your soul breathe. I’ll see you next time. Until then, bye for now.

Your Life Could Look Completely Different by This Time Next Year Welcome back to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I'm Matthew, and if you are listening to this right now, maybe while editing or on a walk, or even between shoots, I want you to pause for a second and imagine something with me. Imagine it's January 19th, 2027, one year from today. You are waking up and you have a full calendar of ideal clients. People who see your value, respect your time, and love the experience you give them. You are not chasing leads. You are not stressed, you are not worried. You are choosing who to work with. You are not wondering when the next booking is going to come. You are turning people away or you are raising your prices. Your income has doubled from what it was back in 2026. Or maybe more than that, you feel different, steady, respected, confident, and free. That future is not a fantasy. It is not reserved for the lucky ones or the influencers with 50,000 followers. It can be your future, but it starts with a decision and a new way of showing up in your business. Today I want to talk about exactly how you can create that breakthrough year, and what happens if you don't, because nothing actually stays the same. It either gets better or it gets worse. Let's discuss the illusion of staying where you are. Let's talk about something tough but true. Most photographers tell themselves, “If I just keep going, eventually things will pick up,” but here's the truth: waiting is not a growth strategy. You are either building momentum, or you're slowly slipping further behind. Every month you don't have a way to bring in clients, your confidence takes a hit. You start to question your talent. Maybe you've been doing that already. You lower your prices. You take on those shoots that you know drain you even before you do them. And yes, you consider giving up. That's not stability. That's slow erosion. And the worst part, it feels like you're trying. You are posting, you are shooting, you are busy, but you are not moving forward. That's why I created my new training, the Photography Breakthrough System, because you don't need to hustle harder. You need a new approach that actually works. The Photography Breakthrough System is for photographers who photograph people and want real steady clients. For those of you who have been in my workshop, you know right now the doors are open but not much longer. The window to join and be a part of Photography Breakthrough System is about to close. We're closing the doors in a few days because we begin working right away next week with the students who said yes. So what actually happens once you become a member of Photography Breakthrough System? Let's flip the script and go a week ahead. You just logged off from your first session inside the Photography Breakthrough System, and you knew exactly how to start getting new bookings right away, right in your first week. I am not talking about some vague marketing advice. I'm talking about a step-by-step process custom built for people like you, photographers who work with human beings, not products. In that first session, I walk you through the core shift in how you position your photography experience so clients are excited to book you — not just any photographer, but you. The very first week, I give you a simple strategy to use right away this first month of the year so you can start booking clients right away, clients who value what you offer. I've seen photographers go from crickets to consistent clients in just a few weeks because they finally had the clarity, confidence, and a plan that works. Now yes, you didn't get here overnight, and I'm not saying you can fix everything overnight. That's just not true. But in the first week, you're going to know if this is right for you or not. Here's something no one likes to admit. Most photographers are just barely holding on. They're exhausted. They're second-guessing themselves. And they're terrified that if things don't change soon, they have to give up the dream of doing what they love. If that's you, I want you to hear me. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not lazy, you are not untalented. You've just never been shown a path that helps you turn your gift into a business that supports your life. And that's why I'm inviting you into the Photography Breakthrough System right now. Because if you wait another year, how much money are you going to leave on the table? How much of your confidence will erode in the next year? How many almost-bookings will slip away? Or you could be waking up one year from today with your calendar full, your income doubled, and a reputation for delivering a life-changing photo experience. It starts next week. That first session could be the moment everything changes. Your training is live. Will you be there? Inside Photography Breakthrough System, I'm guiding you through every step: how to attract aligned clients, how to deliver a photo experience that transforms how they feel about themselves, and how to build a business where clients come to you and refer you like crazy. As a matter of fact, in the very first week, I'm going to teach you exactly how to do that — a way for clients to come to you and refer you like crazy. This is your turning point, but only if you say yes. We make it very easy for you to join. There are two options. Pick the one that's right for you. The link to join is right here in the show notes. It is also on my Instagram page in the bio. My Instagram page is under Matthew Jordan Smith, and the link to join and change your life is in my bio. Go there and click the link. Sign up today. The only thing is you need to do it in the next few days before the deadline ends. Spots are filling up and we kick off soon. If you've waited long enough, this is your moment. Let's come back to that image. One year from today, you're waking up, coffee in hand, reviewing a calendar full of dream clients. Your bank account reflects the work you put in. Your clients rave about how powerful and beautiful they felt in front of your lens. You feel proud, steady, lit up. That's what I want for you, but nothing changes until you do, and nothing gets better by waiting. So choose your breakthrough. Join us now, and I'll see you inside the first session next week at Photography Breakthrough System. Once again, the link to join is in the show notes or go to my Instagram page, go to my bio, and click the link there. I'm Matthew, and thank you for spending your time with me today. I can't wait to see what you create when you finally step into the business and life you've been dreaming of. Until next week, bye for now.

If You Missed This… It Could Cost You Half Your Income I’ve got a confession. I was scared of numbers. I was scared of the scale all of last year. I did not step on the scale, but it's a new year and I said I had to face the truth, whatever it was. So I jumped on the scale thinking that, oh, I've stayed the same now, I haven't been on the scale. I haven't weighed myself since 2024, all of 25. I never jumped on the scale, but I knew nothing changed. I look in the mirror every day. We all do, right? Nothing changed. Well, this January I jumped on the scale to learn the truth, and I've got to tell you, I was a bit shocked. But the funny thing is, when you don't know, you just go around blind thinking that nothing has changed. The same happens with photographers. We hide from the truth. We know things have not stayed the same. Usually they get worse until you face the truth and look at the numbers. I want to welcome you back to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I'm your host, Matthew Jordan Smith, and today we're diving into something that could quite literally mean the difference between struggling and soaring this year. I don't say that lightly because the truth is missing what happened in day one and day two of the Photography Breakthrough Workshop could cost you 50% of your income this year. Now let that land. Half your income gone, not because you are not talented enough, not because you're not working hard enough, but because you are missing a few hidden pieces that are quietly sabotaging your results without even realizing it. But the good news, it's not too late. The workshop, by the way, is going on right now. It's a three-day workshop, but you can still catch up. So let's talk about what you might have missed. Day one of the Photography Breakthrough Workshop was on fire. Photographers who joined are already messaging me and saying, “Matthew, I finally see what I've been missing.” And another said, “I've never felt more clear.” Here's why it hits so hard. First, we uncovered the hidden reasons you are losing clients and, like hiding from the numbers, you just don't know what you don't know. These are patterns that most photographers never see, like the subtle ways we unintentionally repel clients, or the way we position ourselves that creates confusion instead of desire. If you've ever felt like people love your work but still don't book you, this workshop is for you. If you were there, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you missed it, this episode is just for you. Let's talk about what else you are missing out on. Another part of the workshop that everyone's talking about is the workbook. Everyone gets access to the Photography Breakthrough Workbook. We've been using it on day one and day two. Now, this isn't fluff. This is the tool you return to again and again throughout the year long after the workshop is over. The workbook is relevant for you for a long time because every day of this workshop builds on it, helping you rewrite the way you attract, the way you serve, and retain clients. This workbook is designed to make lasting change, not some temporary hype. When you sign up for the workshop, you get access to the workbook, which you are definitely going to need right away. And there's another third part. And the funny thing about the third part of the workshop is it actually happens after the workshop is over. We open the doors to a private Facebook group. Now this group is only active for the workshop. After the workshop, it goes away. Think of it as a popup workshop Facebook group. And let me tell you, this community is alive. It's full of photographers who get it, people who are committed to building something real, not just surviving. If you've ever felt alone in your photography business, that changes the second you step inside. Now let's talk about why missing this workshop could cost you big. Yes, this is the uncomfortable part. When I say missing day one and two could cost you 50% of your income this year, I mean that, because what we revealed isn't just tips and tricks, it's the foundational gaps that quietly bleed your time, your energy, and yes, your money. Here's the truth. Most photographers are working so hard, but unknowingly doing things that block their own growth. That could mean booking the wrong clients who don't value your work, wasting hours on marketing the old-fashioned way that doesn't convert, undervaluing your time. It is the only thing we can't make more of. Everybody on the planet gets the same amount of time every single day. Are you undervaluing your time? And then they're staying in the feast-or-famine cycle with no idea how to get out. These aren't just annoyances, they're income leaks, and yes, you could be leaking 50% of the income you could make. Left unchecked year after year, it will suck you dry. But you don't have to worry about that because we can fix that. When you learn how to make the breakthrough happen, that's when income stabilizes. That's when word of mouth starts to kick in. That's when you start choosing your clients instead of begging for bookings. Like the story I told you at the beginning of this podcast: nothing stays the same. I know we think it does, but nothing stays the same. Here's what I want you to really hear today. You are not maintaining your business right now. It either gets better or it's slowly declining. When things change slowly, you don't see it. That's why you lose weight or gain weight and you have no clue. We just don't see it. So every day you delay stepping into a better system, one built around consistency, value, and transformation, is a day your confidence erodes, your momentum weakens, and your dream slips a little further out of reach. That doesn't mean you're failing. It just means it's time to choose a new path. Now, here's the good news. You can still watch day one and day two right now. You can still register for the Photography Breakthrough Workshop and get access to everything, the replays from day one and two, the workbook (which you absolutely need), and yes, access to the Facebook group, all of it. But you've got to move fast. This is only a three-day workshop. We're two days in. If you've missed it, where have you been? Day three is coming up quickly, and it builds directly on what we covered in day one and day two. If you wait any longer, you're going to fall behind or miss the window altogether. So if you've been waiting for a sign, this is it. Go register right now. Watch the replays, download the workbook, do the work as you watch the replay of day one and day two, and catch up. And then be ready for day three. The link to register is right here in the show notes, or go to Instagram and follow me there. I'm under Matthew with two T's, Matthew Jordan Smith. In my Instagram bio you'll see the link to sign up right away. Click the link, register, download your workbook right then and there, and watch day one and day two. Now, let's zoom out a little bit and look into the future. By this time next year, your entire photography business, whether you're doing it full-time or you're doing it on the weekends as a side hustle, either way, this could transform your entire photography business. You could be booked months in advance, attracting aligned clients who rave about their experience working with you. You could be earning more, working less, and feeling really in control of your life, feeling confident in how you show up, how you price, and how you serve your clients. But that future doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by making one choice: to stop tolerating what's not working and step into a better way. So let this be your turning point. Don't let another year go by hoping things will change. Be the person who makes them change. Now you've got this, and I look forward to seeing you in day three of the workshop. But first, go catch up and then make sure you are there live for day three. This has been the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I'm Matthew Jordan Smith, and I'll see you on day three of the workshop. And then join me here again next week for another episode of the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Go register now. Let's build the business you've been dreaming of. Until next week, bye for now.

The Day Before Everything Changes Hello, it's Matthew Jordan Smith, and today I wanna speak directly to you. You're listening to this podcast, on the day it comes out, today is January 5th, 2026, and if you've been listening to this podcast for a while. You already know something big is coming. Tomorrow. January 6th, we begin the photography breakthrough three day live workshop. This workshop is for you if people have seen your work and inquire about hiring you, but you lose them the minute you tell them your price. This workshop is for you if you feel stuck. In any way in your photography, maybe you are afraid to raise your prices because you think if you do, you'll lose the clients you have, or maybe you think no one will pay your price.This workshop is for you if you've been working hard, but income is inconsistent. You see, I know the frustration that comes from all of that. You are talented. I know you care. I know your work has value. But somehow it still feels like people don't see it. Well, my friend, that ends tomorrow because this workshop is designed to help you finally break through the fear that's been holding you back from raising your prices and getting consistent paying clients month after month. You've been guessing and second guessing, but you don't need to anymore. You don't need to keep waiting, and you definitely don't need to lower your value just so you can get booked to do what you love. You just need the right tools, the right system, and the right support, and that's exactly what you wanna get starting tomorrow. So if you haven't signed up yet, do it now This is your last chance to reserve your spot and be there on the first day of this three day workshop. It starts online tomorrow. It is live. Go to the link right now and register. Make sure you are there on time. Do me a favor, grab a pin pencil and something to write with. You're gonna need that throughout this workshop because here's what's waiting for you inside the workshop. A clear path to a system to raise your prices with confidence. A way to show value to your clients so they can say yes. Even at your higher rate.What you'll also find inside this workshop is a clear path to consistent income. As you do the work that lights you up. Every session is live. Every session is practical, and every session is designed to move you forward. Now, here's what's new. After each live session, I'll be heading over to our private Facebook workshop group. Think of it as a popup Facebook group that's just for the workshop. As soon as you sign up, the link to the Facebook group is right there. So join the Facebook group right away.There you can ask questions. I'll be there to engage with you and help you apply what you've learned that day. So don't go on this journey alone. Don't just listen. Take action. Because the truth is, nothing changes unless you change something. And this workshop, it could be the moment that changes everything. You deserve to start your year right. You deserve to feel confident talking about your prices. You deserve clients who respect your work and pay you well. You deserve to build a photography business that gives you freedom, not fear. So let's make that happen. Sign up now and join me tomorrow. Show up for yourself. And after the session, come hang out with me in the Facebook group. I'll be there, ready to connect with you, answer your questions, and support you in real time. This is your time. Don't let fear win another year. Let's build something stronger together. I'll see you tomorrow. All right, everyone, until tomorrow. Bye for now. 

Photography Breakthrough Workshop Kickoff 2026 Happy New Year. Welcome back. It's Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. It's a brand new year, and I have a feeling you are here right now because you're ready for something different, not just a new calendar, not just another resolution you'll forget by February, but real change, deep lasting, powerful change in your photography, in your business, with your confidence and with your life. So let's start here. This is your moment and I want to tell you something you may not have heard enough.You don't have to keep doing it the hard way. You don't have to keep guessing.You don't have to keep asking yourself, why is this working for others, but not for me? Because the truth is, it's not your fault.You just haven't had the right guidance. Until now. That's why this January. We're kicking off the year with a three day photography breakthrough workshop, and it starts soon. I made it just for you because you are tired of wondering where your next client is coming from. Because you know your work is worth it, but you're not sure how to charge more without losing people Because you've done everything they said to do and it still doesn't feel like it's working. I created this workshop because I've been where you are. I've had those nights staring at the ceiling, wondering how I'll make it through another month, wondering if I need to quit wondering if my dream was just too big. But I didn't quit and neither will you. Because you were called to this work for a reason. Because photography isn't just what you do. It's who you are. And you know it deep in your soul. You know you are meant to make people feel something when they stand in front of your camera. So now let me help you build a business, a photography business around your gift. In this workshop, I'm going to show you the exact steps I use in my own career, not just in the past, but right now, today. Not theory, not guesswork, real tools, real strategy, real results. Because you deserve to have consistent, happy clients who tell everyone about you. You deserve to charge what your work is really worth and feel good about it. You deserve to create a business that gives you freedom, not burnout. And you don't have to do it alone. You've been there. And you know where that's taken you. It is time to change going forward. I'll be with you every step, but you have to decide now to sign up and dedicate this year to being the year that changes everything because time moves fast because another year can fly by. Because the only way this year looks different is if you make a different choice. So take a deep breath. Then go sign up right now for the three day Photography breakthrough workshop. It's completely free and it's waiting for you. The link is here in the show notes, and you can also find it on my Instagram. Go there now and sign up. We start soon, and I want you to be there because you know you're ready. Let's make 2026 the year you stop struggling and start thriving in your photography. Let's build a photography business that you love. Let's do it together. I'll see you inside the workshop. It starts very soon, so sign up now. All right. I've got a lot of work to do before we get started, so make sure you sign up right now and I'll see you in the workshop. Oh, and if you were on the last workshop. There's a lot that's new. Number one. After each and every workshop, I want you to join me on the special Facebook page so we can ask the questions about that specific day. And prepare yourself for the next workshop. This time, I want to hear from you. Sign up right now. I'll see you in the workshop. Until next time. Bye for now.

Photography Breakthrough: Year-End Encouragement and Free Workshop Hey there, it's Matthew, and welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. This episode is a little different. It's just you and me today, and I want to speak straight to your heart. Because as this year comes to a close, I know you're probably feeling a lot. Hope, pressure, maybe some fear, maybe even some doubt. So before we go any further, I want to say this. . I see you. You've shown up, you've worked hard, you've tried, even when it felt like no one noticed, kept going, and that alone is worth honoring. Today is December 29th. Just days away from a brand new year, and as we close out 2025, I want you to take this moment for yourself, not for your clients, not for your family, not for social media, just you. Because if you are like many photographers, I know you've been carrying a lot this year. Maybe you've been trying to figure out how to get more work.Maybe you are tired of wondering if you'll ever be able to raise your prices and have clients who truly value what you do.Maybe you're questioning whether this dream of being a photographer is even still possible for you. I want to tell you something todayand I want you to hear this fully. . You are not the problem.You don't need to work harder. You don't need to hustle more.You don't need to become someone. You are not. You need a better system. You need better support.You need to know how to create a photography business that lets you breathe and thrive. That's why I created this podcast this year. And that's why I'm inviting you to something special in January. But before I get into that, let me share something personal. At the beginning of 2025, I asked myself, what legacy do I want to leave? Not just through my photos, but through the impact I can make in the lives of other photographers for photographers like you. Because even with all the career highlights I've had, I remember very well how hard it can be. It was a year ago. This time when I was struggling One year ago. I had nights when I could not sleep. Leap. I know that struggle. The worry . The doubt that creeps in. It doesn't matter how talented you are, these struggles are real. Not the highlight reel, the real story, not what you see on Instagram, but real life. This year I shared my struggles and how to break through those struggles.I shared that because you may be struggling.And I know you have talent. It's not your talent that's holding you back. You see when you learn how to make your clients feel powerful, beautiful, and truly seen, you stop chasing bookings and start attracting them. And not just once, but again and again. Don't you want that? This year I watched photographers take what I taught and completely shift their lives. They stopped waiting. They stopped wondering. They raised their prices, booked more clients, and finally felt in control again, and now it's your turn.My dream for you is to have a business that supports your life, not one that drains it. I want you to feel proud when you talk about your work. I want you to fall in love with photography again and have the freedom to do it your way. So let me ask you something. Are you ready to create consistent, meaningful work in 2026? , Are you ready to attract clients who pay well and love the experience you give them? Are you ready to stop feeling like you are behind and start building real momentum?. If you said yes to any of that, then join me for my free three day workshop starting this January.This workshop is designed specifically for photographers like you who are amazing at what they do, but want more consistency, confidence, more clients, and charging more. In January, I'm gonna give you an opportunity to attract the right clients without chasing. I'm going to give you the opportunity to raise your prices without the fear. I know the moment you think about raising your prices, that fear takes over. We're going to get over that.And help you build a photography brand that connects emotionally, you're going to discover and experience that leads to repeat business, not just in 2026, but every year after this. You see my friend, everything I teach, I live every single day.It's the same approach that led a new client to fly me to Kenya this month to photograph seven women on Safari. Yes, it really works. I want to help you make it work for you. All you have to do is take that first step. Now is the time for you to sign up. Go and sign up for the January workshop right now. The link is in the show notes and on my Instagram. This workshop. It's completely free. I'm going to be honest with you. At the end of this workshop, you'll have the opportunity to work with me, but even if you don't want to go that far, there's something for you to help you get past your struggles. Again, this three day workshop is completely free, And the link, once again, it's in the show notes and the link is on my Instagram. My Instagram is under my name. Matthew Jordan Smith. This could be your turning point, the one you've been waiting for. Let 2026 be the year you stop struggling and start thriving. Let it be the year you step fully into your purpose with your camera, your vision, and your voice. You deserve that. You are ready for that. I want to thank you for spending this year with me. And thank you for choosing to believe in yourself. Just a little more each and every day. I can't wait to see what you create in 2026. Until next time, have a peaceful new year. I'll see you in January. Stay inspired, stay courageous and keep going. You don't have to do this by yourself. Until then, bye for now and Happy New Year. 

Photography Breakthrough: Holiday Episode Recap & Workshop Invite Merry Christmas to everyone around the world. Who's tuning in today? I'm Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast where we explore the art and business of photography. Specifically how to build a thriving photography career, doing what you love, photographing people in a way that changes lives, including your own. But what if you are struggling to do that? Struggling to find clients, struggling to raise your prices so you can sleep well at night, struggling to make photography work for you. Well, that my friend is why we are here. To help you get over your struggles, and that is the theme of the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. If you are new to the show, welcome. I'm so glad you're here, and if you've been listening for a while, thank you. I truly appreciate your support, your messages, your energy, and your commitment to growing as an artist and a business owner. Maybe photography is just a thing you do on the side, or you're just beginning. Either way, you are in the right place. This is where you learn how to thrive as a photographer. Now in last week's podcast, I shared a story. But a lot has happened since our last episode, and I can't wait to catch you up. Let me begin by recapping what we talked about last week. I shared one of my favorite client stories. How the legendary Aretha Franklin became my client for 13 years, right up until her passing in 2018. , And while some of you may think that was, then times are different. Now, let me tell you, the world may evolve, but the principles of building meaningful client relationships, those never go out of style. That's what this podcast is all about, helping photographers move beyond the daily struggle, because let me be honest, too many talented photographers , are out there feeling stuck. Maybe that's you. You are not alone. If you are struggling to get steady, clients feel like you're undercharging or constantly chasing that next big gig, that's exhausting. And. It's not sustainable. This podcast is here to show you another way, a path toward consistent, fulfilling work with clients who come back again and again because they love how they feel when they work with you. Last week I shared the story of how I first met Aretha Franklin and how I worked on that relationship. To help her become a consistent long-term client. But that's not just with Aretha Franklin, that's with every client I've had this year. Those same strategies work today. This past November, we took a huge step forward. I launched a brand new three day workshop to help photographers like you overcome these exact challenges. In the workshop, I shared the same strategies I've used to build a decades long career photographing some of the most incredible people in the world, from celebrities to entrepreneurs, to everyday people who just want to feel powerful in front of the camera. At the end of that workshop in November. I offered photographers the opportunity to go deeper, To work with me more closely and start transforming not just their photography, but their client experience and business model. But many of you needed more time. You had questions, you reached out via email and dm's that I want you to know. I heard you, that's why I'm excited to announce we're bringing back the workshop in January so you can begin your new year. The right way, bigger, better. We've enhanced the workshop. The last time we did the workshop, many people may have been traveling. It was the holiday season, beginning of the holiday season. And there were many distractions. January is the time to start things new. And we've revised the workshop and built it to give you clarity and confidence so you can finally build the business you've been dreaming of. But before I share more about that, I want to tell you a story, one that happened just a few weeks ago after the workshop. This story shows you that what I teach is not theory. It's what I live. Every step I outlined in the November workshop, I follow them in my own business every single day. So here's what happened. In the first week of December, 2025, I got hired for one of the most exciting assignments of my year. I was flown to Kenya, Africa to photograph a group of seven women from Japan all going on safari together. These women weren't models or celebrities. They were real people, each with their own story embarking on a once in a lifetime adventure, and I had the honor of documenting it. Now, here's the part I want you to pay attention to. This client. She was referred to me by another client. This was a first time client. Let me say that again. This job going to Africa to Kenya on Safari came from a first time client. Who was referred to me by another client. In November. I talked about this a lot, how you get consistent clients, how you get more work, and a big part of that is from referrals. I talked about how you get referrals, but maybe some of you were thinking. Well, that's just you. That won't work for me. I'd like to invite you to the January workshop because this will work for you. You just have to follow the steps. I know taking those steps can be scary, but it doesn't have to be. Now, this first time client who found me. Based on a referral from another client, I didn't have to pitch. I didn't have to chase. I showed up consistently. Shared stories and positioned myself in a way that made her say, you are the one I want. What I want you to understand is when your positioning and your process are dialed in, opportunities come to you. Instead of you chasing every single day, the assignment in Kenya, it wasn't just a job, it was a deeply fulfilling experience. That reminded me why I do what I do, and since returning. It is already led to new opportunities, new inquiries, and new doors opening for 2026. Even a chance to go back to Kenya sometime in 2026. That's the power of building a business that's rooted in transformation, not just pretty pictures. When your work makes people feel something, they talk about it, they come back, they refer others. I can't say this loud enough. You don't have to struggle. There's another way. And that's what we'll go deeper into this January. In our upcoming training. I'm gonna break down the exact steps to attract high quality clients who value your work. Clients that see your value and allow you to charge what you're worth. We're gonna talk about that client experience. That leaves people changed and loyal for life. We are going to discuss a system that brings bookings month after month, if that sounds good to you. Make sure you're at the workshop. Now for those who were in the workshop in November. How many jobs have you done since that workshop. Since the workshop ended, I've done four. I went to Kenya, photographed brand new clients. Came back 20 hour trip and the day I arrived, a client wanted to shoot on that same day, two days later did another shoot. Two days after that, another shoot. Four jobs within the first two weeks of December. That's not just me. That can be you. Now, how many jobs do you have lined up for January? The training I'm talking about will help you have work consistently, not just. Next week, but next month and the month after that in the workshop, we'll talk about a system. If you've been on the fence wondering if this kind of business is even possible for you, please know this, it. Is, I've taught it. I live it, and I want to help you do the same. But for now, take a breath. It's the holiday season. Be present. Then come back in January, ready to grow. Because what I have planned could be the turning point you've been looking for. To everyone who's reached out, I'm designing this next chapter just for you. Thank you for being part of this community. Thank you for showing up for yourself. Have a joyful, safe and loved filled holiday season. Stay inspired and happy holidays. 

From Stranger to Client for Life Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I'm your host, Matthew Jordan Smith. Since this podcast began, I've shared tips to help you overcome your biggest photography challenges, how to raise your prices, how to make more money, how to build a client base. But one of the most important and overlooked keys to long-term success is this, how to create consistent, lasting clients. Today, I want to do something different. I want to tell you a story. A story about a single shoot that turned into a 13 year client relationship and a friendship that changed my life. But more than that, this story is packed with lessons about connection, about care, about how we as photographers can create transformation, not just through images, but through the experience we offer. Let me take you back. Years ago, I got a call from someone who wanted to work with me. But before I ever met her, I'd already heard the stories. She's hard to work with. She doesn't like anybody. Are you sure you wanna go down that road? I bet you've had something similar happen. When someone's reputation gets in your head, before you ever have the chance to form your own impression, you've heard those voices from others giving you their opinion. And if you're not careful, it will become your opinion. So here's the first lesson. Always enter into every opportunity with a clear head and an open heart. Other people's experiences are not your truth. Other people's experience is based on them. It has nothing to do with you find your own truth. So every new opportunity go in with a clear head and an open heart. So this client, she was famous, very famous, and like many celebrity shoots, I was communicating through managers and assistants. But before the shoot, I did something different. Before I ever met her, I did my research. I found out what she loved and based on that research I sent her yellow roses. That one gesture changed everything. She called me personally and said, no photographer has ever sent me flowers before. And just like that, we had a connection. We still hadn't met face to face, but we had a connection. I could feel it. We started talking about photography sure. But also about food, about music, about life. We bonded before we ever met face to face. This is part of what I teach all my students. It doesn't matter if the client is famous or not, this works on everybody. But back to the story. When I flew to Detroit to do our first shoot, I brought music curated just for her. The shoot went well at the end. I gave her, at the time, my brand new book, which was my first book ever. She looked at the book and said, why am I not in this book? She wasn't joking. I promised her right then and there. When I do another book, I promise you, you will be in it. She smiled, looked at me, and then handed me a piece of paper and said, this is my personal number. If you ever need anything, call me. I stood there, shocked. And I held onto that paper all the way back to New York, staring at it on the flight wondering, is this really happening? I mean, this is the Queen of Soul who gave me her number. Months later I heard she was going to be performing at Madison Square Garden. I didn't have an assignment. I wasn't being paid, but I want to capture her story. I called the number. Expecting a manager or agent to pick up, but no, she answered the phone. I told her my idea. I said, Mrs. Franklin, I'd love to follow you around for three days. I told her exactly what I want to do and my ideas for doing it. The next thing I know, I'm backstage. I'm in the car, I'm in rehearsals. I'm in the dressing room now. There's no paycheck involved in this shoot. It was my idea just to build a bond to build trust. That right there is how you turn a stranger into a long-term client over the next 13 years. I, I photographed Aretha Franklin countless times. We talked about everything, TV shows, recipes, life when she passed. We were planning on our next shoot. She was even sending me text messages from the hospital talking about ideas about the next shoot. You see, she wasn't just a client, she was a friend. This is my dream for you not to chase new clients every single week, every single month, constantly scrambling for the next gig. That's exhausting and it's not necessary. Instead, build bonds. Give your clients an experience that makes them feel seen, special, valued. It doesn't matter who it is. Maybe you're thinking Matthew, oh yeah, that's a celebrity. That doesn't matter. Making somebody feel seen and special and valued. That works for everybody. Who do you know who doesn't want to feel seen, feel special? Many people are not doing this and this is why they're struggling. But this is how you create consistent clients who come back time and time again, and who tell others about you. Aretha's story and our journey together is what inspired my latest book, Aretha Cool is not just a photo book, it's the story from our very first shoot to her last official photo session. It's a visual journey of trust, transformation, and yeah, legacy. And today I want you to experience it in a deeper way. I want you to get the book, Aretha. Cool. I've put the book on sale on Amazon. Over 40% off. To make it easy for you to get this book, because there are a few things I want you to do. Number one, order the book. It's on Amazon, but don't just flip through the photos. Look between the lines, see the bond, feel the relationship. Start by going to page 40. Now I want you to see this through the eyes of a photographer who knows the full story. I want you to go to page 40. The page is not numbered, but the page after is, so you can find it pretty easily. Look at that image as a photographer. Is that the image that a client gives to a photographer they've hired, or is that the image a friend gives to another friend. Take a look at that. You are a photographer. You know what that moment feels like when it's just a moment, and you also know what that feels like when a friend is saying goodbye to you. It's a real moment. That's a bond, that's a friendship. Now go to page 52 and let me share a story that most don't know. This was an unexpected moment. It was the first time seeing her after not seeing her for a few months. And she gets out the car this way to surprise me. Everybody's laughing. I'm laughing. She's laughing. All the bodyguards are laughing. It was a special moment between friends. Look closely at that smile. I want you to understand what it looks like as a photographer when you're photographing a client who becomes a friend, because this is what I want for you. Stop looking at your clients as a client. Create a friendship, create a bond, because when you do moments like this happen organically. This was not a planned moment. I had no idea this was gonna happen. I had no clue. And when it did, it shocked me, and that's the beauty of it. Now look at page 93. Don't laugh. That's a real moment and instant. And I'm sure you have experienced this moment with some of your friends. You are out and about and you bump into a friend. You see them, you recognize them, and that's the expression, right? I think you're starting to get it. You're creating something special that lasts far longer than the paycheck. Now, let's go a little deeper. I told you earlier that I started creating a playlist for every shoot. Now on that first shoot, I made a playlist, and at the time I didn't know her, but after that first meeting, I learned that she loved her own music. So I put a playlist together of my favorite Aretha Franklin music, and I played it for her on every single shoot after that. So every time we were in studio shooting, I played that playlist. Well, guess what? I made a playlist on Spotify and I put all those songs that I made for Aretha Franklin into that Spotify playlist. The playlist is called Aretha. Cool. I want you to play that playlist as you look through the book. This way, you'll hear the same music I played for the Queen of Soul. As you are looking through the book, it's a very different experience. That playlist is the exact playlist I used on every single studio shoot for her. Music sets the tone. As a photographer, you already know this. It creates the mood. It also deepens the connection. It, I just don't do this for celebrities. I do this on every single shoot. The reason why I'm asking you to buy the book. is so you can experience what she experienced, feel what we felt, whether you're just starting out or you've been shooting for years. This story, this book is a roadmap to building not just a career, but a legacy. So here's your mission. Get the book Aretha. Cool. It's on Amazon in the US or you can [email protected]. If you're international, listen to the playlist on Spotify as you look through the book. Number three, start seeing your clients differently. Stop thinking transaction. Start thinking transformation. And if you are one of my students, let's go deeper. Let's talk about how to apply this to your own work. Now, if you're listening to this podcast and you're not a photographer, give it to a friend who is. But first, tell them the story and have them listen to this podcast episode. Help them see what's possible. We don't just take pictures, we create moments. We build trust. We give people the experience of truly being seen. That my friend is how we create clients for life. I'm Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Until next time, stay inspired, stay intentional, and remember, your lens has the power to change lives. Happy holidays.I'M READY

Photography Breakthrough System Pitch EpisodeHello, friends, and welcome back to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, the show where we stopped chasing. Stop guessing and undercharging and start building businesses that actually support the life and freedom we all want as photographers. Today's episode, How to Double Your Photography Income. Today is a big day, not just because we're talking about real, tangible income growth, but because. If you listen to this podcast, you know, today is the second day of our launch. That's just for people who will listen to this podcast. Today is the second day. And the last day of this very special offer to join Photography Breakthrough System, my live training experience that shows you how to get booked more often, how to increase your prices, and how to build loyal clients that come back to you and refer their friends. So stick with me because this might be the most important episode you've listened to yet. Before we go any further, I want you to do something bold. Write down the exact amount of money you made in photography over the past year. Now I know you might be in your car driving at the gym, the grocery store, chasing your toddler. So if you can't do this right now, make a promise to yourself and when you get home today, before you scroll. Or begin cooking or collapse on the couch. Take out a piece of paper and write down that number. It's okay if you don't know the exact number, but write down the amount of money you think you've made this year. As a photographer. Now, when you see this number right in front of you, really look at it. No judgment, no shame, just honesty. That number, it tells a story. Now, here's the next question. How are you planning to double that number next year? Not, wouldn't it be nice? Not if I get lucky, not if Instagram picks up, but how? What's the plan? Do you have one or are you hoping that just doing more of what you've been doing somehow leads to more income? Let's be real. If you tried to grow in the past , but didn't have a structure, a system, a guide, you probably hit a wall over and over. And that doesn't mean you're not good enough. It means you've been trying to hike a mountain without a map. You are working hard but not making progress. Let me give you a quick analogy. Imagine someone says, I want to get in shape. I want to feel strong. I want to lose weight and feel good in my body, so they start working out, but instead of really working out, they spend the time in the gym, scrolling on their phone, they guess what to eat. They show up inconsistently, they try one thing, then quit, then try another, and after six months, nothing's really changed. Now imagine that same person hires a personal trainer.The trainer gives them a plan. They work out together so the trainer can see exactly what they're doing and point out what they can't see. The trainer helps their form, nutrition, accountability, and in a few months, boom. Progress confidence results. Was the trainer magic? No, but the structured system accountability. And real time feedback made all the difference. That's exactly what I've built into the photography breakthrough system. This is not a course, it's live training. A live training experience with me coaching you in real time, showing you exactly how to create a photography business. That books consistently helps you charge more and build client relationships that lasts. Turns strangers into longtime loyal clients, who refer their friends. Do you really want to double your income? It takes a system. The Photography Breakthrough System, it's your personal trainer for your business. Photographers message me all the time saying things like, I just want to make this work. I'm tired of not getting clients. I know my work is good. But nobody wants to pay my rates. Listen, I get it. I've been there where your camera feels like a gift. And a curse where you want to keep doing what you love, but you're burning out where you start questioning if you should just give up on being a photographer. But here's the truth, you can't double your income with hope. You do it with a system. A system that shows your clients your value. Before you ever talk about price, a system that builds trust and connection before you ever meet your clients. A system that gives you confidence. So you stop overthinking and shrinking about your worth, you know you are worth it. How do you show your clients? That's what I'm giving you inside photography breakthrough system. As you are listening to this, we are in the final hours to join after today. The doors close because all the time will go to helping those who really want to double their income. After today. The doors close. I don't know when we'll offer this again. But here's the important part. I made a special link just for my podcast listeners. This is only for people who listen to this podcast and that's you. This special link. It's in the show notes. It's also on my Instagram until midnight tonight, east Coast time. It simply says, I'm ready. If you go to my Instagram, click on my bio link. You'll see a link that says, I'm ready. That's your special link. Click that to join. Again, that special link simply says, I'm ready, because if you are, you already know it. Click the link. Say yes to your growth. Say yes to finally having a system that works with your creativity, not against it. I created the photography breakthrough system because I know what it feels like to struggle. This is for the photographer who is wildly talented but tired of struggling for the photographer who wants clients to say yes with confidence even at a higher price for the photographer who knows in their gut. I can't keep doing this alone. If that's you, this is your moment. Click the I'm Ready link in the show notes or on my Instagram, you'll find me under Matthew Jordan Smith. Click the link in my bio that says, I'm ready. Let's double your income on purpose with a plan and with support. I want to thank you for listening today to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast and this episode, How To Double Your Income is Made just for you. Now, don't forget when you get home, the first thing you should do is write down that number. The number you believe you made in photography this year. As you're on your way home, ask yourself how will you double your income ? And if you're ready for the real answer, you know where to find it. Until next time, let's build a business that finally works. After tonight, we close the doors, and then I become your sensei, your trainer to help you see what you can't see by yourself. Alright. Until next time, happy holidays. Bye for now. I'M READY

Photography Breakthrough: Teachable to Get Booked Welcome back to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, the place where struggling portrait photographers transform into confident business owners consistently getting booked by clients who value their work and happily pay their rates. I'm your host, Matthew Jordan Smith, and today's episode, episode number 18, is going to cut through the noise. And get right to the heart of something. I know a lot of you are feeling. Or do you just want to keep doing what you've always done? Hoping something changes. As many of you know. I wrapped up a free three day workshop at the end of November. If you were there, thank you. If you showed up, you listened, you took notes, you are already ahead of the curve. We talked about the real reason most photographers aren't getting booked. We talked about what's really happening when a potential client says, I love your work. We talked about how good that feels for us as photographers. You know that feeling. The first moment somebody. Inquires about your work, and they say, I love your pictures. We all know what that feels like in that moment. Somebody sees us, recognizes our work, and then wants to find out how much we charge, then you reply with your rate and then they ghost you. The moment you send your pricing, they disappear. You don't hear from them. We unpacked how giving your price without the right structure behind it is like handing someone an expensive menu before they've even sat down in your restaurant. No context, no emotional connection, no value built. And I showed you how the problem isn't your price. It's the lack of a system around how you present your offer and guide your clients through an experience. But here's what I noticed. Not everyone who heard that message took it seriously enough to act on it. But some of you did. Those who really wanna change the next 12 months of your life, your business, and I am excited to get to work with all of you! Some of you saw the door open to the Photography Breakthrough System, my live training that walks you step by step through building a business that actually gets clients, but some hesitated. Maybe you said I need to think about it, or maybe next time, or I kind of already know this stuff. And if that was you, I want to say this with love, but also with clarity, knowing and doing are not the same thing. Thinking about change is not the same as becoming teachable. Now, being teachable doesn't mean you are a beginner. Let me make that clear. It doesn't mean you are not talented. It means you are ready to stop doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. You've probably heard that quote by Albert Einstein. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. But let's get back to that question. Are you actually teachable? Because when you are, it truly means you're ready to stop doing the same things over and over and expecting those different results. It means you're willing to look at your current process. Honestly, that's not easy. I get it. During the workshop. I asked you to write down how much you've made in the last 12 months and look at that honestly, what got you here won't get you there.This next one is a big one. Let go of pride, let go of fear, and let go of ego so you can actually grow. Until you do those things, nothing's going to change. I think that's very important. So I wanna repeat it so you actually really hear this. Look at your current process, honestly, except what got you here. Won't get you to your future. Let go of the pride, the fear, the ego, so you can actually grow. You see if you keep posting your work and hoping someone books replying with your price and crossing your fingers, waiting for the right time to invest in yourself. Then deep down you are relying on hope instead of strategy, and hope is a terrible business model. I know taking a step forward can be scary. Investing in yourself can be scary. But let's talk about why structure sets you free. Let me tell you, this structure does not limit your creativity. It protects it. Having a system doesn't make you robotic. It makes you consistent. When you have a client journey that builds value, before you talk price, when you know what to say and when to say it. When you know how to guide a client to see themselves in your work and trust your process, you stop getting ghosted. You stop doubting your worth, you stop shrinking your price just to get someone to say yes, and that is what I'm teaching inside the Photography Breakthrough System. Not a bunch of theory, not another surface level course. A framework that helps you get booked more consistently and feel proud of what you charge. Speaking of which, are you happy with what you're charging? Let's be honest. He is the real question. Do you want to grow or do you want to be right? About why it's not working. Do you want results or do you want to keep repeating what feels comfortable? Are you teachable? Or are you just hoping clients will magically start valuing your work someday? I say all this with deep love because I see your potential. But I also see the trap you might be in, and it's this, thinking your current effort should already be working. Instead of realizing it's time to upgrade the way you run your business. Here's the good news. If something inside you is stirring right now. If your chest feels tight, if your mind is racing with, maybe I do need to shift something, then you are teachable. And today for those people who hear this but hesitated. I am going to give another chance to change your future, But this is only for the next 48 hours. Think of this as a gift to yourself. A gift to your future self. Today, we will open the door to photography breakthrough system, but just for a little while, this is your chance to stop winging it and start building a business that actually works, not one that's built on hope. One that's built on clarity, connection, and confidence. This invitation. It is for those who listen to the podcast. If you know you need to take action, today is your day. The link to sign up and change your life is in the show notes. I will also put the link on my Instagram. Go to my Instagram. Right now I'm under Matthew Jordan Smith. When you click the link in my bio. There, you'll find a special link that's just for you. I'm not telling anybody else. This is just for people who will listen to this podcast, who know you need to take action, but you've been afraid, scared to move forward. I get it. I know what that feels like. But this offer is just for you. The special link will say two words. I'm ready. That's it. I'm ready. Click the I'm Ready link. And come and join us. I look forward to seeing you. Thank you for being here for episode 18 of the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. If this hits home today, I'd love to hear from you. DM me if you have questions on Instagram. As I said earlier, I'm under Matthew Jordan Smith. Tell me what you're ready to do differently now. If you are on the fence, do me a favor. On Instagram, send me a message and let me know. Matthew, I'm on the fence because... I'd love to hear from you. But if you're ready to become truly teachable and build the system you business has been missing, check out photography breakthrough system while enrollment is still open. Remember, click the link that says. I'm ready. This is your time. Until next time. Remember, confidence is built, clients are guided, and the breakthrough comes when you're finally willing to do things differently. Thank you for your time today. Thank you for being here. Thank you for showing up because that alone lets me know you care about your future. Now let's do something about it. I look forward to seeing you very soon. Until next time. Bye for now.I'M READY

Overcoming Fear: Photography Breakthrough System Has there ever been something that you know you needed to do, but there was fear that was holding you back? A lot of people face this at some point in their life. I think it's part of the journey of being an artist, being a photographer, But succumbing to your fear doesn't keep you safe. It makes things worse. If you are a photographer who's been struggling, struggling to find clients. Struggling to raise your prices when you know you need to. You know, you make good work, great work. You put a lot of time and effort to master your craft to get better, and now you're at the point when you should be paid for your work. But you're scared to raise your prices. You buy expensive cameras, expensive lenses, computers, hard drives. Lights, props, all the things you need to master your craft and make amazing images, but then when it comes to raising your prices, the fear kicks in and this is not new. You've been fighting this for a long time. How do you get past this hurdle? If you've been listening to this podcast, you know, today is the last day to sign up for photography breakthrough system. There are only a few hours left, then that window closes. Let's talk about what happens if you don't decide to join photography Breakthrough system. The system that's gonna change how you go about running your business. The system that's gonna teach you how to raise your prices, make more money in your business, have more clients, and have consistent clients. Not for a week or for a month, but for the rest of your photography journey. If you decide to stay where you are, stay stuck. Continue the struggle. It doesn't stay the same. The struggle gets bigger, the problems get bigger, and it may get to the point where you have to sell all your gear just to get by. Give up on photography, altogether, and go back to doing something you really don't want to do. I am telling you this because I was almost at that point after all these years of being a photographer, I was about to throw in the towel, give up and try to do something else. That's a horrible feeling. It was a horrible place for me to be. It was depressing for me, but then I found a way, the system that changes everything. That's what I created, and now teaching in the photography breakthrough system, a way for you to break free of all those struggles. But today's the last day and there are only a few hours left now. I've heard some objections from people, and I wanna talk about all those objections, the things that's keeping you stuck, giving you fear. The first one I heard was Matthew, I know I need this, but it's a little bit expensive for me. Let me ask you this. What's the long-term effect of you staying where you are doing nothing. How many jobs will you lose over the next six months, over the next 12 months? Because you keep doing exactly what you've been doing. Now imagine all those clients who said no to you in the past saying yes, and not only saying yes, but referring their friends to you because of what you've given to them. That's what I teach you. What do you think that's worth when you think about that? What you're losing by not taking action, you're losing way more than the cost of this course. There are two options for you to join a one-time payment or three payments. It's totally up to you by make it easy for you to make the choice to turn your life around. What's the value of one client? Let's think about that. I told you all earlier, if you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you now know that I had one client that opened the door to 60 other clients this year. And like I told you on the other day, another client brand new is taking me on a trip tonight to a place where I've want to go all my life to Africa, to Nairobi for a week to do a job. But let's talk about you. What are you missing out on? The client who says no to you? Because they didn't see your value, because you didn't know the system that unlocks the door for them to hire you and not only hire you one time, but have a repeat client that tells their friends and colleagues about you. The truth is you can't afford not to do this because not doing it keeps you where you are and where you are doesn't stay the same. It grows and gets worse to the point where you may find yourself giving up on photography altogether. 'cause you're trying to figure it out all on your own. You don't have to. I had another person say to me, Matthew, how long is this course? Well, first and foremost, it's not a course. I want to make that clear. This is not a course, it's live training, it's transformation. Let's talk about that question for a second. How long is the training? It's really not a matter of how long the training is. What's more important is how fast you can get results, how fast you can get into action when you join. There will be a lot of work. I'm going to push you. That's what I'm there to do. I'm gonna give you assignments, homework to do. I know you're busy, but these assignments are going to change everything for you, teach you how to make more money, teach you how to turn a potential client into not only a client, but a long-term client. You've got to do the work. The training is live. So there's accountability also. Sometimes we need that person to hold us to the fire to make sure we do the work. That's my job to make sure you do the work. So about how long is it? It's not a question of how long. This training is about getting you into action as quickly as possible so you can get the results you need as quickly as possible. Another person sent me an email and said, Matthew, everything you're saying is exactly what I need, and I know it, but I'm not ready yet. Let's think about that. When have you ever been ready for anything that happens in life? Were any of us ready for the pandemic when it hit. We didn't even know it was coming. For those of you who have children, were you ready the first time you became a parent? Life does not wait for us to get ready. Saying you are not ready is just giving into your fear. And to be honest, it's not a matter of how ready you are. It's simply how committed you are to changing your life. Because being ready is an illusion. No one's ever ready. You just have to take that step. How many successful people waited until they were ready? You've heard the story. If you're waiting, you'll never be ready. The real question is, how long do you want to wait? 'cause the longer you wait, the more clients you miss, the more opportunities walk by you every day and you stay stuck right where you are. I received another message from a young photographer who said, Matthew, I don't have any clients. I love photography. I want to do this, but I don't have any clients. This probably is not for me because I'm a newbie. Here's the beautiful thing. If you are brand new, just starting this journey, you are exactly in the right place and you are the perfect person to be on this journey. You don't have any bad habits to break. You get to learn from the beginning how to do this the right way. That is exactly where you want to be. Many of us have been doing this for a long time on our own, trying to figure it out, stuck in our head and getting nowhere. If you have one client or no clients, you are absolutely in the right place. To be honest, no matter where you are on your journey as a photographer, it's never too late to change things. And what's beautiful about this system, it meets you where you are shooting for one month, shooting for 50 years. This system will change everything for you, and you'll find out in those first seven weeks. It is gonna change your life and how you do everything forever, but your time is running out. This time tomorrow it'll be too late to sign up. The doors will be closed because all my time will be going into preparing and training all the new students who said yes. Those who want to really change their life and enjoy life as a photographer. Making more money in photography next year than they did this year. Here's the real question. Is that going to be you? The link to sign up is in the show notes. It's also on my Instagram bio. I'm there under Matthew Jordan Smith. Click my bio and it's right there on top. Photography Breakthrough System. This is your time, your day to change your life forever. For those who said yes, I look forward to seeing you in photography Breakthrough system. For those who are still on the fence, let me ask you this. How long are you willing to keep losing clients, letting them pass by and slip through your fingers? How long will you wait? Time is a funny thing. We don't know how much time we have, which means we never have time to waste. Today is your day. Push your fear aside. Click that link to sign up. I look forward to seeing you as a new student in photography breakthrough system. Once you join, you'll have dates for our first meet and greet session. I look forward to seeing you all there. It's time to break past all your fear, past all your struggles that you've been fighting on your own. And start a brand new way of going about your photography life. All right, everyone. Thank you for your time. Thank you for being here. I look forward to meeting you and photography breakthrough system. Until then, bye for now. 👉 Sign up now and save your spot before it fills up!

Thankful Photography Breakthrough PitchHere we are the day after Thanksgiving, November, 2025. I know this has been a challenging year for a lot of people, but right now I just want you to be thankful. I wanna remind you of all the great things that are still here.You're still breathing. You can hear and see and taste and touch, and that's a blessing. With all that's happening around us all over the world. It is very easy to be caught up in all that's negative. But today I want to remind you to be truly thankful. Whenever I talk to anybody about Thanksgiving, the conversation immediately turns to food. What you're going to have, the Turkey, the ham, the dressing, you know, the conversations. Thanksgiving has become a holiday of just eating and being with friends and family. I must admit, when I lived in the States, it was my favorite holiday. Not so much because of the eating, but just being around friends and family. It can be a beautiful thing. But you are a photographer and maybe you've had a challenging year. So many of us today struggle. Struggle with marketing, struggle with clients, struggle trying to raise our prices, struggle. Just trying to make a living as a photographer. I get it. But today I want to tell you, there's a lot to be thankful about. If we've never met before this year, we've had a chance to connect over this podcast. This year, the creator woke me up and showed me how to make something that can change not only my life. It can change your life no matter where you are in the world. That's a lot to be thankful for. If you're going through any challenges in your photography business, Or maybe you're just trying to get your business up and going get your first clients and not sure how to get past charging a very low amount of money to have anybody hire you. That is a challenge and a lot of new photographers face that at even more established photographers face that same struggle. Doing other things on the side just to make it, or maybe you're doing a regular job and trying to do it on the side in hopes that you can make photography your main thing later on. Wherever you are, and that challenge rollercoaster. I want you to be thankful. That we are here today. Today is a very special day. If you've been with me on these three days of workshops, you know, today is the day when we launch Photography Breakthrough System. Today is the day you have an opportunity to come and join us. To learn what being thankful really is. So next year, this time, your song is very different. Your feeling is very different Next year, this time on Thanksgiving, you'll truly be thankful , for all the creator has done for you. I have to tell you that feeling of having your life change so dramatically brings tears to your eyes. If you are truly struggling doing everything you can and nothing's working. And you find a solution and you watch it change your life. There is nothing like that. I'm telling you this because I went through that. I know what it feels like to be challenged to not know where to turn next. Not to know where to go for help. I know all of those feelings. That is why I created this podcast to help you, to inspire you, to let you know that there is really help out there. I've heard all those struggles. I've talked to so many photographers this year who have been going through it. New photographers who are charging a hundred dollars for a session. Established photographers who are surprised how the industry has changed and are struggling now to figure it all out and everything in between. But I'm here to tell you. This is the dawn of your breakthrough year. The only reason you can stay stuck is if you turn away from what I'm about to tell you. You now have an opportunity to join photography, Breakthrough System. I am so thankful that the creator gave me this idea to share with you.Photography Breakthrough system is not a course. And by that I mean it's not like a course where you go online and you look at videos and, and all of that. It's not that. It's live training. Live training is where you are held accountable. Where you can ask questions, we can talk to each other. That's when things change. If you are left just to watch a video, you know what happens. Life gets in the way and you never get around to doing it. But when it's live, there is no excuse. You show up or you don't, and I can see when you show up. When you make that commitment to yourself and you show up, that's when things change. You already know what happens when you try to do it by yourself. You've been trying to do that all your photography life and you know where that's gotten you. Maybe you're doing pretty good in photography. But you want to do better. This system can take you for wherever you are to double what you're making. If you have no clients whatsoever, the sky is truly the limit. If you are a photographer who made less than a thousand dollars this year in photography, they are out there. I've spoken to them. Maybe you're here right now. You have an opportunity to truly change your life in such a way that you won't believe it. All you have to do is get out of your own way and follow the system. Today is the day the Photography breakthrough system opens up for enrollment. It is Black Friday. I know you're thinking about shopping and getting all these deals and all of this, but what about your future? This is the day where that can change. This will not stay open long, only a few days. Enrollment will end on Monday. It will end on Monday because I'll need to prepare everything that's going to happen going forward for you, for your first class, for your first breakthrough. So lemme just walk you through what's gonna happen once you join photography Breakthrough System. I know it's the holidays and you're wondering what, Matthew, there's so much going on. I'm gonna have a busy December. I don't have time to join the class. I got you. Don't worry when you join today. The first thing that's going to happen is we will have a meet and greet meeting. All the new students together will have a meet and greet session. You'll find out the date of the meet and greet once you join, but trust me. I've got you. I know it's the holidays. We may have two different sessions just because I know we're all busy doing things for the holidays. Maybe you're traveling or whatever. I've got you. Don't worry. The actual training however, will begin in January after the holidays, after all the excuses are gone. Let's talk about the training and how it begins. The first seven weeks are consecutive live training. I want you to be there for each of them if you can make it to each of the live trainings. No worries. As long as you've signed up. They are recorded for you. These seven weeks are your foundation after those first seven weeks of live training, which will be intense, I have to tell you now. But it's gonna take that to break past all you've been going through trying to fix your struggles on your own, it won't be easy, but it'll be much easier than if you do nothing and stay where you are. You know what that feels like. Your first seven weeks. I wanna change how you feel about photography. About the future, about what's possible. I've got your back. Be thankful today because your day, your day to change your life is here. Today is the day to give a gift to yourself. During the holidays, we think about giving gifts to others, which is great. But this gift, this first gift, is for you, gift to yourself. And I'll teach you how to give to others for the rest of your photography career in a manner that's so incredible. It will give to you in ways that you cannot imagine. I know you're thinking about increasing your finances. Yes, we're gonna do that, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. This is the day. When I'm asking you to believe in yourself now when you join, there is a 30 day guarantee, a money back, 30 day guarantee. Now maybe you're thinking, well, Matthew, you know, the first 30 days it'll still be the holiday season. Your 30 day guarantee will begin January 1st because the training begins in January. I am committed to training you in a way that's gonna change your life forever. Don't cheat yourself. Don't hold back. I know you're scared. I was there too. But this is the time for you to surrender so you can grow, surrender your old ways of thinking, which is not easy. I know. Trust me. I fought that myself at times. I still fight that. But that's why every day I start my day by getting up, getting on my knees and thinking the creator for all that he's done for me every single day. Let me just tell you what I pray for every single morning for strength throughout the day, first and foremost. I thank the creative for life for letting me wake up. I don't take that for granted, for letting me see another day, for being able to take another breath, to walk on my own, two feet to taste. The touch, the smell to see, to use my eyes, to use my voice, to be able to speak to you, and then I ask for help. Help in teaching you, training you. And I thank the creator for all he's done for me to turn my life around. If that had never happened, I would not be here talking to you. I thank God every single day for this opportunity to do what I love and do it more abundantly. And I pray for you, even though I've never met you. I pray for you. I pray for the creator to bring the right people to me. Those who really need the help, who are sincere, who are earnest and will act. No matter where you are, the creator sees you, knows your pain, knows your heart, not just what comes out of your mouth, knows your heart, what you're thinking, what you're wishing for, and I'm here to tell you. He hears you. He knows your pain. He's placed you right here to hear this message. This is your call to join Photography Breakthrough System today. This is the day that can change everything. So you now have a choice. The choice is stay where you are. The next time somebody sees your work, they like it, and they ask you, oh, how much do you charge? And you get nervous, not sure how to respond, and you respond the same way you always have and you get nothing back. You hear crickets the next time that happens. Remember, you could have changed that. Because that is exactly what I'm offering you today, a chance to change that and what happens after that forever. I want you to imagine this I that one client who walked away. Could have been a client like Aretha Franklin was for me, a client who hired me for 13 years until she passed away, like Vanessa Williams, who I photographed for over 20 years. Like Queen Latifah, who I photographed along the same time since 1995. There's a list that goes on and on, but those clients are back in America. I now live in Japan. I'm working to speak the language, but trust me, I am struggling. But this year. I've shot over 60 different clients. Let me say that again. This year I've shot over 60 different clients, and guess what? This invitation, it closes on Monday. It closes on Monday for several reasons. Number one, I need to prepare for your training. Get things ready to go, but also another client who I met through my main client is taking me away for a week and guess where they're taking me? On Monday at midnight, I will fly to Africa for the first time in my life. To work as a photographer, shooting for a new client. Everything I've been telling you works. You'll be amazed what happens when you get out of your own way and let the creator take over. Yes, that's what's happening. God has been very, very good to me through the ups and downs, through the struggles of life and all that's going on all around us. This has been an incredible year, and I want you to experience that. When you become a student in photography breakthrough system, no matter what you believe, that doesn't really matter. I pray for your success every single day. No matter where you are in the world, there's somebody thinking about you and praying for your success. Has anybody else ever done that before? I want you to thrive. I want you to know what it feels like to have clients lined up next month and the month after that, where you're not worrying about, oh, how do I pay my bills? How will I do this? All that goes away. I'm not saying all struggles go away because your next struggle will be, oh. When I have time for myself to do this, you'll be so busy. You'll have a different problem trying to break away and go on vacation anywhere you want, whenever you want. That's a great feeling to provide for your family in a way that you haven't before. To have less stress in your life, to have a community behind you supporting you. Yes, you get that too. Today's the day, the day you can change your life forever. Jump on in, make that commitment. To yourself. This is the day when you can change your life and have all those worries behind you. You know what it feels like to have a client, a potential client contact you. You send your price and then you hear nothing. Let's back up for a second. They send their email to you. Or message or however they contact you, asking you how much you charge. And right away you get nervous, right? You start second guessing yourself, second guessing your rate. Second guessing how to proceed. What if there was a system to change All that? Take all your worries away. That's the beginning of what I teach you, how to get past that hurdle and all the other ones that's going to come. I'm so excited for you today because today is an incredible day. Oh, and there's one more amazing thing that happens, but only for the first 30 people that sign up. The first 30 people who sign up today get an incredible gift worth $750. The first 30 people will get the Aretha Cool Box set The Aretha Cool Box set. It is the brand new book I've done on Aretha Franklin. It's those 13 years I told you about where I photographed her and captured her life. But you don't only get the book, you get this beautiful fold out. I call it an Ugokugraph. Ugoku is the Japanese word for movement. It's a movement. Fold out. You get a signed print, you get an audio on a beautiful pink USB drive. Aretha loved pink. With stories behind the scenes stories of working with the Queen of Soul, but your book is not like the standard book , there's a special cover with an acrylic print embedded in the cover. In the Aretha Cool Box set, all the contents come in a beautiful clamshell case. Every element in the box set is signed and numbered. There are only 100 limited edition box sets. Out of those 100, only 30 are left. That's it. And the first 30 people who sign up today, they get those box sets. My gift to you for believing in you. The box sets will go out after the 30 day trial is over. Yes, we wanna know you are committed, that you're here to learn and stay with this. With the Aretha coup box set, the clamshell is numbered. Your Aretha Cool book is numbered and signed. Your foldout is numbered and signed. Your limited edition print is numbered and signed. Your limited edition box set, every element is numbered and signed. You'll have one of one. There's only one number 50, only one, number 30, only one number 25, and that's your gift for being one of the first 30 people to sign up. So jump on in, change your life and get a great gift in the process. Yes, today, Thanksgiving extends itself for you. You have a lot to be thankful about now as you change your life in the year on a high note, but begin the year on an even higher note. I am here for you. I'm excited for you and I'm looking forward to meeting you in that first meet and greet session. Don't put it off. Today is all about you and your future. Now it's up to you. What will you do with this opportunity? You know time is a funny thing. It goes by so fast. What are you going to do with your time? Do me a favor? If you have a calendar close by. Take a look at it. Look at today's date. Now think forward six months from today. Where do you want to be six months from now? In the same place where you are now or seeing a new version of you. A new version of your business, a new version of your photography. Imagine yourself smiling and laughing 'cause you can't believe how much your life has changed. Imagine what that feels like. Imagine being so happy to call yourself a photographer. And say it with a smile on your face. That's what we're offering you today. All you've got to do is jump in today and be a part of photography breakthrough system. Again, the doors are open today, but they're only open for a few days. Don't miss this opportunity to change your life forever. The doors will close on Monday. You have a few days to jump in. The first 30. Get that free gift. The Aretha Cool Box set valued at $750. The regular book Aretha Cool is available on Amazon. It makes a great gift for the holidays for anybody who loves music. But the box set, that's not available on Amazon. If you want to see what comes inside the box set, go to aretha cool.com. Take a look. See for yourself how beautiful and special the box set is.  When you join Photography Breakthrough System as one of the first 30, you get the box set for free. That's only for the first 30 people. They're the last 30 box sets available, and you can grab yours today in the process. Learn how to change your life forever if you're struggling to raise your prices. Don't know how you've tried, but you've gotten pushback and in response, you drop your prices again. There's another way to do this. The link to join is in the show notes. Click it now and join today. If you're on Instagram, I'll put the link to join also on the Instagram page in my bio only for a few days. Sign up now. Again, the link to join is here in the show notes or go to Instagram and look in my bio. You can sign up there as well. All right, everyone. Have a great rest of your weekend. Dream big. Believe in yourself and know you now have a community that's behind you pushing you, supporting you. With someone who's praying for you every single morning. Happy holidays. I look forward to seeing you very soon. Until then, bye for now. 👉 Sign up now and save your spot before it fills up!

From Invisible to Irresistible Photography Workshop Do you ever feel invisible for photographers? We’re doing so much or posting. Posting constantly, right. Some of you are updating your website, maybe you're doing ads on Instagram or Facebook, creating reels, doing short videos. All of this just to be seen. But still, do you feel invisible at times? I've heard from many of you, and I know sometimes it can seem like you just feel invisible no matter what you do, but how would it be to go from feeling invisible to being irresistible? Let's talk about how you stand out in this crazy crowded market of photography. Standing out seems to be an uphill battle. But it doesn't have to be. If you've been following me, you know we are doing a three-day workshop. The first two days are completed. Tomorrow's the last day of the three-day free workshop on helping you get seen, helping you go from being invisible to being irresistible. And we go much deeper tomorrow. If you're just finding this podcast, welcome. The reason why I began this podcast was to help those who are struggling in their photography, struggling to be seen, struggling to raise your prices, struggling to find clients, struggling to create consistent clients. I know this struggle firsthand. I've been there, but I've been through a lot in my career as a photographer, and I want to share all I know to help you, the next generation, so you can thrive long term. In this journey of being a photographer, you go through a lot. There are peaks and there are valleys. When you're on that peak, it feels absolutely incredible, but you must know how to navigate those valleys. The secret to navigating those low seasons, the valleys, is having consistent clients. You know, it's really hard to find a new client every single week, every single month. That's an uphill battle. If you want to have a long career, if you want to thrive, if you want to do better in this world of photography long term, you need to have consistent clients, people who hire you over and over again. I don't mean throughout the month or throughout the year, but long term, for decades. That's how I've survived in this career. For those who've been really following me for a long time, you know, I moved from one country to another. I was doing well in America, but when I left, it was like starting all over again. I moved to a country where I didn't know how to speak the language, where nobody knew many of the celebrities I'd photographed, and to be honest, the ones they did know, they didn't care. It's a different country, so I had to start all over again and learn how to survive in this new market. But that was a blessing for you, because it taught me how to survive and start all over again. So maybe you're saying, oh, well, Matthew, you've been doing this for a long time, you do celebrities, everybody knows you. That may have been true when I lived in America. It's not true when I live in Japan. So if you are struggling, I made this for you because I know what it feels like to struggle and have to start from the beginning where nobody knows you. Tomorrow is day three of this workshop. It's the most important day of all three days of the workshop. If you missed day one and day two, I'd like you to sign up, go and watch both day one and day two, and then come tomorrow for day three. If you feel like you want to give up on photography, don’t. Come to the workshop. If you have a crazy schedule at your job, but you know that job is not you, after you get off work, watch the replay. To see the replay, you've got to sign up. Register with the link. You can find it in the show notes. If you're following my Instagram, I am under Matthew Jordan Smith. The link is in my bio right at the top. It's there for you. You do not have to struggle by yourself. If you feel like that invisible photographer, that's a problem. You post, you hear crickets. You know you're talented, you love photography, but you're not getting work. Let's fix that together. I want to show you how to create magnetic positioning so you are seen. What does that mean to be seen as a photographer? What does that feel like to be seen? You already know the opposite, what it feels like to hear nothing after you've posted or get a like and nothing else. Let's make you that go-to photographer. Shift things around from being the generalist to being the specialist. Today, your role as a photographer is to learn to become irresistible, and that's what I'm going to teach you in the workshop. Day one and two are important, so again, if you missed it, go back and watch both of those trainings. Then come to day three, we'll be there waiting for you. This workshop is absolutely free. Why? Because I know what it feels like to struggle. I've been there right with you, that feeling of being lost in your own thoughts, not sure what to do, and feeling like you just want to give up. You don't have to. Help is here. So sign up and come to day three. I've got a lot to share because you are worth it, because you are the next generation, or maybe you are thinking about retiring and you want something else to do. No matter where you are on your journey, I'm here for you to help you turn things around and thrive, so a year from today you have a very different story. Sound good? Make sure you sign up and I'll see you in day three of our live three-day workshop. It's going to be incredible, and I can't wait to see you grow and watch you turn things around. Oh, one last thing. As you come to the workshop for day three, you'll need one thing. Well, actually two things, something to write with and something to write on. Grab a pen, pencil, and a notepad. It's much better when you can write. It's really important that you see something in your own handwriting. You'll need that tomorrow. Okay? So bring your pen, pencil, and some paper, a notepad. This is very important for tomorrow's training. That's all you need, a pen and a notepad. You'll see why on day three. All right everyone, have a great day. Until tomorrow, always dream big. Bye for now.👉 Register now for free  and save your spot before it fills up!https://www.photographybreakthroughsystem.com/photography-breakthrough-workshop

Photography Breakthrough Workshop Promotion I've got a question for you. Were you there for day one? I truly hope so. In case you missed it, yesterday was day one of the workshop. If you've been struggling with your photography, struggling to charge more, struggling to find clients, struggling to get consistent clients, you need to be at the three day workshop. Yesterday was day one, but you haven't missed out. Day two is November 20th and you can still sign up. Day three happens next week. So jump in, register, and make sure you don't miss anything. By the way, in case you missed day one, the replay is available. Just sign up, watch day one again, and make sure you're there for day two. The workshop is free. Of course, it's much better if you can make it there live, but if you can't, because I know we are all busy, the real question is, wouldn't you like to be busier doing what you love and getting paid well to do it? We make time for the things that are important in our lives, for the things that can change our lives. This workshop just might be the thing for you. I've heard from so many of you going through feast or famine, you know what I mean. One month you're doing jobs every week, next month none at all, or worse, several months in a row with no clients. That's not a business. Let's fix that. A photographer sent me a video last week. In this video, several photographers were saying that photography is dying, that everyone only wants video now. You know in your heart that's not true. Is the business changing? Yes, but it has always been changing. I'm telling you this because I've been a photographer for 38 years, and I've watched it change quite a bit. But look around, everything is changing. The secret is to adapt. Are you doing things the same way you did five years ago? The world's changed a lot in five years, and yes, we must as well. So you see, this workshop is essential for you and for your future. So make sure you sign up. The link is in the show notes, or you can find it also on my Instagram. If you are on Instagram, find me at @MatthewJordanSmith. Make sure you follow, and in my Instagram bio, the first link is the signup link. Join today and make sure you're there tomorrow. Day two is extremely important. Day three, even more so, be there live. You'll thank yourself later on. So let me ask you a question, what do you think the real reason is that you're not booking clients all the time? We will go over that in the workshop. This is a free live workshop, the Photography Breakthrough Workshop, because I want this to be a breakthrough for you and your photography. The workshop’s more fun watching with a friend. Tell every photographer you know who is struggling, who’s having a hard time trying to figure this whole business out and doing it by themselves. Don’t keep this to yourself. I know a lot of photographers struggle with the whole thing of competition. But really, your only competition is you. If you're scrolling through looking at others' work and feeling like that’s your competition, well, we’ll talk about that too. If you’re struggling with imposter syndrome, which I think every artist in every category goes through at some point in their career, I’ve got something for you too. Let’s fix your struggles. You are not in this alone. So why am I doing this workshop, three days of free training? Because I’ve been there. I know what you’re going through, and I know what it feels like. Frustrated, depressed, not sure where to turn next. Maybe you have a full-time job that you don’t like, and you wish you could do photography all the time. Maybe you’re retired and you want to figure this thing out so you can really enjoy your retirement, but have fun taking pictures and getting paid to do it on the side as well. I’ve got you covered. This is too important for you to miss. All those internal conversations that you’re having, there are other photographers all over the world having those same conversations, wondering what they’re doing wrong and trying to fix it by themselves. Let’s do it together. Okay, you now have your marching orders. Come on in, register, and I’ll see you tomorrow in the live workshop. Tomorrow we dive into day two. Until then, always dream big. Bye for now.👉 Register now for free  and save your spot before it fills up!https://www.photographybreakthroughsystem.com/photography-breakthrough-workshop

Photography Breakthrough Workshop Invitation Hello, photography friends, before we dive in today, I've got something very special I wanna share with you. I'm hosting a free three-day live workshop. It happens this week. I am very excited to share this with you. As you know, I began this podcast with the goal of helping you figure out how to stop struggling as a photographer, how to make more money, how to charge more, how to have consistent clients. Well, guess what? This free three-day workshop is focused just on that. No talking about gear, no talking about lighting, or all that other photo stuff that we normally talk about. This has one goal, helping you thrive. If that sounds good, do me a favor.In the show notes, I have the link for you to sign up. Then all you've gotta do is show up. If you're tired of struggling, if you're frustrated trying to figure out how you're gonna get more clients, how you're gonna pay your bills, how you're gonna afford to go through the holidays? I can help. As a matter of fact, you can pause this podcast right now, look at the show notes and sign up. Or if you're on Instagram, just go to my Instagram under Matthew Jordan Smith. Go to my bio. In the bio is the first link to sign up. Click and sign up right now. There is no need for you to struggle anymore. So what will we cover in this workshop? First, I'll share my own story about feast or famine, because I've been there. I know exactly what you're going through, and to be honest, if I didn’t go through this, I couldn’t really help you. But I’ve been there. I know what it feels like and I also know how amazing it feels to get over that. And you can too. We're going to go through the core problem. I'm gonna break it down so you understand why this is happening. I know you think you probably have a great idea why things are the way they are, but let's break it down. We'll talk about what most photographers try to do to fix it and why that's not working. This three-day workshop is a Photography Breakthrough Shift. Here we are, November 2025. I know the stress of going into the holidays and not knowing where your next job's gonna come from, it doesn’t have to be that way. I want you to understand and see and experience what consistency feels like in your business, so you don’t have to worry about next week or next month or two months from now. Imagine how good that will feel knowing you have consistent clients that you can charge more for your photography. That you can live the life you've always wanted to while doing what you love, Photography. Now if what I’m saying resonates with you, if you are done with the dry spells, the feast and famine, and you wanna find out how to make this all come to life with steady clients, consistent work, and higher pay. Imagine that: you being happy and having happy clients. Then join me for the Photography Breakthrough Workshop. It’s totally free. It’s live. And day one is right around the corner. So sign up now so you don’t miss a thing. This is three days happening this month. If you are hearing this podcast on the day it comes out. Monday, November 17th, the first class is tomorrow, Tuesday, November 18th. But you’ve got to sign up. Don’t delay. You don’t wanna miss one day of this workshop. Signing up is simple. Just go to the show notes, the link is right there. If you follow me on Instagram, I am there under Matthew Jordan Smith. Follow me and go to my bio. At the very top, you’ll see the free workshop for struggling photographers. You don’t have to figure this all out by yourself. In the world of photography, that’s exactly what we’re doing all the time, trying to figure out all of our struggles by ourselves. That by itself is frustrating. I’m here to tell you there is help. And it’s only one click away. Let’s end this year right and start your new year off the right way. Do me a favor, if you have other photographer friends who are struggling, tell them about this free three-day training. Take it with a friend. Don’t worry about competition, because really that doesn’t exist except in your mind. I know we all think it’s there somebody stealing our job, our competition. That’s not really true. We’ll go over all that, how you can stand out and stop worrying about the competition. Stop comparing yourself to other photographers as you scroll and look at their work. That’s keeping you stuck, but it doesn’t have to anymore. Welcome to freedom. Welcome to the new chapter. Welcome to your Photography Breakthrough. Join me for the free workshop, three days of training, all to help you break through and change your photography life. Not just next week or next month, but for the rest of your photography career. Imagine that, feeling happy, knowing that everything’s covered, knowing that you can go on vacation anytime you want to, knowing that you have control over your time something we can’t get back. Okay, I’m going to end our podcast now because I’ve got a lot of work to do to prepare for the first day of the workshop. You don’t want to miss this. All right, everybody. Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to seeing you live in the workshop. Sign up right now and make sure you are there on time. I’ll see you live at the workshop for day one. All right, bye for now.👉 Register now for free  and save your spot before it fills up!https://www.photographybreakthroughsystem.com/photography-breakthrough-workshop

Photography Breakthrough Workshop Announcement I know what you're thinking, Matthew. This is not the normal podcast day, and you're right. Today is a break from the norm because there's something very special I want to share with you. As you know, I began this podcast with the hopes of helping photographers who were struggling. I know that's a lot of photographers. I hear it more and more every day. Struggling to raise your prices, struggling to get clients, struggling to get consistent clients. Hold on, there's hope. And that's the reason for today's podcast. I want to invite you to a special free, three-day live workshop. I'm gonna hold this online. This entire three days of workshops will be just to help you figure out this whole problem of struggling in photography, how to get more clients, how to get more consistent clients, how to make more money and do that consistently, and do it in a way where your clients become your biggest marketing tool. So they start raving about your service and they start referring you. Now, this will be three days of live training. The first day will be Tuesday, November 18th, the second day, Thursday, November 20th, and the third day, Tuesday, November 25th. November 18th, November 20th, November 25th, a Tuesday, Thursday, and Tuesday. These are three days of free training to help you figure this whole thing out. I know it's hard out there. I know many photographers are thinking about giving up, but you don't have to. This workshop is to help you figure it all out. The only thing you need to do is register and show up. That's it. If you're struggling, that's an easy thing to do. There's no more excuses. There's a way out of your struggle. So next year, this time, you’ll be singing a brand new song, one of joy, not of misery. This workshop is called the Photography Breakthrough Workshop, and I made it just for you. The link to sign up is in the show notes or go to Instagram and you'll see it there in my bio. Either way, register right now. These are three important days. You do not want to miss this. This can change your entire life. The training is live. I know you're suffering. I know you're frustrated. I know you're trying to figure it out all by yourself, like so many of us have done over the years trying to figure this whole business out by ourselves. I know it's not getting easier. And I also know you can't do this by yourself. So come and join me. Let me share everything I know to change your whole life. Imagine no more struggle. Imagine no more frustration with photography. Imagine not having to wonder where your next client's gonna come from. It’s all in the training. All three days are created to help you figure this whole thing out, and I look forward to seeing you again. The link is in the show notes, but it's also on my Instagram. Just go to my Instagram bio and you'll see it right there at the top, Free Workshop. Sign up right now so you don't miss a thing. This is super important. We're gonna go over the core problem, which you probably already know, but I wanna break it down so you really understand why it's happening. So you stop taking it personally and you learn how to get to the other side. All right. I'll leave you for now, but before you go, check out the show notes, sign up, or just go to my Instagram under Matthew Jordan Smith. Go to my bio and register there. The link is in my Instagram bio waiting for you to sign up. As we approach the holiday season, you can go into it with a new mindset, a clear path forward. End the year on the right note and start the year with an amazing way to go forward. All right everyone, that's it for today. I look forward to seeing you in the live workshop. I made this specifically for you. Until then, bye for now.👉 Register now for free  and save your spot before it fills up! https://www.photographybreakthroughsystem.com/photography-breakthrough-workshop

Does this sound familiar? You want to raise your prices, but you're scared if you do. You'll scare away all the clients that you have. You've worked so hard, but you know you need to charge more. How do you get past this struggle? Today's podcast: Will raising your Prices scare away clients, or finally attract the right ones? I'm photographer Matthew Jordan Smith, and today we're digging into a fear I hear all the time. As a matter of fact, if you listened to last week's podcast, you know I've been working with a photographer who is struggling. She's charging $100 for a photo session. She's giving her work away. So after last week's podcast, I talked to her again and she told me, Matthew, I'm scared. If I raise my prices, I'll lose the clients that I have. That's a common fear. I've heard that before. This podcast, this episode, is to address that fear. Let's talk about what's really going on here and what to do about it. Let's be honest, it's not just about the price. When you say, if I raise my prices, I'll lose clients, what you're often really saying is, what if I'm not worth more? What if people stop booking? What if I try to raise my prices and fail and have to give up totally on my dream of being a photographer? That fear is valid, I get it. But it's also based on a misunderstanding of how value pricing and client psychology actually work in the portrait world. The truth is this, you are not selling pixels. You're not selling pictures. You're selling how someone feels when they see themselves through your lens. Let me say that again. So you really understand this. You are selling how someone feels when they finally see themselves through your eyes, through your lens, and they love what they see. That's special. If your session is $100, let me guess what it probably looks like. You are working extremely hard. You're delivering a lot. You're not making any money. You are losing money, and you know this. And you're probably attracting clients who see this as a bargain, not a transformation. And they're right. It's a steal. They're stealing from you, and you are letting it happen. That's not sustainable. And here's the key point. Low prices don't build loyalty. Transformation does. Let's talk about what your current price is actually saying. You see, your pricing isn't just a number, it's communication. At $100 or $200, for that matter, at a low price point, your pricing may be unintentionally saying this. This isn't a luxury. It's a quick, cheap shot. It also says, I'm just starting out. I'm not sure what I'm doing. It also says this won't be deeply curated. It won't be a personal experience. Now, how do you fix this? How do you flip this? What if your pricing says this? This is a special moment of self-celebration. What if it says you are going to feel amazing? You're going to feel seen, and you're going to feel powerful every time you look at these pictures. Your pricing can also say this. This is more than a photo shoot. It's a total transformation. But here's the trick, that shift in value must come with a shift in price, because when people pay more, they show up differently. They prepare, they value the experience, they value their time, and they respect your process. But you have to also respect yourself. But here's also the amazing part. When you raise your prices, you also show up differently. I want that to sink in. You feel better. You feel proud and it shows in the work. It shows in the experience that you give. Let's get back to that statement that this photographer said to me who was afraid that she would lose clients if she raised her prices. Will you lose clients? Yes. And that's a good thing. Now, here's the tough love part. Yes, you will lose some clients who currently pay $100 if you raise your prices. But here's the reframe. Those are not the clients who were ever going to build a sustainable, joyful, thriving business for you. They know they're getting a steal of a deal and deep in your heart, you know it too. You're still struggling because you can't make a business giving your work away. Where you are paying more than what you're charging. It doesn't make sense. I know, but there's this fear about, oh, but I love this and I want to do it, so I can't charge more. Yes, you can. You are a hundred dollars clients. They aren't bad people. They just weren't buying what you are truly meant to offer. You're not meant to be cheap and fast. You are meant to create transformational photo experiences that change how people feel about themselves. Now notice. I didn't say anything about how the pictures look. Your photographs should create something that makes people feel differently about themselves, and the clients who crave that, they're out there. But they can't even see you if your pricing hides your value at a cheap value. Everyone knows they're not going to get much. They don't expect much. So how do you change this? What do you do next without burning it all down? Here's your next step. And know this is not a leap off a cliff. It's a smart transition. Create a signature experience. I want you to think about this. Don't just raise your price, raise your offer. Now, let me explain this. Design an experience that includes guided posing, intentional conversation, client prep guides, and emotional impact. That's a great start. It's intentional. Raise your price to match that experience. Go from $100 to something like $250 or $350, or I'd be much happier if it was $500 as your base, because this is the base of transformation, not your time. Is that scary? I know it is. Do me a favor. I want you to pull out a piece of paper. Now if you're driving, or in the gym, or taking a walk, you can't do this now, but when you get home, I'd like for you to do this. Take out a pen or pencil and a notepad or sheet of paper and write. That's right. Old fashioned style. Write $500. Or whatever currency you're in, and look at that number. Put it somewhere where you can see it every single day, so you get comfortable seeing it and saying it. This is your new rate. Test with a small group. Invite three to five current or past clients you love working with and offer them this new signature experience at the updated price. Get feedback from them and reframe it. I know this is scary. The first thing you must do is say that this is a new signature experience. The old you, we're gonna bury that. This is something new. And your clients need to know that. That old you, that's in the past. We're looking forward. This is your new signature experience. Communicate this change. Use email, use social, and conversations to share why you are evolving, because that's what it is. You are not the same anymore. You are growing and evolving as you should as a photographer. You started at a cheap price, but that's the old you. It's a new day. Let your clients know this is no longer quick or cheap. This is about confidence, visibility, and self-love. Let go of that scarcity trap. If fewer people book you, that's okay. You are building a foundation, one that you can grow with, not chasing bookings. The funny thing is, let's say you had five clients paying you at $100 a session and you only get one that pays you at $500. You are actually making money now. Instead of losing money, you're not working as hard and you feel much better giving value. Remember, this is not the old you. This is your new signature experience and it's special. Give this all a shot. Start by pulling out that paper and writing down that scary number. As you look at it every day, it becomes less and less scary. In closing, I want to leave you with this. You are not charging more just to make more. You're charging more so you can give more. I want you to really get this. You are charging more so you can give more, more intention, more energy, more transformation, and more sustainability for you. You are not just a photographer. You are a mirror that people stand in front of to remember their power. You reflect back their power through your lens. So price your work like that's what you're offering because it is. This podcast is important. This episode is important, and maybe you should listen to this a few times so it really sinks in, so you don't forget, so you see your value. I want you to thrive, and this, this is how it begins. If you'd like more help on what to say to help you as you start thriving and changing to this new photo experience. If this episode spoke to you, please share it with another photographer who needs to hear it. And if you're ready to reimagine your pricing, your offer, and your client experience, stay with me because next month I've got something very special. This is your new beginning. All right everyone. I look forward to seeing you next week in the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Until then. Always dream big. Bye for now.   Before you go, I’ve got a free resource for you , my “10 High-Converting Messaging Lines” guide.It’s designed to help you attract more of your ideal clients and turn conversations into paid sessions.Grab your free copy here:https://www.freephotohelp.com/WEBSITES MENTIONEDGrab Your Free Guide: 10 High-Converting Messaging Lines to Land More Clientshttps://www.freephotohelp.com/Aretha Cool – On Sale at Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1GC6JXYMatthew Jordan Smith Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/matthewjordansmith