Making Spec ads for paid work

Reebok Nano Ad

Make every second count

‘Hey can you work for exposure?’ – the one sentence sure to raise the hairs on any content creators neck. Exposure won’t pay rent of get me toilet paper now will it! Well this post isn’t about doing loads of free work for a profiting company (while I am vehemently against that its up to each individual to make up their own mind). 

This post is about making work that you want to make so you can learn a new skill or build your portfolio. 

For example, I wanted to play around with digital backgrounds and long exposure photography. The end result is the main image you see above, a spec advert for the Reebok Nano trainer with 99% of the image you see being shot in camera (obviously the logo and tagline added in post).

Now Reebok never paid me for that post, probably because they never asked me to make anything for them in the first place. But I was interested in learning more about digital backdrops (for the record this was my TV screen set to a YouTube video with crazy backgrounds) so I did it in my own time. When you don’t have a paying client things can be a lot more freeing. No one to submit drafts to or outline your ideas or inspiration. You get to shoot what you want, how you want it and that is always helpful in furthering your craft. 

Ultimately what the photo did give me was some knowledge on a set up that I really enjoyed and got me another product photography piece for my portfolio…oh and Reebok did get in touch in the end so thats kinda cool to I guess 😉

Why you should buy a small drone

Is a drone a good investment?

“…drone footage is getting predictable.”

Of all the things a new photographer or content creator can get to elevate their footage one of the simplest is a drone. Nothing can quite compare to a beautiful drone shot at golden hour.

With DJI dominating the commercial drone market I strongly recommend looking at the very user (and legal) friendly DJI mini 2. 

Learning how to fly your drone safely allows you to capture shots that elevate you (pun intended) to new heights. I shot a whole campaign for an international law firm using only my DJI Mini 2 for aerial shots and they loved it!

That particular job was all about capturing the architecture of the building and its surroundings. Previously the company had used photographers who preferred wide angle lenses and conventional architectural photography. Now while these shots looked amazing what I was able to offer was something different, because…

They got to see their building in a new way. Here’s the kicker though, drone footage is getting predictable. It’s one of the reasons so many people are starting to drift towards FPV type drones (which while very cool I do not encourage anyone to get as a starter drone without at least trying it out first).

So its up to you as the creator to find a clever way to utilise your skills and give your clients something they have never seen before. With the client I mentioned above this meant showing them angles of the building in they’ve never seen it.

I (maybe stupidly) was able to fly a few inches over the middle of a river to get a majestic wide angle shot that took in the whole building. Also I was informed that the new signage on the building was the pride and joy of the CEO, so I waited until sunset and got the most amazing golden colours playing with the sign. All of which could never have been achieved due to the fact it was on the 20th floor!

Drones can really help when securing paying clients as it opens up the potential of what you can offer and also the ability to upsell. Before you go off though and run to buy yourself a drone make sure and do your homework on what the laws are in your country regarding registration, flying commercially and where you are legally allowed to fly.