This is a guest post by Jeff Irving, a member of Draper’s Advertising Department. Jeff brings excitement, enthusiasm, and energy to everything he does, including tracking down installation images of Draper products!

Draper’s in-house advertising/marketing department does everything a full-blown ad agency does with one major difference….focus. Our diverse and talented team is always focused on Draper’s three diverse product categories (AV, shades, and gym equipment) and the hundreds of products within each of these categories. Each of us wears many hats in order to do our jobs effectively. Within our department Mike Feeney and I (Jeff Irving) are responsible for continually gathering, commissioning, purchasing, even creating images and videos to support and further Draper’s marketing efforts, along with our other responsibilities.

Mike Feeney is a great resource for our department due to his background in photography. Because of this his responsibilities include taking shots of products in and around the massive Draper campus as well as constant product detail shots and small part images. Mike has also gravitated toward video production as demand for video content has rapidly increased.

Mike and I are always looking for great images from outside sources as well. These can come from many sources, including existing images of our products in magazines; other websites; and dealers. The primary source for new images, however, is from scheduling shoots of dealer installs ourselves. We are always tracking down the ultimate high profile install that will show the world just how great Draper is and that our products are installed in some of the most prestigious buildings around the world. Regardless of which product line we are seeking images for, there are facilities that you just know will photograph well and be recognizable to everyone who sees the shots. We then typically work with regional photographers and direct them as to the types of shots that will benefit Draper the most.

Sometimes the stars align and even facilitate a bit of travel for Mike or me to gather images. Travel is usually only warranted when a large group of high profile installs is available to shoot in a major metropolitan area or region. For me it’s something to look forward to. It’s a great excuse to get out of the office for a few days, work with great photographers, visit with dealers, and see firsthand lots of amazing facilities where Draper products have been installed. These trips have proven to be very productive in recharging our image/video library, freshening up our promotional print pieces, and livening up our website.

Even though I wear many hats, like everyone else in Draper advertising /marketing department, I have to say that chasing that “perfect shot” of our products is a favorite hat of mine.

The Austonian, home to several Draper products.

This Spring I traveled to Dallas, Texas and met my good friend and photographer Matt Oberer of mattophoto in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was a great productive week of shooting Draper screens and shades. We shot 10 locations in 5 days and, while it was exhausting, the images and videos we captured will likely be used for years to come. The highlight of the trip for me was shooting Draper Dual Roller FlexShades on the top floor of the Austonian, the tallest building in downtown Austin.

What an amazing view that was!