CASE STUDY: Industrial Photos & Videos for Electrical Contractor JPR
OR: Is that guy standing sideways on the top of a telegraph pole?
Overview
Reconductoring. I did not know that was a word until I worked for JPR Industries, a large-scale commercial electrical contracting company located in Brisbane. Among other things, they strip out old powerlines, poles and transformers and install new ones. And they complete this in enormous sections, all in one day.
JPR had two large jobs that would take up a good percentage of their workforce in one go. One in the city and one in a rural area. They wanted photos, video and drone images of the jobs to show the scale and skill of their workforce, and demonstrate they can handle extremely complex projects.
My Client’s Problem
Most of JPR’s work happens at heights. It’s like a cherry picker festival when these guys do a job. Shots from the ground looking up can be dynamic. But, you also need to get into the cherry picker and shoot what they’re doing. And, you need to get above it with the drone, to get a different perspective.
So, JPR needed someone who could shoot stills, video and drone on the same day. And they needed someone who could work safely at heights and not be distracted by what is the equivalent of a small insulated bucket on a giant stick lurching around in the breeze at the height of a telegraph pole.
My Solution
The agency, Vie Marketing, and I came up with a wish list of what we wanted to capture. The JPR Ops Manager and I had a chat about what the safety standards were for their business. This meant I’d know at a glance if something was non-compliant, allowing small issues to be fixed before taking the shot.
I asked to be placed with the most experienced crews on the day. This is because they’re likely to be the most skilled (great for the images), but also the least likely to be thrown by a variable in their environment. And a photographer, with two cameras and a drone, is a huge variable. Clearly communicating what I need, what I’m about to do, and what they can expect means no one is surprised by anything I do. Checking in to make sure my intended actions are safe is a crucial part of how I do my job.
The Outcome
Working closely with the crews I was able to gather some exceptional ground and aerial imagery. Working safely, we were also able to gather footage and images from a perspective they’d never been able to get before; from inside the cherry picker at heights, and via the drone.
JPR now has a very high-quality image library that will be usable for years to come. And they have a library of video footage that can be rolled up into other projects well into the future.
