From Mood Board to Campaign: Creating My Nike Golf Spec Shoot

When I first started planning this Nike Golf spec shoot, it began with one thing: a vision.

I created a mood board that brought together the overall feeling I wanted for the campaign from the styling and location to the poses, movement, and visual direction. I knew I wanted the final images to feel intentional and campaign-driven, so before I even picked up my camera, I took the time to really think through what I wanted to create.

The next step was finding the right location. I put together a proposal for the golf course explaining my concept, my goals for the shoot, and what I envisioned creating in their space. And guess what? They accepted it!

That was such an important reminder for me: sometimes you really just have to ask.

One of the biggest reasons I wanted to write this blog is to encourage other creatives to be confident in their ideas. You don't necessarily need someone to come to you with an opportunity before you create the work you want to be hired for. Build the concept. Make the mood board. Put together the proposal. Reach out. The worst thing someone can tell you is no, but they can also say yes.

From there, I sourced my models and was very intentional about who I wanted involved and how everything would come together. Every decision was made with the overall vision in mind.

On the morning of the shoot, we arrived at the golf course at 7:00 AM. What we didn't expect was the fog.

Of course, when you've spent so much time imagining exactly how something is going to look, unexpected weather can make you nervous. But instead of fighting against it, we worked with it. The fog ended up bringing an entirely different atmosphere to the images, and we adjusted the vision around what the morning gave us.

That's another thing this shoot reminded me of: improvise.

Not everything is going to happen exactly the way you planned it, especially when you're creating on location. Being prepared is important, but so is being able to adapt when something unexpected happens.

And yes, it's completely okay to be nervous.

You can be nervous about sending the proposal. You can be nervous walking onto the location. You can question whether your idea is going to come together the way you imagined. Being nervous doesn't mean you aren't ready.

Trust yourself anyway.