Jason Linson isn’t ready to quit his day job just yet.

As the owner of his own small construction company, Linson likes working for himself and producing the sort of results that lead to more jobs.

But after getting a taste of life as a pampered photo shoot model, Linson can still dream.

Linson, from Oak Harbor, was among a select group of general contractors picked to be a part of an advertisement line with Home Depot recently.

The company was looking for authentic home builders instead of models to participate in a photo shoot on the East Coast for a series of print and online ads.

Linson, owner of Inch X Inch Construction and a regular customer at Home Depot in Oak Harbor, got a surprise phone call last winter from a corporate representative that led to a phone interview, a photo submission and ultimately a first-class plane ticket to Greensboro, N.C., in February.

For one memorable three-day stretch, Linson, 33, found out what life was like being sent off on a jet to an unfamiliar location and being put in front of a camera surrounded by strangers.

“I’d never been to the East Coast,” he said. “It was like a mini vacation.”

Linson touched down in Greensboro and spent two 10-hour days with other contractors who were picked for the photo sessions. The shots took place in a studio and residences in the north-central region of North Carolina known as the Piedmont  Triad, which consists of the cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point.

Linson said the experience was eye-opening with a crew of about a dozen people building sets, others directing action and “about two or three big wigs” watching over the scene.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” Linson said. “Of the pictures that I know they took, I thought it would be something different. But it was cool.”

Linson has seen an ad that features him in recent issues of Remodeling magazine. He stands with a shovel in hand and bags of concrete behind him in an ad for the concrete mix.

The beard he wore during the photo shoot is gone, but vivid memories of that shoot remain.

The crew had rubbed him down with dirt and sawdust to make him look like he’d been working hard on a construction site.

“I told them I could have brought clothes from home and been just fine,” Linson said.

The beads of sweat weren’t artificial, so a director listened to Linson’s advice and made an adjustment.

“I was holding a 60-pound bag of concrete for about two and a half hours,” Linson said. “I said, ‘Can we take a little out of this?’ He said, ‘Good idea.”

Linson was paid for his time in North Carolina and during interviews to compensate him for his participation in the ad shoot.

He was told that ads also will be appearing on about 15-20 websites, including such sites as as bobvila.com, davesgarden.com and diynetwork.com

“The pop-up ads that used to drive me crazy, now I pay attention to them,” Linson said.

Linson said the experience was fun and he is grateful to the pros behind the counter at Oak Harbor Home Depot for recommending him for the ad.

He said he’s a regular customer there for building materials and gets sound advice from their pros when he needs help.

With his face appearing in ads, Linson is a bit of a celebrity at home with his wife, Bryanna, and their five daughters.

Linson just hopes any attention leads to more work. Word of mouth is what he’s counted on since he started his company in 2010 and positive referrals have kept him and his employees busy.

“I hope it builds up my business,” he said. “I’m not one to advertise.”