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Brian Olson

Aerial Image Capture for Real Estate

Updated: Nov 3

In this post, we're moving into the image capture part of the job. There are some key fundamentals to understand before taking off and taking the shot.


What will move a buyer off the couch to book a home tour?

Why is a given property or neighborhood desirable?


To answer those questions and aid the realtor, I'm not just taking images of the home. Ideally, I'm telling a story for the purpose of:

  • Selling the benefits of the neighborhood

  • Giving perspective of the home in the neighborhood

  • Showcasing the property from an aerial perspective

  • Providing clear property boundaries

To tell that story, here's the types of images I take (or at least offer):

  1. 360 or Panoramic Annotated Images

  2. Point of Interest Images

  3. Property Boundary / Top-down images

  4. "Showcase" Still Images with any eye for good image composition


 

360 and Annotated Images

The image above is a composite of 18 RAW images captured by the drone and stitched together into a single 360 image. 360 images are pretty cool and let users navigate in any direction. Hosting services like momento360 let you annotate the points of interest. The 360 images can be linked in the MLS without branding as well. A non-hosted Pano image also offers immense perspective to buyers if it's been annotated in Photoshop like the image below. One key point for the pilot is to always include the horizon and know what points of interest will be annotated in post-processing.



 

Points of Interest

Selling a home includes selling the neighborhood. So I try to include in the shot list any relevant signage of an upscale neighborhood, or nearby park like Lake Nokomis below. The beach in the image below is across the road from the home for sale, but a prospective buyer wouldn't know without this image being captured.




In this next image below, what's the point of interest? It's not the house, it's the deck! The angle perspective shows entry from the yard, size, and how it has morning sun and mid-day shade.



 

Top-down

With every home I capture I take a top-down shot. The goal is, in one image, show the boundaries so the buyer knows what they are buying. In the case of land, or unclear land boundaries, Photoshop lines are easily applied.



 

Showcase Still Images

The showcase images are a set of images, that include:

  • Every side of the property

  • A variety of angles

  • Often 2 sides showing at once

  • Most often taken near roof line height


Front

Front, side, and backyard

Back of house



 

Summary

A good set of aerial images should tell a story. It should answer the "what" and the "why: about a property to get prospective buyers engaged. The images should sell the neighborhood and it's benefits like proximity to places of convenience. Capturing good images is just the beginning. The magic takes place when the third "C" for Correction is done. I'll hit that in the next posting.


Happy flying!

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