How to take high-quality real estate photos with a drone?

In this material, you will learn some useful tips for real estate photography.

One of the most appealing capabilities of modern drones is that they have become an extremely effective tool for capturing remarkable aerial footage. The small unmanned machines, equipped with high-resolution cameras and a host of smart features, provide an opportunity to take commercial advertising photography to a new level.

The real estate market is just one of the areas that can develop thanks to drone technology. Aerial photography is useful to real estate investors and agents as well as clients.

Why is drone photography effective in real estate?

The aerial photos you can take with your drone will help you stand out from the rest and provide an exceptional service to your clients. Thanks to high-quality images, the buyer can get a much better idea of the property and its advantages. According to studies, drone photos increase the likelihood of a sale by almost 70%.

We will list a few valuable tips on how to take impressive real estate photos with a drone:

Lay the groundwork

Before you start using your drone commercially, you need to go through a few important steps to build your skills upon. Make sure you've completed the following before offering your real estate photography services:

• First and foremost, you need to get your UAV pilot certificate. People who intend to operate UAVs must register as a UAV operator, subject to certain conditions. Registration as a UAV operator for Bulgaria is available at https://drones.caa.bg. Upon completion of registration, you will be assigned a unique registration number. You must use this number to mark all the drone you will be operating.
  With this document, you are entitled to offer commercial services with your drone. You can read all the other legal conditions here: https://www.caa.bg/bg/category/633/informaciya.
• You should then make sure that your drone is suitable for the purpose. Fortunately, as time goes on, drones are becoming more affordable and have increasingly better photo, video, and flight control features. The bare minimum your device should have available is a camera that can take 12MP photos and 4K video and the ability to shoot in RAW format.
• Under European aviation law, professional drone operators are required to have insurance. It is possible that conditions could deteriorate, or for some reason, you could lose control of the device, and an accident could occur.
• You must be familiar with and comply with the relevant national safety and management regulations to not compromise aviation safety, endanger people or cause material damage.
• Be familiar with and strictly comply with applicable privacy and data protection legislation.

Preparing the property

Depending on what type of property you need to photograph, you need to make sure it is in its best shape. To ensure this, you may need to clear the area around the property and move vehicles that may be unwanted in the image. If the property has a garden, this should also be well arranged and kept tidy. Talk to the agent in charge of the sale and the owner about this.

If the building is located in a busy area, it is better to choose a time when there is less traffic. Depending on the aim of the photos, you may choose a time when people are moving around, representing how the property actually looks like in real life.

Use natural light

To take good photos, you need to know how to take advantage of natural light. Midday is a good time to shoot top-down and low-angle shots, as minimal shadows are present during this time. What might reduce the quality of images is strong light, so it's a good idea to have a neutral density (ND) filters on your drone. These filters limit the light that hits the camera lens and also avoid glare effects.

Sunsets and sunrises have a nice warm color and the light during this time of day is soft. This helps to make spectacular photos, but long shadows can be a problem. Always consider these factors and be careful, so that the camera does not capture the shadow of the drone itself, as well.

Highlight the property's strengths

Choose to focus on the more prominent and beautiful parts of the property. This could be the spacious and well-arranged garden, the swimming pool, or the luxurious roof terrace. However, it is good to show the other areas, too, as the client should have a real and full idea of the building.  

The important thing is to draw the customer's attention to the advantages of the property. You can achieve this by enhancing the light in prominent areas and choosing the right angle that highlights these benefits.

Be different, get creative, and add variety to your photos

Try out different shooting angles and find those shots that will present the subject in its best light to stand out with your work. Wide-angle, high-altitude shots show the whole subject and its layout, but it can be difficult to bring out the details. It's also a good idea to try shooting from a lower angle - in this way, you can achieve a different view and balance between range and detail.

Shoot in RAW format and then process the images

Any experienced photographer knows that more than 50% of the work they need to do is in processing the footage they capture. This is why it is advisable to shoot in RAW format. It allows you to save all the information captured by the camera's sensor and then process it as you wish without affecting the quality. Keep in mind that the files, in this case, will be larger, so it is better to have several microSD cards.

Keep an eye on trends and good examples

This does not mean not trying out new techniques and shooting angles. However, to build your style, you need to have a good foundation, and good examples play a big part in that. Take inspiration from the work of your favorite photographers and keep an eye on what's new, so you don't fall behind. 

To achieve impressive results, you need to put in the effort, practice a lot and never stop learning. Once you have enough material, prepare a portfolio to present to your future clients.

If you haven't got a drone with a camera yet, visit COPTER.BG website where you will find the best DJI drone models. Get in touch with our team, who are always ready to answer your queries.