Top 9 Tips for Taking Excellent Real Estate Drone Photos

High-resolution cameras, smart features, and aerial views, of course, make drone photography the hottest marketing tool in real estate. The reason why properties with aerial imagery are 68% more likely to sell than those without it, according to MLS statistics, is that drones provide a unique perspective to listings and click photos and videos from angles that weren’t possible a few years back.

In this article, Kolorheaven covered the best drones in the market for Real Estate Drone Photos. Read on to learn some handy tips to master drone photography for real estate.

Significant Affections of Real Estate Drone Photos

There is no doubt that drone aerial photography/videography brings more benefits to real estate agents. Drone usage is also increased a lot because people prefer to see the unique angles of detailed photos taken from a drone’s point of view.

Here’s a secret: Good real estate drone photography is as much about what you do before and after the shoot as it is during. Here are some tips to help you succeed at every stage.

9 Tips for Real Estate Drone Photos

Tip 1: Stage the House Beforehand

You probably take steps to spruce up the outside of a property before you take photos with a handheld camera – you need to do all that and more when preparing for a drone shoot.

It’s not just about cleaning up the yard, staging any lawn furniture, and making sure the lawn manicure and landscaping are on point. You also need to think three-dimensionally – make that roof spick-and-span, and garage all the vehicles.

Think about aesthetics from both a human and a bird’s eye view.

Tip 2: Plan for Traffic

One of the charms of drone photography is its ability to capture the bigger picture. Just as you tried to reduce the property’s clutter, you will want to consider the traffic patterns around the property.

Think about the kinds of activity that are likely to affect your shots – vehicular traffic, pedestrian traffic, people waiting at bus stops, and even boating, if you’ll be near the water.

Try to determine the times of day or week when there won’t be too many distractions from what you’re trying to feature.

Tip 3: Plan for Weather & Light

You also need to keep a “weather eye” on the forecast.

Obviously, precipitation and wind are bad from both a piloting and photography perspective. But the time of day and the degree of cloud cover will also make a huge difference in light.

You can correct problems with light and shadow to some degree in the post, but it’s easier to process photos when you don’t have to, and you can never eliminate these problems entirely.

Do a little reconnaissance to figure out how the property is oriented and when the important angles are lit the best. Midday is often best for minimizing shadows, but if it’s full sun, the light will be harsh. Shooting through a neutral density filter can help reduce glare.

Partly cloudy days can look great in the background, but an obvious cloud shadow over the property can ruin a shot, and if there’s no wind, you’re stuck. Mostly cloudy days can give you more even light and less harsh shadows, as long as you aren’t trying to get too much sky in the background.

Early morning or late afternoon, you’re likely to end up with a drone shadow from at least one angle.

Tip 4: Pick Settings for Success

First, use autofocus. For real estate drone photography, autofocus will almost always get it right, and that’s one less thing to worry about on-site.

Second, you always, always want to shoot photos in the RAW file format. When you shoot in RAW, sensor data gets preserved in the file that just isn’t saved in other formats like jpeg. This gives you a lot more room to correct and enhance things in post, particularly in regard to light, shadow, and color.

Finally, set your camera to an aspect ratio of 3:2 or 4:3 if possible. This will get you photos at the maximum resolution. Greater resolution means photos can be viewed at larger dimensions while maintaining quality and gives you greater freedom for cropping the shot if needed.

Tip 5: Pack Your Supplies

• Before heading to the job site, make sure you have everything you’ll need.
• Bring extra drone and remote batteries, and make sure they’re fully charged.
• RAW files are huge, so err on the side of bringing too many SD cards until you get a sense of what you need.
• Pack neutral density filters, just in case.
• Bring lens wipes and anything else you might need to clean or fix your equipment.

Tip 6: Know the Property & Pick a Focus

For every property, there will be one or two areas worth spotlighting in a drone shot – a pool, patio, balcony, or gazebo. Consider the angles and the architecture and make a plan for drawing the viewer’s eye to that area.

Tip 7: Shoot for Variety

With experience, you’ll probably build up a portfolio of “sure winner” angles and approaches, but as you start out, make sure you try a variety of angles and heights.

Shooting too high for too many shots is often a rookie mistake – just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Real estate drone photographers often get some of their best shots at an elevation of around 20 feet. It’s high enough to be novel and offer a different perspective, but low enough for a good view of the architecture, landscaping, and other features.

You’ll also want to tailor your approach to the property. Top-down shots don’t do much for a small property buried deep in a maze of other houses. On the other hand, they’re critical on a large property or for a house that’s close to attractive amenities.

Tip 8: Take Multiple Shots

When you’ve found a good shot, take multiples. It’s hard to tell a photo’s quality on-site, where you have a small screen, a drone to fly, and other distractions.

There are plenty of problems that are unsightly in high resolution but invisible in the field. You might be slightly out of focus or have a motion blur from a gust of wind, or there might be a child running through the corner of a neighboring yard that is gone a second later.

If your drone has burst mode as a setting, turning it on can ensure that you always get at least two or three shots from every angle. But it’s easy enough just to make it a habit.

Tip 9: Enhance Photos in the Post

Photo processing is honestly what makes the difference between amateur and professional-looking shots.

The most popular applications for processing are Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Adobe offers a subscription with both bundled together, but if you’re only going to get one, go with Lightroom. It’s specifically designed for photo correction and enhancement, rather than photo manipulation, so it better suits your purpose for real estate drone photographs.

Lightroom has tons of helpful presets that will speed your learning curve, and changes are always “non-destructive,” meaning the original file is preserved.

Summary

Using Real Estate Drone Photos is the smart choice for agents. Find a professional photographer and send us your RAW files, Kolorheaven‘s well-experienced real estate photo editing experts will help you get the look-as-you-go-to-buy photos to send to your clients.

Contact Kolorheaven immediately via the Hotline at +84.899.779.111 or email: kolorheaven@cskolorheaven.com if you want to use our services.