How Aerial Photography Can Help To Sell Your House

An aerial photographer is someone who takes photographs of a subject on the ground from an elevated position. The term ‘aerial photographer’ often conjures up images of someone taking photographs mid-air from an aeroplane.

While many aerial photographers do still fly or charter aircraft to carry out their work, advances in technology mean there is often no need to leave the ground. Now you can hire camera-mounted, remote-controlled UAV’s (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), commonly referred to as ‘Drones’ to take low-level, aerial photographs of your property.

This really depends on what you want to photograph, and for what purpose. Aerial photography from an aeroplane obviously needs to be taken from a great height – usually about 1,500 ft. As the pilot flies over the property, the photographer will take a number of shots of the property from different angles. While many photographers now work with long, telescopic zooms, the distance from the subject will result in a less-detailed image. This kind of photography is fine for a general overview of large properties in remote areas, but isn’t recommended for anything smaller.

A aerial photographers like Skyshutter Ltd use remote-controlled ‘Drones’. These are linked to a monitor on the ground, where the photographer can control the movement and angle of the device, fly in for close-ups and choose the shots required. Although they can be flown to many thousands of feet, they usually operate up to 400 feet. With skilled pilots they require minimal space and are best used for capturing detailed shots of properties.

Most aerial photographers, whether they are land or air based, work exclusively in digital format, but a few still work with film too. Digital photography is the best option for most purposes. The quality is almost the same as film, it’s cheaper and it’s convenient for e-mailing or uploading images to the web.

The best way to find a reliable, competent aerial photographer is through word of mouth. If you don’t know anyone who has used an aerial photographer before, ask your local estate agent if they can recommend a photographer they have used for marketing property.

Otherwise, you can do an internet search and browse aerial-photography websites. 

Try to find someone local. This will help to keep costs down, as aerial photographers almost always make an extra charge for mileage. This is particularly relevant to aircraft-based photography, where airtime makes up the bulk of the cost.

Go for a specialist. Many photographers will advertise themselves as an ‘aerial photographer’ when in reality they do very little aerial work. These photographers might lack the necessary skills and experience to carry out quality, aerial photography, which requires a different perspective to other types of photography. Visit photographers’ websites. If you find there are more wedding snaps than aerial photographs, steer clear.

Once you have a list of candidates, have a look at their images online. Discuss your requirements and ask how they will achieve the photos you want.

A good photographer will be able to determine a property’s most attractive features and selling points and use them to maximum advantage. As most house sale ads use only one image, you want that one image to show your property at its best.

Costs can vary wildly, depending on factors such as equipment used, location and overheads. The same job can attract quotes that differ by several hundreds of pounds. A company that operates its own aircraft and is based in rural Leicestershire is going to have lower overheads than a London-based photographer who has to charter an aeroplane.

However, aerial photography needn’t cost a small fortune. If the job is small and you hire someone local, you could get a USB of high resolution images for £200. Prints are normally extra, but can cost as little as £5 each. Whether you want images taken from an aeroplane, or you prefer a ground-based service, it pays to shop around.

Questions to ask a photographer

The more experienced they are the better.

Often this will depend on the extent and nature of the job, but photographers will provide anywhere between eight and 30 shots on CD for most properties.

The higher the resolution, the better the image. An image with seven million pixels per square inch taken at a low level should be of good quality. Twelve million would be ideal for aircraft-based photography. For film photography, choose a photographer who works in medium format or better.

A good photographer will offer you a fixed quote based on your specific requirements before they carry out the work. The total should include all agreed extras and VAT. Clarify with the photographer that this total will not change after the work has been carried out.

Some photographers ask new clients to pay in advance. If the client doesn’t pay in advance, and decides after the work has been carried out that they don’t want the photographs, the photographer will make a loss as there would be almost no chance of selling the images to someone else.

Depending on the height and location, certain flights will need to be authorised by the CAA, which can take up to a month. Skyshutter will always obtain permissions where necessary and inform the Police when operating near sensitive sites.

Some ground-based photographers can write a CD of the images as soon as they are taken on site. Others will need to return to the office before they can e-mail you the images. In most cases you should receive digital images on CD or USB within 48 hours.

Some photographers will hand over copyright to the client. Others will retain copyright, but license the client to use the images for all purposes except resale. Make sure you are legally entitled to use the images for the purposes you need them for.

If you aren’t satisfied with the images, discuss your concerns with the photographer. A good photographer should be willing to hear you out and try to accommodate your requests, as long as they are reasonable. 

If you had specifically asked for a shot of the beautiful water feature in your rear garden, but the photographer failed to take any, you can reasonably expect them to retake the shots at no extra charge. If it was especially cloudy on the day of the shoot, and this had a significant impact on the images, again, the photographer should agree to retake the shots at their own expense. 

However, an aircraft-based photographer is unlikely to make the expense of a return journey just because there was a car parked in front of the house when the photographs were taken. This would have been beyond their control.

If you genuinely feel the quality of the photographs aren’t up to standard and the photographer refuses to cooperate, you could contact your local, trading standards office and ask them to investigate.