We hear this quite a lot from realtors: “I have this amazing property, but it has no angle for a good primary exterior shot, and the listing isn’t getting much response.”

Well, yes. We do live in Portland. Trees and shrubberies (and sometimes unfortunately placed fences) happen. Sometimes they happen right in front of the picture window, the front door, or the entire front of the house. Sometimes a home is so obscured from the road that the only way to really see it is to shoot from the air. Happily, this is usually a fixable problem with a couple of aerial shots taken by drone.

Here’s a ground-level shot that we took of a home on Kari Ln. Doesn’t look too exciting from this angle, right?Here’s the same house from the air: Oh, wow! That’s actually a charming house all nestled in the trees. The deck looks perfect for lazy Saturday morning breakfasts in the summertime, and I bet that turret gets tons of sunlight. You couldn’t even tell from the ground-level shot that the deck existed, and the turret was just barely visible. Instead of seeing mainly the tree, now the enchanting architecture of the home is the focal point. Plus, if your house is feeling especially fancy and needs some glamour shots, we can do this…

5716 SE Clinton st.

This one has a lot going on in the front yard, and the layout makes getting a clear front exterior shot a challenge. Here are a few shots from ground level. As you can see, it’s difficult to really see the whole front yard and the house (usually we try to make sure cars are not in the shot if possible; that’s probably a neighbor’s. Even without it, though, the street view of the front of the house would be mostly obscured by trees and bushes):While those are all beautiful shots, they don’t give the clear view of the yard layout of how it all fits together that the aerial below provides:

And here is an aerial used for a slightly different purpose, which is to show proximity to Clinton City Park and Franklin High School:

Sometimes homes and their properties are so big that the very best way to show them off is from the air. This 5 acre place we shot in Washougal is a good example. Here’s the already-impressive ground-level view:

But here is the absolutely breathtaking view of the entire estate and the beautiful area surrounding it. Worth the aerial, right? Which do you think is going to produce the bigger “WOW!” from your clients?

So, those are the major reasons we shoot aerials:

• The front exterior is obscured by trees, shrubs, layout, or something else.
• The listing is near something, and an aerial shot will show the proximity.
• The property is large and beautiful, and can be best shown off from the air.

How about you? Are you listing a property with something inconveniently lodged in front of the house? Do you have a property whose location acreage, or impressiveness you want to show off? Aerial photography can be a powerful addition to your photography package. Give me a call or drop me a line. We can help.

Updated: 2/9/18