- Drone photography is causing a major shift in photography, particularly for the real estate industry.
Until now, when a real estate agency wanted to show the breadth and scale of a magnificent estate, it would require hiring a helicopter for the photographer to take pictures high above the leafy streets and lawns. Now all that”™s changed, courtesy of drones.
Among all the possible uses for drones, real estate photography is a natural. It is swiftly moving from being a novelty in the home-selling process to being an indispensable tool for real estate agencies that recognize its potential.
“For us, drone photography has become an invaluable tool for showing off an expansive home”™s scope and proportions, as well as its larger setting,”™ said Joe Houlihan, managing partner of Houlihan & O”™Malley Real Estate Services in Bronxville. It also has the potential to show how close the homes are to the local shops, train station, and schools, a major selling point in desirable communities such as Bronxville.
Drones are not only cheaper to fly than helicopters, they”™re also more flexible. They can fly at heights as low as 80 feet and as high as 200-300 feet.
There”™s also the issue of minimizing the disruption and noise. A helicopter shot might be simple high over sprawling estates in Bedford, Greenwich, or the Hamptons. But in the closely developed communities of mid- and lower-Westchester, it pays to be able to get close in without the deafening sound of a copter blade.
In preparation for marketing a home for sale on Pine Terrace in Bronxville, Houlihan & O”™Malley hired photographer Frank Ambrosino because of his skill in taking pictures with a drone. Ambrosino”™s aerial shots capture the expanse of the 3,650-square- foot house and highlight its spacious backyard.
While they are becoming more and more popular and the technology is highly advanced, drones can still be fairly complicated to fly. They require good hand-eye coordination, said Ambrosino, who over the last year has photographed some 50 homes with his drone.
Soon the devices will be able to do even more. The drone company DJI, which made Ambrosino”™s device, is developing ones with sensors that detect objects and walls so that the drone can avoid them, cruising smoothly and harmlessly through a home”™s rooms and hallways as it takes interior photos and video.
Drone photography is the future of real estate photography.