Dreaming with aerial imagery and lighting

The unique visual advantages of aerial drones have had a major impact on the way that luxury homes are presented on the MLS and realtor websites. The buyers of multi-million dollar properties often begin their search online and expect the photography and video on each listing to be of high quality. Drone video has rapidly become the preferred media option for viewing waterfront properties, garden landscaping and swimming pools, as well as offering a birds-eye-view of the surrounding community and wildlife habitats. With the advent of this new technique, the buyer’s expectation that Aerial Imagery will be incorporated into online presentations is rapidly rising as well.

For realtors, drone photography makes it is easier to create an ambient view where the buyer feels a heightened connectivity to the home and exits the viewing experience feeling that every important aspect of that particular property was revealed. Those of us that create marketing tools know that in the right hands, drone photography can capture the feel and elegance of the estate more effectively than still photography.

In the luxury property market, drones and videos have already upped-the-game, presenting a paradigm shift for realtors just as the advent of high-resolution photography did not that long ago. Using a mix of technology, aerial video images of the home can be transitioned at the home’s front door with a hand-held gimbal camera, leading the viewer into the foyer and then through the house itself. This exhilarating journey can leave the customer feeling like they had circled the property by helicopter, landed on the expansive front lawn and were now being greeted at the front door for a VIP tour of the home!

New home community video utilizing still imagery and lighting to set the stage.

The 4 minutes aerial video (above), taken at a luxury property in Cape Neddick, Maine, uses still photography as well as aerial footage. Many of us in the industry have taken note that the buyers of larger estates will gladly take the time to view a longer video in order to evaluate the property to determine if it warrants an in-person inspection.

On the West Coast in the ultra-luxe Silicon Valley market, realtors are now utilizing this new medium in almost every listing of luxury properties. These West Coast videos are lengthier and are created by “cinematographers” who use Hollywood-style imagery, lighting and sound techniques  to set an elegant and dramatic tone. Vizuluxe was one of the first design studios in the Northeast to appreciate the value of utilizing these same techniques, and every video that we produce today incorporates them!