Advertising Commercial Real Estate – Taking Photographs of Properties

When you list a property for sale or lease in commercial real estate, you will soon be considering the design of the advertising campaign.

As to how large the campaign is and what type will really depend on the property and the owner of the property; it will also depend on if you have any vendor paid marketing funds.  The normal process of taking property photos will happen in just about every marketing campaign for every listing.

So here are some tips for taking digital photographs of properties so that you can advertise them for sale or for lease.

1. Use a camera with at least 10 megapixel capabilities so you can get clarity into the image.  You never really know how you will be using the images in the campaign, so take quality photographs at the outset.
2. The best time to take photographs of the front of the building will be in the early morning or the late afternoon when the light is low in the sky and direct onto the building frontage.  Given the property location you will need to decide what works for you.
3. The use of an SLR type digital camera is best because you can actually see what is in the shot and how it will come out.
4. Remove unnecessary empty space from the front of the photo by moving in on the object building.  Fill the frame with the building frontage.
5. Take the photo on an angle to give the property some interesting appearance.
6. Make sure that any distracting issues such as rubbish are not in the photo frame.  Clean up the foreground of the property image before you take the photo.
7. Use a tripod when the camera needs to take slow exposures, so that you remove any camera shake in the image.
8. If the property has a showroom display at the front of the building or the property is attractive from the outside with plenty of glass, try taking a shot of the property at dusk with the internal lights on.
9. Take plenty of photographs so that some can be cropped and reframed for use in the variety of marketing material
10. Take at least 25 images that can feature in a slide show on a laptop computer as part of a discussion with the client or with any property enquiry.
11. Give the image some depth of field by angling a structure in the foreground (e.g. a tree or similar structure)
12. Feature the property from the best angle.  Walk around the property to check the angles before you start the shoot.
13. Take plenty of internal shots to feature the improvements and finishes in the property.
14. Walk around the property and the building exterior.  Take shots of the building from different angles.
15. If the property has an anchor tenant or well known names in the tenant mix, and the property is being sold as an investment, then feature some of the tenants in the photographs.

So in taking photos for commercial, industrial, and retail buildings, it is important that you really study the property from many angles to get the best shots.

Well positioned photographs will help you create more enquiries from your marketing and eventually sell or lease the property.