Eight questions to ask before you book a property photographer

1. How fast is the turnaround?

A listing date is a deadline. Ask how long stills take, how long film takes, and whether that changes in busy months. Ask what happens if the weather moves the shoot, and whether a reshoot of one room costs extra.

A clear answer here tells you a lot about how the rest of the job will run.

If a photographer can’t give you a straight answer before the booking, expect the same when the files are late.

2. Who actually shoots the property?

Some businesses send whoever is free that day. Ask who will be on site, and whether the person you spoke to is the person holding the camera. Ask who edits the files, too. The look of a set is decided as much in the edit as on the day.

For me the answer is simple. Book me and you get me. No juniors, no subcontractors.

It also means the person you brief is the person who stands in the room. Nothing gets lost between the booking and the shoot.

3. Will the verticals be straight?

Look at the walls and door frames in their portfolio. If they lean in or out, the rooms will look smaller and the listing will look rushed. Straight verticals are basic, and plenty of work still misses them.

Look closely at the tall rooms and the stairwells in particular. That is where leaning lines are hardest to avoid, and where you will see whether the photographer takes the time.

4. Can I see out of the windows?

In a lot of property photographs the windows are white rectangles. Ask to see rooms where the view outside is visible and the inside is still bright. That balance takes time on the day, and it shows.

It matters most when the view is part of the price. A sea view, a garden or a skyline that disappears into a white glare is value left out of the listing.

5. Who owns the images, and who can use them?

Ask what you’re allowed to do with the photographs: the listing, the portals, print, social, and whether the vendor, the developer or a supplier can use them too. Get the answer in writing before the shoot.

This matters most for agents and developers. A vendor who sells privately later, or a builder who wants the photographs for the next scheme, will ask whether they can use them. Know the answer before they do.

6. Can you do film and drone on the same visit?

Booking separate people for stills, film and drone means three visits, three sets of weather and three different looks. Ask whether one person can do all three on the same day and grade them together.

It also means one set of instructions, one person to brief and one invoice. For an agent juggling several listings, that alone saves a morning.

One visit. Stills, film and drone. One grade, one house.

7. When will you shoot?

A good photographer will ask which way the property faces before they give you a time. Ask how they decide when to arrive, and whether they’ll come back for the exterior if the light is wrong.

If the answer is a fixed slot that suits their diary rather than your house, the photographs will show it.

Light sells. I’ve spent fifteen years learning where to find it.

8. Can I see a full set?

A portfolio shows the best ten frames from a hundred shoots. Ask to see one complete set from one property, every image as delivered. That tells you what you’ll actually get.

Check that the set holds together. The bedrooms should look like they belong to the same house as the kitchen, in colour, in brightness and in style.

You can see five full sets on my selected work, and more on the property photographer page.

Comparing the answers

Put the answers side by side rather than the prices alone. A cheaper shoot that needs a reshoot, misses the listing date or leaves you with leaning walls costs more in the end.

Then look at the photographs again with these eight questions in mind. Most of the answers are already visible in the work: the walls, the windows, the light and whether a whole set hangs together.