Drone aerial photograph of a stunning 6-bed property in Woldingham, Surrey, taken for luxury estate agents Mr and Mrs Clarke. Click to enlarge.
We recently started working with luxury estate agency Mr and Mrs Clarke and our first property to capture was a stunning 6-bed house in Woldingham, Surrey, with breath-taking views over the Surrey Hills — an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).
We were asked to provided a comprehensive set of drone aerial photographs, interior photographs, exterior ground-level photographs and external dusk photographs, along with an aerial promotional film for the property.
We started by taking the external photographs on a sunny day back in July — a rarity given the miserable cloudy summer we’ve had in the UK this year!
Using an advanced sun-angle planning smartphone app, we were able to determine the optimum time of day for visiting the property to catch it in its best light. For the introductory shot in the promotional film, we needed sunshine on the front face of the property which we could tell would occur in the late morning. This was also the best time of day to take view shots looking away from the house as later in the day the sun would be shining almost directly into the camera for these shots, reducing contrast in the images and also making the scenery less appealing (as you would be looking at the shadowy side of all the trees / landscape).
After taking these first set of images we went inside to start taking the internal photographs (as these were not sunshine-angle critical). We later came out to take the final external photographs once the sun had moved further around and was illuminating the rear of the property from an appealing angle.
Here are some of the drone aerial photographs and ground-level exterior photographs that we took of Hardown House:
A selection of the aerial and ground-level external photographs that we took of Hardown House, Woldingham, Surrey. Click to enlarge.
Shortly after taking these still photographs, we spent a good hour taking aerial footage with our drone around and over the property and its gardens. This footage was then cut together and set to suitable royalty-free backing music and you can watch the resulting video below:
Promotional aerial film of Hardown House in Woldingham, Surrey, taken using our state-of-the-art drone. Click the play button to watch the video, and be sure to click the square icon at the bottom right of the player to watch the video full-screen.
Having finished capturing the external imagery, we then set about taking the internal photographs. Mr and Mrs Clarke have a very specific style of photography that all their franchises have to embody. This style includes beautifully rooms (often with strategically-placed every-day items like cups of tea, clothes resting over furniture or bags of shopping seemingly left in shot — the idea being to make it feel like the owners have just walked out of shot), mostly square-on imagery, all indoor lighting off (unless absolutely necessary) and a muted / slightly desaturated colour palette.
Taking these styles on board was great fun, and we worked together with the agents to ensure every room looked exactly as they wanted it to. You can see a selection of the interior images that we took below:
A selection of the interior architectural photographs that we took of Hardown House, Woldingham, Surrey. Click to enlarge.
Once we had finished taking the interior photos, this completed the day-time part of the photo-shoot. We then left the property and came back at 8:45pm later the same day to get set up for taking the dusk shots! The sun was due to set at 8:59pm on the day of the shoot, so this gave us a bit of time to get the house prepared — this included opening all the curtains, turning on all the interior and exterior lights … and lighting a few candles on the terrace to create a romantic atmosphere!
The window of time for taking dusk photographs only lasts about 15 minutes and it generally starts about 5 minutes after the sun actually sets. As such, we basically kept doing laps of the outside of the property, taking and re-taking the same shots as the sky got darker. We were then able to pick the best photographs where the ratio of the inside lighting to the brightness of the outside of the property was most appealing — too early and you couldn’t really see that the interior lights were on, too late and you could hardly discern the shapes and features of the outside of the property!
We took a variety of shots from both a tripod and a 9-metre telescopic pole — the pole was necessary as the property sits on a steep slope, and to capture the property in its entirety (see the first photo below) we had to stand about 15 metres from the house and put the pole up a good 5 metres or so. A state-of-the-art camera that excels in low-light environments combined with a large-aperture lens ensured we were able to take crystal-clear images, even in very low light levels.
A selection of dusk architectural photographs that we took of Hardown House, Woldingham, Surrey. Click to enlarge.
And finally, here are two quick behind-the-scenes photos from the drone and dusk parts of this shoot!
Some behind-the-scenes photos from our photo-shoot at Hardown House, Woldingham, Surrey. Click to enlarge.
What Do Our Clients Say?
Our client was utterly delighted with the results we produced for them, and kindly sent us the following testimonial after we delivered the final images:
“We called David with a job that needed a 24 hour turn-around. Not only did he get on the task with enthusiasm and professionalism, the outcome exceeded our expectations. He took truly stunning pictures that will help our listing stand out from the crowd. We will absolutely be calling on his services again.”
“We commissioned Horizon Imaging to take an aerial photograph of our property development at Prinsted, Chichester Harbour. The brief was to capture the development in the context of the settlement of Prinsted nestling among the surrounding countryside and reaching out to the shore of Chichester Harbour beyond. David fully understood the brief and was both intelligent and resourceful in identifying the best site from which to fly the drone and then contacting neighbours for permission. The final images were superb and beyond expectation.”
So ask yourself…
- Are you launching a new property, function venue or office space and need it to be professionally captured for inclusion in your marketing material / website?
- Are you looking to refresh your marketing literature by getting a ‘fresh set of eyes’ behind the camera to capture your latest projects?
- Do you want to start working with a single company to provide all your architectural photography, videography and virtual tour requirements to simplify shoot bookings, reduce the number of site visits required and ensure consistency between imagery?
If so, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us on the contact details below.