A new phenomenon has developed over the past 12 months in property photography and marketing. Now, as well as being able to flip through glossy brochures or browse an online image gallery, interested parties can swoop through the skies on a bird’s-eye video tour of their dream home, thanks to developments in drone technology.
One estate agent quick to jump on this new resource was Carter Jonas. Jasper Feilding, partner, explains: “We did two or three earlier in the year for large ‘institutional’ properties – one was a centre of learning on the edge of Oxford and the other was a Ministry of Defence premises. Both are difficult to capture using photographs and text, so we thought that by commissioning a drone video people could get a much clearer picture of what the property entailed. Not only do you get a clear idea of the property but the setting and surroundings too.”
Carter Jonas is now making use of drone technology for residential properties, especially larger homes and estates. An example of which is Little Easton Manor (pictured) in Essex, which is being marketed by Carter Jonas Cambridge.
“Again, it would have been more difficult to show all the different components of that property without using the drone,” confirms Jasper. “And it has resulted in considerably more traffic to our websites, because people are curious and want to have a look.”
It works by affixing a camera to a battery-powered, carbon fibre ‘drone’ or ‘hexacopter’ – like a mini, unmanned helicopter with six rotary blades, which can be controlled from the ground. Drones are increasingly used to supply still imagery for property brochures.
“We use several different people: one is a traditional photographer who has adopted this technique having seen the way things are going, and another is a helicopter pilot,” says Jasper. “The video can be shot and put together with music in a matter of days.” Jasper adds: “Many marketing tools we once thought were innovative are now run-of-the-mill: it was only about ten years ago, for example, that we started featuring floor plans in our brochures. But I think we have been at the cutting edge of this and it has been noticed.”
