Real Estate CameraHire a professional real estate photographer for luxury or large homes and any listing that needs drone shots, real twilight photos, video, floor plans or a 3D tour. For a condo, a starter home, a rental or a FSBO listing in a bright house, a recent phone plus an editing app is usually enough, as long as you shoot level and in good light. A pro runs a few hundred dollars per listing. Doing it yourself costs an hour or two.
Below are real published prices, what the extra money buys, and how to tell which kind of listing you have.
What a professional photographer costs
Prices swing hard by market and square footage, so here are two published sources rather than a made-up national figure.
Thumbtack's price guide, based on its own platform data and labeled 2025, puts the national average at $150 an hour, in a range of about $123 to $272. Its average for shooting one property is $286. It quotes one firm's tiers at $130 for 13 photos, $165 for 25 and $195 for 40.
Estate Photos L.A. publishes a full price list, headed "2024 Services and Fees." Los Angeles is an expensive market, so read it as the high end:
| Service (Estate Photos L.A.) | Published price |
|---|---|
| Photos, under 1,000 sq ft | $295 |
| Photos, 2,000 to 3,000 sq ft | $450 |
| Photos, 4,000 to 5,000 sq ft | $650 |
| Drone add-on, up to 10 images | $295 |
| Twilight add-on, up to 10 photos | $295 |
| 2 to 3 minute 4K video, under 2,000 sq ft | $550 |
| 2D floor plan, 2,000 to 2,999 sq ft | $250 |
| Matterport 3D scan, up to 2,000 sq ft | $300 |
A 2,500 square foot house with photos, drone and twilight comes to $1,040 on that list, before any video.
Zillow sells packages too. Zillow Media Experts Essentials includes about 30 HDR photos, an interactive floor plan and a virtual tour. Premium adds 5 to 10 drone photos, virtual twilight and a short social video. Zillow shows starting prices by market on its availability page, so check yours.
When a pro is worth the money
Luxury and large homes
On a big house the photos carry more of the price argument, and big rooms are harder. Mixed light across an open floor plan, double-height ceilings and long sightlines are where a photographer's flash, lens and editing earn their fee. If the commission is large, a few hundred dollars for photos is a small share of it.
Drone photos
Acreage. A view. A pool. A lot that backs onto something good. You need the air for those. The FAA says flying a drone for work or business falls under Part 107, which means a Remote Pilot Certificate. If you don't hold one, hire a pilot who does. Thumbtack lists drone examples from $200 for eight shots to $249 for unlimited aerials.
Real twilight
A true twilight shoot means coming back at dusk with every light on and working fast while the sky holds. Phones struggle with that light. Studios also sell "virtual twilight" (Zillow's Premium package includes it), a daytime photo edited to look like dusk. Estate Photos L.A. charges $25 a photo for that edit. It's a changed sky. That has disclosure consequences, covered below.
Video, floor plans and 3D tours
Separate skills, separate software. And buyers use them. In NAR's 2025 Generational Trends report, 57 percent of buyers who searched online rated floor plans "very useful" and 41 percent said the same about virtual tours. If your market expects them, hire it out.
When you can't be there in the right light
A photographer shows up at the time you book, with lights. If your only free hour is 7 p.m. in November, that alone can justify the fee.
When a phone and an app are fine
Most listings aren't mansions. A two-bedroom condo, a starter house, a rental between tenants, an owner selling without an agent: the buyer wants to see clean, bright, honest rooms. A current phone can deliver that.
Zillow has said both things over the years. Its seller photography guide lists "using a cell phone to take pictures" among common mistakes and puts professional photos at $150 to $200. Its agent guide, from the same year, lists a smartphone as a reasonable camera. Both date from 2019. Phones have improved since. The problems that give a phone shoot away haven't: tilted verticals, yellow rooms and blown windows are what you have to fix.
Phone photos work when you do the following:
- Shoot horizontal, at chest height, with the phone level.
- Use the 0.5x lens but keep furniture out of the frame edges.
- Turn on every light and open every blind.
- Shoot in daylight, with the sun behind you for the front of the house.
- Fix color and verticals afterward.
Our iPhone guide covers the settings, and the shot list tells you which rooms to take.
What a phone and an app won't do
Be clear-eyed about the gap. Real Estate Camera fixes light, white balance and verticals, removes furniture and stages empty rooms. It doesn't fly, shoot video or draw floor plans. It doesn't replace skies or fake a twilight either, by design, so you won't get the blue-sky cover shot a studio package includes.
That last one cuts both ways. Zillow's Essentials package says "blue sky enhancements are included." Under California's AB 723, a changed sky is an added or changed element, and the Bay East MLS rule lists sky replacement as digitally altered. If your photographer swaps the sky, you may owe a label and a link to the original. Our AB 723 guide and disclosure wording guide cover what to write.
What DIY costs
A phone you already own, an hour or two at the house, and editing. In Real Estate Camera, Enhance is 1 credit per photo, and each edit takes 20 to 60 seconds. A 25-photo listing uses 25 credits, which fits in the 60-credit pack for $24.99 with credits left for the next one. Credits never expire, and the first one is free. Declutter and virtual staging are 2 credits each if a room needs them.
The real cost is your time and your eye. Hate shooting? Photos keep coming out crooked? The fee buys you out of it.
A quick way to decide
| Your listing | My pick |
|---|---|
| Luxury or top of the neighborhood | Professional, with drone and twilight if the house suits them |
| Acreage, water, a view | At least a drone pilot |
| Your market expects video or 3D tours | Professional |
| Condo, starter home, townhouse | Phone and app, shot carefully |
| Rental between tenants | Phone and app |
| FSBO on a budget | Phone and app |
| Vacant house, tight deadline | Phone, then virtual staging with a label |
You can also split it. Hire a drone pilot for the exterior and shoot the interiors yourself. Or book a pro for the listing and use your phone for the rental next door.
Whichever way you go, the same mistakes sink a gallery. Our list of listing photo mistakes is worth a look before the shoot, and the FSBO guide and the rental guide walk through a DIY shoot start to finish.
Questions
How much does a real estate photographer cost?
Thumbtack's price guide puts the national average at $150 an hour, with an average of $286 for one property. One Los Angeles studio's published list runs from $295 for a home under 1,000 square feet to $650 for 4,000 to 5,000 square feet, before drone, twilight or video add-ons.
When is a professional photographer worth it?
For luxury and large homes, and whenever you need drone photos, real twilight shots, video, floor plans or a 3D tour. Those need gear, licenses or software a phone doesn't replace. A pro also makes sense when you can't be at the house in good light.
Can I take listing photos with my phone?
For a condo, a starter home, a rental or a FSBO listing, yes, if you shoot level, in good light, with every light on, and edit for color and straight lines. Zillow's older seller guide lists using a cell phone as a mistake, while its agent guide lists a smartphone as a camera option.
Do I need a license to fly a drone for listing photos?
In the US, yes. The FAA says flying a drone for work or business falls under Part 107, which requires a Remote Pilot Certificate. No certificate? Hire a pilot who has one.