Table of Contents
- Why Use a Professional Real Estate Photographer?
- How to Choose a Real Estate Photographer?
- Questions to Ask a Photographer
- Real Estate Photography Pricing in 2025
- Average Real Estate Photography Pricing Per City
- Drone Photography Price Per State
- Don’t Forget to Ask Your Photographer About Editing!
Are you looking into real estate photography pricing to get an idea of how much it would cost to hire a professional photographer?
Professional real estate photography makes a listing more attractive to potential buyers and can help it stand out from the competition. It can even help with asking prices.
In this post, we’ll list the average real estate photography pricing in 2025 per type of shot, city, and state. We’ll also discuss why you will benefit from hiring a professional photographer, and how to choose the best person for the job.
Why Use a Professional Real Estate Photographer?
The power of striking visuals in real estate is undeniable, and the numbers speak for themselves—72.2% of Realtors agree that exceptional photography is crucial for securing more listings.
But the advantages don’t stop there. Properties highlighted with high-quality photos can achieve an impressive 47% higher asking price per square foot.
Given the fact that quality photos sell more listings at higher rates, using a professional real estate photographer ensures that the photos used to help market your listing are of the highest quality.
Professional real estate photographers know how to use the best equipment and techniques to capture the most attractive and accurate images of a home.
Real estate photographs taken by an expert also capture the best angles of a home, highlighting its most attractive features, which can help to create a more appealing listing.
Additionally, having quality images can make a listing stand out from the competition and help attract more buyers, which is crucial to selling your property fast and for top dollar.
Besides, photographers often have access to software and technology that can further improve the quality of the images.
Overall, these experts can help you capture the most attractive photos to help you get the most out of your listing and hopefully sell it for a higher price.
How to Choose the Right Real Estate Photographer?
When choosing a real estate photographer, there are a few key factors to consider to make sure you’re working with an industry expert.
First, you’ll want to look at their portfolio of previous work. Look at the quality of the images they have created and see if they have experience photographing homes similar to yours.
It’s also important to consider their availability and if working with them will fit into your budget.
Also, if you’re interested in aerial photography, you need to ask if they offer drone photography. Not all photographers do since it not only requires expensive equipment but also a drone license and registration.
Aerial or drone photography can provide a birds-eye view of the property and neighborhood and take shots at unique angles, making it easier for homebuyers to get a deeper understanding of the home.
Finally, make sure that their terms and conditions are clearly laid out and that you are comfortable with them.
It’s essential to trust the person you hire, so make sure that you have a good rapport with the photographer before hiring them.
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Outsource Photo Editing?
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Questions to Ask a Real Estate Photographer
To make the hiring process a bit easier, here are some questions to consider when choosing a real estate photographer:
- What are their training and experience?
- What type of properties do they normally photograph?
- Looking at their portfolio, will their photos be appealing to your audience?
- Do they seem willing to listen to your preferences?
- Do they seem available and responsive?
- Will they edit photos to your satisfaction in post-processing? What are their retouching skills like?
- How much time do they need to prepare and shoot your property?
- Can they deliver your photos on time?
- Can they price-match with their competition?
- Do they offer drone photography (if you’re interested in that)?
- What equipment do they use?
If you ask these questions and get satisfying answers, you’re most likely on your way to hiring a professional photographer who will help you create captivating real estate photos.
Now that you know why you should hire an expert and what to think about in the vetting process, let’s take a look at real estate photography pricing in 2025.
Average Real Estate Photography Pricing in 2025
The cost of a real estate photographer can vary greatly. Generally, the cost will depend on the size of the property, the level of experience of the photographer, and the number and quality of the images required.
Some photographers may charge a flat fee for their services, while others will charge by the hour, day, or the size of the property.
It may be helpful to get quotes from several photographers before making a decision and ask for a fixed price for deliverables, rather than being billed by the hour.
Different Kinds of Real Estate Photography and Their Average Price
Let’s take a look at the average cost for different kinds of real estate photography in 2025. This is a ballpark of what you can expect:
- Basic Property Photography: Typically, real estate photographers can charge anywhere from $200 to $400 per hour to shoot a regular property
- Aerial Photography: A single aerial shot typically costs between $150 and $500 depending on the length of the photo session. And a lengthy aerial photography shoot with high-resolution drone photography can cost up to $5000
- Per-Day Pricing Model: Some real estate photographers charge per day, with a whole day costing anywhere between $1,500 and $15,000. However, in most cases, photographers will charge for a final number of photos
- Commission-Based Model: Other photographers work on commission without any upfront charges. Instead, they are being paid when the property sells. If this sounds good to you, it may be worth checking whether this option is available
- Twilight Photography: Additionally, the type of shoot you choose will affect the final price. Daytime photographs cost less than dusk or twilight images. For example, a basic daytime shoot might cost $200 to $400 for a set of stills, compared to $200 to $750 for a twilight photo
When you see a twilight sunset, you’ll understand why that is a more expensive option. It adds a romantic and mystical feel to the property, which can attract more buyer interest.
That said, let’s move on to the average real estate photography pricing per city.
Average Real Estate Photography Price Per City
In addition, here is an overview of the average real estate photography price for some major cities in the US based on a standard photoshoot that includes 10-25 MLS-ready photos for a 1,500-3,000 square foot home:
Source: RubyHome
| City | Average Price |
| Los Angeles | $318 |
| New York | $285 |
| Seattle | $285 |
| Miami | $256 |
| Philadelphia | $240 |
| Denver | $229 |
| Atlanta | $222 |
| Chicago | $220 |
| Dallas | $212 |
| Phoenix | $208 |
| National Average | $230 |
This gives you a ballpark of what to expect from each city. As you can see, real estate photography prices correlate with home prices in each city. They are highest where real estate is most expensive.
Drone/Aerial Photography Pricing Per State
Studies show that homes with drone photos or aerial photos sell 68% faster. There’s no denying the impact of providing a birds-eye view of the property and neighborhood in the selling process.
This being the case, many real estate photographers offer drone photography as an add-on service.
Similar to traditional photography, prices are based on several factors, including the photographer’s level of experience, the size of the property, the number of images or videos delivered, and other considerations.
Here’s the average cost for aerial photography in 10 different states:
Source: RubyHome
| State | Average Price |
| Arizona | $100-$200 |
| California | $100-$250 |
| Colorado | $80-$180 |
| Florida | $50-$200 |
| Kentucky | $50-$120 |
| Massachusetts | $50-$150 |
| New York | $100-$200 |
| Texas | $50-$180 |
| Virginia | $55-$150 |
| Washington | $100-$200 |
As with the average photography cost per city, drone photography pricing also seems to correlate with home prices and the cost of living in each state.
We hope this gave you some insights into the average real estate photography pricing and what to expect for the new year.
Have You Ever Thought To
Outsource Photo Editing?
Try it today with 10 free edits from three professional photo editors.
Don’t Forget to Ask Your Photographer About Editing!
Post-processing or editing of images is an important part of the process for a real estate photographer. By taking the time to edit the photos, they can ensure that the images are of the highest quality and represent the home accurately.
Photo editing can include adjusting the color balance and sharpness of the image, cropping the image, or removing unwanted elements in the background.
Many photographers choose to outsource their editing to a professional real estate photo editing service like PhotoUp.
That way, they can ensure the highest quality of their images and, at the same time, save valuable time they can spend on shooting more properties and growing their business.
A professional photo editing service can also offer additional real estate marketing services to make your listing images stand out even more.
Here are examples of what PhotoUp can offer:
- Virtual staging
- Virtual house tours
- Floor plans
- Single property websites
- Custom house portraits
- Property flyers
- And much more!
How to Get Started With PhotoUp
Getting started using PhotoUp’s real estate photo editing service is super easy. This is how to do it:
Step 1. Sign up for a free PhotoUp account.
Step 2. Upload your photos to our easy-to-use software.
Step 3. Choose the level of editing that you need and provide instructions (optional).
Step 4. Wait for PhotoUp professional editors to edit and return the photos in less than 24 hours (48 hours for virtual staging).
Step 5. Download and start using your beautifully edited photos.
PhotoUp Real Estate Photo Editing Uploader Demo
Have a look at the real estate photo editing uploader demo to see how easy it is to get started with PhotoUp:
It’s as simple as 1-2-3!
To recap this article, we want to say that no matter how you decide to market your listing images, it’s crucial to use a professional photographer who knows how to shoot amazing real estate photography.
This will make your listing stand out from the competition, which will be well worth the extra investment!
If you’re a real estate photographer, agent, or seller and want a one-stop shop for your real estate marketing needs, you should sign up for a free PhotoUp account and test our services.
You’ll have everything you need to enhance and market real estate photography in one user-friendly platform.
Plus, for a limited time, we even offer 10 free credits you can use on any of our services when you sign up for an account!
We hope this blog post gave you an idea of real estate photography pricing in 2025. Before you go, you may also want to check out the following related resources:
- 5+ Best Photo Editing Programs for Real Estate Photographers
- Best Real Estate Photo Editing Software in 2025
- Create a Professional Real Estate Photographer Website in Minutes
- Why Should Photographers Outsource Real Estate Photo Editing?
- Real Estate Photo Editing Philippines (Best & Most Affordable Service)
