How to Choose a Real Estate Photographer: Questions to Ask

To choose a real estate photographer on Long Island, ask six things before you book: who owns the photos and what you may do with them, whether the drone pilot holds an FAA Part 107 certificate, whether the studio is insured for drone work, how fast files arrive, whether captions and images are fair housing safe, and how many photos you get. Written answers beat verbal ones. The sections below give the exact questions and the red flags.

This is a different angle from our general checklist for choosing a real estate photographer. Think of this as the interview script you can send or read over the phone. It is not legal advice. If a usage question matters for a specific listing or brokerage policy, ask your broker or an attorney.

Who owns the photos, and what can I do with them?

Ask this first. The U.S. Copyright Office puts it plainly: generally, the author and initial copyright owner of a photograph is the person who "shoots" or "takes" the photo. That means paying for a shoot does not automatically make the images yours. Ownership and usage rights come from the agreement.

The same page explains the main exception. A work made for hire occurs when there is an express agreement between a photographer and the commissioning party to create a work for a specific, statute-identified purpose. If photographs qualify as works made for hire, the commissioning party is considered the author and owns the copyright. Whether a given shoot qualifies is a contract question, so get the answer in writing.

Questions to ask:

• Who owns the finished images once I pay?
• Can I use them on the MLS, my website, social posts, print flyers, and a future listing of the same home?
• Can my broker, the seller, and a stager use them?
• Are there time limits, licensing fees, or watermarks on the files?

Red flags: usage that expires after a set period, a separate fee each time you want a new use, or an agreement that never mentions ownership. At Core Media Co., you own the finished work once it is paid for, with no usage restrictions, and a signed agreement comes before every job.

Is the drone pilot certified under Part 107?

If the package includes aerial shots, the pilot needs the right certificate. Under the FAA's small drone rule, no person may act as a remote pilot in command unless that person has a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating. Part 107 applies to the registration, airman certification, and operation of civil small unmanned aircraft systems within the United States.

Ask for the pilot's name and whether that person holds a current Part 107 remote pilot certificate. A professional will answer in one sentence. Hedging, "my cousin flies it," or "it is just a hobby drone" are red flags. At Core Media Co., every drone flight is flown by an FAA Part 107 certified remote pilot. For local flying considerations, see our page on real estate drone rules on Long Island.

Is the studio insured, including drone work?

Insurance protects you and the seller if something goes wrong inside a home or in the air. Ask whether the studio carries coverage, and specifically whether it extends to drone work. Ask whether they can send a certificate of insurance if your brokerage or a seller requests one. A photographer who cannot answer is asking you to carry the risk. Core Media Co. is fully insured, and the coverage includes drone work.

How fast will I get the files?

Speed matters most when a listing date is fixed. Ask for a written turnaround, counted from the shoot day, and ask what happens when it is missed. Be careful with vague answers like "a few days." Also ask whether the turnaround applies to the whole package or only to the first batch of photos. Core Media Co. delivers the Full Package within 48 hours.

Are captions and images fair housing safe?

Fair housing rules cover how a home is advertised, not only how it is sold. HUD's regulation makes it unlawful to make, print or publish any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling which indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on protected classes such as race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. The rule applies to written and oral statements, and it names photographs and illustrations among the things that can convey that a dwelling is available or not available to a particular group.

A photographer is not your compliance officer, but you should expect one who understands the issue. Ask:

• Do you write captions, or do you deliver clean files that I caption?
• How do you handle staged photos that show people, religious items, or personal photos on walls?
• Will you reshoot or remove an image if I flag a concern?

Red flags: a photographer who adds marketing copy to every image without asking, or who treats the question as unimportant. Your broker's compliance policy has the final word.

How many photos should I get?

Do not accept "as many as it takes" or an unnamed number. Ask for the count in writing, plus the rooms and exterior angles it covers. The only hard data we cite here is older: a 2015 study from Zillow Research looked at listings from the fourth quarter of 2014 that sold before March 31, 2015. It found that homes with more page views and more pictures sell more quickly.

Treat this as a reminder that more is not always better, not as a target. The point for your interview: ask how the photographer decides what to include, and avoid anyone who pads a gallery with near-duplicates.

What should the price include?

Compare packages by what is delivered, not by the headline number. Our listing media is priced per listing, the same in every town: Photos at $350, Photos + Floor Plan at $395, Photos + Air at $495, Full Package at $695, and Signature at $1,250. See pricing and what a listing shoot includes for the details. When you compare other studios, ask the same questions in the same order, then line up the answers side by side.

A quick scorecard helps. Give each studio a yes or no on ownership in writing, Part 107, insurance for drone work, written turnaround, a photo count, and a clean process for fair housing concerns. A studio with several "no" answers is telling you something, even if the price is low.

Next step

If you want to see how a studio answers these questions, ask us. Read about our real estate photography on Long Island, then contact Core Media Co. with the address and the date you need. We send an agreement before every job so ownership, scope, and delivery are on paper.