Beginners Guide

5 Tips On How To Build A Commercial Real Estate Photography Portfolio​

5 Tips On How To Build A Commercial Real Estate Photography Portfolio

A great commercial real estate photography portfolio serves as your visual business card and showcases your expertise as a photographer. Crafting an impressive collection of images that can land you potential clients requires careful strategy, especially when you’re first starting out.

In this article, I’ll share five essential tips on how to build a commercial real estate photography portfolio that will help you land more clients and jobs.

Table of Contents

How Is A Commercial Portfolio Different From A Residential Portfolio?

A commercial real estate portfolio distinctly focuses on showcasing properties intended for business and investment purposes, like office buildings, retail spaces, hotels, and industrial facilities.

It emphasizes functionality, architectural design, and the potential for specific business practices, often featuring larger spaces with images that highlight the property’s role within the business landscape.

In contrast, a residential real estate portfolio is tailored for personal use, capturing homes, apartments, condos, or other living spaces. It aims to evoke an emotional connection by emphasizing comfort, lifestyle, and individuality, showcasing cozy interiors, room details, and creating an inviting atmosphere. 

The two portfolios differ in their intended audiences, visual storytelling techniques, and the aspects of properties they emphasize to highlight the specific needs and objectives of each real estate sector.

For more information, give our article Key Differences Between Commercial and Residential Photography a read.

5 Tips On How To Build A Commercial Real Estate Photography Portfolio

Exterior Photography

Exterior portfolio images are going to be the easiest to capture quickly. All you need to do is identify a few worthy commercial properties and capture some excellent images of them.

Try to photograph really nice looking hotels, office buildings, or museums and get a few high end images of each. This is a great way to get your commercial real estate portfolio started.

Collaborate with Local Businesses

Partner with local businesses, restaurants, or shops to offer free or discounted commercial photography services in exchange for permission to use the images in your portfolio. This allows you to showcase a variety of commercial spaces and demonstrate your ability to capture different types of properties.

Network with Industry Professionals

Attend networking events, conferences, and seminars related to commercial real estate. Build relationships with real estate agents, property managers, architects, and developers who can refer you to commercial clients in need of photography services.

Contact Event Venues

Reach out to event venues, conference centers, and hotels that host business events and conferences and ask if you can come in and photograph some areas of the property.

Although the event spaces may not be set up properly for portfolio level images, you can always photograph areas like lobbies, entrances, or any other common spaces around the venue.

Architects and Interior Designers

Collaborate with architects and interior designers who work on commercial projects. They may require high quality images to showcase their designs and spaces for their own portfolios or marketing materials.

It’s a good sign if you can see that the architect or designer doesn’t have high quality images on their social media or website. If they don’t have good photos, they very well could let you in to the property to capture some images. It’s a win win.

Additional Resources

If you’re just getting started in real estate photography, check out our Beginners Guide. It’s full of helpful articles and tips that will guide you in the right direction as you begin your real estate photography journey.

You can check out our Gear section as well to see reviews and recommendations on the latest real estate photography gear.

If you’re more interested in other resources that can help your real estate photography business, check out our Business Resources page.

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About author
Matthew Digati is a professional Real Estate and Architectural Photographer. Matthew has worked as a Real Estate and Architectural Photographer since 2015 and has photographed properties and projects all over the United States.
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