How to Prep Your Commercial Property for a Photo Shoot: Broker Checklist

The single biggest determinant of OM photo quality isn't the camera or the photographer — it's the 30 minutes of prep the broker did the day before the shoot. The asset is what it is; the prep is what controls the variability.

Below is the checklist a broker should run the day before a commercial property shoot. Add or subtract based on asset class.

48 Hours Before the Shoot

Coordinate Access

• Confirm building access with property manager (after-hours if needed for twilight)
• Confirm tenant notice if photographing common areas during business hours
• Confirm parking for the photographer + assistant (gear access matters)
• Confirm lockbox / keys / escort schedule
• Confirm the LAANC airspace authorization is filed (for drone work near MIA, FLL, PBI, TPA)

Coordinate the Lighting Plan

• Schedule property manager to turn on every interior light at twilight (lobby, corridor commons, every leasable floor that's vacant, signage)
• Coordinate after-hours HVAC for spaces that will be shot post-business-hours
• Confirm exterior building lighting (facade wash, landscape lighting, signage backlight) is on and functional

Confirm the Shot Priority List

• Send the photographer your OM template or shot list
• Identify any "must-have" hero shots (the building from a specific angle for the OM cover, etc.)
• Flag any sensitive areas (confidential tenants, in-progress TI, leased-but-unmoved-in spaces)
• Identify which leasable spaces are showable and which are not

24 Hours Before the Shoot

Walk the Exterior

• Remove visible trash, traffic cones, construction barricades, sandwich boards
• Move any temporary signage (banners, A-frames, "for lease" yard signs that interfere with composition)
• Check landscaping — mow, trim hedges, blow leaves
• Wash exterior windows if visibly dirty (especially ground floor and any reflective glass)
• Confirm any vehicles in the lot can be moved during the shoot window (or arrange to shoot before/after peak hours)
• Coordinate with the parking lot operator if parking will be temporarily restricted

Walk the Interior (Common Areas + Leasable)

• Turn on every light, replace any burned-out bulbs (lobbies, conference rooms, corridors)
• Stage the lobby — fresh flowers if available, neat magazine table, clean reception desk
• Remove temporary signage (event posters, "Wet Floor" cones, vendor wayfinding)
• Clean glass — lobby doors, conference room interior glass walls, signage glass
• Vacuum / sweep visible high-traffic areas
• Confirm conference rooms are in showable state (no whiteboards with confidential content, tables wiped down, chairs in place)
• For leasable suites: confirm vacancy (no tenant belongings if pre-vacancy or post-vacancy), lights on, AC running so the air is comfortable

Confirm Decor Decisions

• Remove tenant-branded items in common areas that won't match the OM positioning
• Decide whether to leave or remove temporary art / decor / furniture
• Confirm conference table styling (laptops, water glasses staged, or empty)

Day of the Shoot

Two Hours Before Arrival

• Walk the property one final time
• Turn on all interior lights (yes, every one — the photographer will turn off what's not needed, but cannot turn on what isn't there)
• Confirm HVAC is comfortable (especially after-hours)
• Confirm any tenant cooperation needed (specific suites open, common areas accessible)
• Confirm the on-site escort or property manager will be available

When the Photographer Arrives

• Brief them on the shot priority list and any access restrictions
• Walk them through the property if it's the first visit (5-10 minutes saves 90 minutes of re-shoots)
• Flag any tenant-sensitive areas
• Be available for art-direction calls during the shoot — the photographer will surface composition questions that the broker should decide on

During Twilight Window (If Applicable)

• Confirm interior lights are on across all marketed floors / suites
• Coordinate any tenant lighting (asking specific tenants to leave lights on for the 25-minute twilight window)
• Be near the photographer for quick decisions — the twilight window is short and irreversible

After the Shoot

Within 24 Hours

• Confirm the photographer's expected delivery date
• Send any post-shoot notes (additional shots noticed during the walkthrough, etc.)
• Pay the deposit per the contract (most CRE photographers run on 50% deposit / 50% on delivery)

Within 5 Business Days

• Review the proof gallery on delivery
• Flag any reshoots needed (most OM photographers offer one free reshoot per assignment for genuine issues — fog, missed lights, etc.)
• Approve final select list
• Confirm metadata, licensing, and file format match what was contracted

Common Mistakes Brokers Make

Mistake 1: Skipping the Pre-Shoot Walk

The single biggest mistake is treating the photographer's arrival as the start of the shoot. The shoot starts with the broker's pre-shoot walk. Twenty minutes of prep prevents two hours of editing or a reshoot.

Mistake 2: Underestimating the Twilight Window

The twilight window is 20 minutes. Not 60. If the broker arrives 10 minutes late, half the window is gone, and the photographer is improvising.

Mistake 3: Not Coordinating Tenant Cooperation

A half-leased office tower at twilight needs the property manager's coordination to get specific tenants to leave lights on. If this isn't pre-coordinated, the building reads dark in the OM cover.

Mistake 4: Overlooking the Aerial Window

Drone shots need cooperative weather and time-of-day light. If the shoot is at noon on a cloudless summer day, the drone footage will be flat and hot. Negotiate the shoot date to allow a morning or late-afternoon flight window.

Mistake 5: Not Briefing the Photographer on the OM Spec

Different brokerages have different OM template requirements. If the photographer doesn't know the template, the cover image may not crop cleanly. Send the template — or at minimum the aspect ratios — before the shoot.

The 30-Minute Saved Editing Hours

Every item on this checklist that gets skipped becomes a Photoshop fix afterward — and Photoshop fixes are visible to a trained eye. A composited light glow looks fake. A cloned-out trash bin looks suspicious. A perspective-warped facade looks bowed.

The cheapest improvement to an OM photograph is the prep that prevents the fix. The 30 minutes of prep the day before the shoot is the single highest-leverage time investment in the entire CRE marketing budget.

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Need a commercial photo shoot scoped with prep guidance included? Send the property brief here — Estate Shutter ships a pre-shoot checklist sized to the asset class as part of every OM engagement.