Santa Monica homes, shot for the marine layer and the walk to the pier
Spanish duplexes, beach condos and family houses north of Montana, in photos, video and drone that hold up in marine layer and ocean glare.
Marine layer in the morning, blue hour by dinner
Santa Monica listings sell on distance. How far to the sand, how far to Montana Avenue, whether you can walk to the pier or down to Ocean Avenue and Palisades Park for sunset. A buyer scrolling from out of state needs those answers in the photos. The gallery is in your inbox the next morning, and the video takes 2 to 4 business days.
The light here has moods. Morning marine layer turns the sky white. Noon throws glare off the water onto every window that faces it. Then a soft blue hour does most of the selling. We shoot the rooms while the light is even, bracket the ocean-facing glass so the room and the view both hold, and save the exteriors for the last stretch of light.
The housing is mixed. North of Montana it's larger family houses on quiet streets. Closer to the beach it's Spanish duplexes with arched doorways, courtyard bungalows and condos with a balcony and a slice of ocean. On Pacific Street we shot a two-level home where the walnut kitchen runs straight through to a patio slider, and the video followed that line. A few minutes south we shot a flat-roofed ADU in a Mar Vista backyard, with concrete pavers set in turf, where the yard was the listing. Venice, Pacific Palisades and Brentwood are close, and buyers compare across all of them.
Ocean-facing glass is where a phone photo loses. Set the exposure for the room and the water turns white. Set it for the water and the room goes black. We bracket the frame and blend it so both hold, and the marine layer reads as soft light instead of a gray cast.
Decks, courtyards and roof lounges work as extra rooms near the beach, so we shoot them with the doors open and the furniture set. Where the airspace allows it, a drone pass shows how many blocks lie between the house and the sand, and where Palisades Park and the pier sit from the roofline.
A walnut kitchen on Pacific Street, a yard at sunset
Coverage for glass, balconies and tight beach streets
Photography
Bracketed frames that keep the ocean-facing glass and the room both readable, even under a white marine-layer sky.
Learn moreListing video
A listing video that follows the plan from the entry to the deck or the courtyard, so the indoor-outdoor flow is clear.
Learn moreAerial & drone
Where the airspace allows it, one pass shows the blocks between the house and the sand, the bluffs and the pier.
Learn moreWhat does Santa Monica real estate photography cost?
The same as anywhere in LA: priced by the home's size. Photos start at $250, and listing packages run from $650 (Standard) to $2,200 (Signature). You see your exact price before you book.
Do you shoot condos and Spanish duplexes near the beach in Santa Monica?
Yes. Beach condos with a balcony, Spanish duplexes with arched doorways and larger houses north of Montana all come up often. We shoot photos, video and drone in one visit, and for condos we work around building access and elevator times.
How do you shoot a room with big ocean-facing windows?
We bracket the frame and blend it. One exposure holds the room, another holds the view, and the final photo keeps the horizon without turning the room dark. On a gray marine-layer morning we wait for brighter light or add light inside.
What does the marine layer do to a Santa Monica shoot?
It can turn a morning sky white and flatten color. We plan the exteriors for later in the day, when the layer burns off or blue hour starts, and we shoot the interiors while the light is soft and even. If the gray hangs on all week, we talk through the plan before the day.
Can you fly a drone in Santa Monica?
Often, but not at every address. Santa Monica sits near controlled airspace, so we check each address first, and our pilots are FAA Part 107 licensed. When a flight is cleared, one pass shows the distance to the sand, the pier and Palisades Park in a few seconds.
Which Santa Monica neighborhoods do you cover?
We cover Santa Monica, from the streets north of Montana to Ocean Park and the pier, plus Mar Vista, Venice and Pacific Palisades next door.
Down to Venice, up the coast to the Palisades and Malibu
“The photos and videos for my listing came out amazing, and my clients were thrilled with the results. The team was professional, friendly, and made everything so easy”