Luxury Property Photography in Costa Rica
Architectural photography, twilight exteriors, drone aerials and 360° tours for luxury villas, Airbnb rentals, real estate listings and boutique hotels — nationwide, from La Fortuna to Guanacaste and the Osa Peninsula.
In Costa Rica, the photography is the viewing
Most people who book a villa here, or buy one, never see it first. They are in Denver or Toronto or Frankfurt, deciding between a handful of properties on a screen, and the photography is doing the entire job that a walk-through would do anywhere else. It has to carry the rooms, the light, the setting and the distance to the water, because nothing else in the listing can.
That is also why the failure modes cost so much here. Interiors that go yellow under warm bulbs. Windows blown to white, so the ocean view you are actually selling simply disappears. Wide lenses bowing the walls of a room that is genuinely beautiful. A midday exterior with hard shadows across a facade that would have looked extraordinary forty minutes later. None of that is taste — it is exposure, lens choice, eye line and timing, and it is the difference between a property that looks expensive and one that looks like it is trying.
At the top of the market the gap widens. A guest comparing two $1,200-a-night villas, or a buyer comparing two $2M listings, is reading quality signals long before they read the description. Photography that looks considered is itself evidence that the property is well run.
Four briefs, four approaches
Luxury villas & private estates
A full day on site, sequenced so each room is shot in its best light rather than in floor order. Twilight exterior, drone aerials for the setting and the land, and detail frames for the finishes people are paying for. This is where a rushed half-day shoot is most obviously false economy.
Airbnb & vacation rentals
Built around the cover photo, because that one frame decides whether your listing gets opened at all. Then every bedroom and bathroom shot cleanly, the kitchen, the outdoor space and the view, so a guest can answer their own questions instead of messaging you.
Real estate listings
Shot for the MLS, the portals and the agency site at once, with verticals corrected and a consistent look across a portfolio. Overseas buyers make the shortlist that justifies the flight from these images — see real estate virtual tours for the walkthrough side of it.
Boutique hotels & lodges
Room categories shot consistently so every unit in a category reads the same, plus restaurant, pool, spa and arrival. Pairs naturally with Google Street View publication so the property appears inside its own Google listing. More on hospitality.
Two Costa Rica properties, room by room
El Genio Estate on the Osa Peninsula and Casa del Río in La Fortuna — both shot for their own booking sites.
What a property shoot includes
Every room, properly, once
25 to 40 edited frames for a home or rental, 60 or more for an estate or hotel. The full set is delivered — there is no locked selection behind a second invoice.
Windows that keep the view
Interiors bracketed and blended so the room is lit and the window is not a white rectangle. If the ocean or the volcano is the reason for the price, it has to survive the exposure.
A twilight exterior
The strongest single frame most properties will ever have, and the one that ends up as the cover. Shot in the short window when the sky and the interior lights balance.
Drone aerials
For ridge, jungle and beachfront properties the aerial does what no interior can: it shows where you actually are. Flown within Costa Rican civil aviation rules.
An optional 360° walkthrough
For estates, multi-building properties and hotels, a 360° tour settles layout questions that stills cannot. See tour pricing.
Rights to use them anywhere
Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, the MLS, your own site, social and paid ads. Full usage rights, no per-platform licence, no expiry.
What a property shoot costs
Priced per property, not per hour. The number is agreed in writing before anyone books a date, and revisions are unlimited.
| Package | From | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Listing Condo or home, up to 3 bedrooms | $425 | 25 edited images · half day on site · interiors, exteriors, daylight |
| Villa 4–6 bedrooms, private villa | $895 | 40 edited images · full day · adds twilight exterior and drone aerial stills |
| Estate & Hotel 7+ bedrooms, multi-building or boutique hotel | from $1,850 | 60+ edited images · full day or more · adds drone video, detail set, room-category consistency |
Photography with a 360° tour, captured in one visit
Once we are on site with access arranged and the property staged, adding the 360° tour costs a fraction of booking it as a second visit. That saving goes to you.
| Bundle | Booked apart | Together | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listing + Essential tour | $1,075 | $925 | 25 photos and a 5-scene virtual tour |
| Villa + Premium tour | $2,695 | $2,350 | 40 photos, twilight, drone, 15-scene tour and Street View publication |
| Estate or Hotel + Signature | — | from $3,750 | Full stills set with an unlimited-scene tour, quoted per property |
Add-ons
| Item | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Twilight exterior session | $275 | The 20–30 minutes after sunset. Usually becomes the cover shot. |
| Drone aerial stills | $325 | 10 edited frames. Included from Villa upward. |
| Drone video | $495 | 30–60 seconds, edited and licence-cleared. |
| Google Street View publication | $395 | Certified publication into your Google Business Profile. |
| 2D floor plan | $225 | Measured on site during the shoot. |
| Extra bedroom or unit | $45 | Beyond the package count. |
| Second shooting day | $695 | Estates, hotels, or a weather reshoot. |
| Rush delivery | +35% | 48 hours instead of the standard 3–5 working days. |
| Travel beyond Arenal | $0.70/km | Or $195 per day beyond 150 km. Always a visible line item. |
Agencies, property managers and hotels
If you are shooting regularly rather than once, the rate reflects that and scheduling gets priority.
| Arrangement | Terms | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Agency volume | 4 or more properties in a calendar month | $340 per property |
| Property-manager plan | 10 listings a year, billed monthly | $310 per property |
| Hotel refresh | Two visits a year, seasonal | Estate rate less 15% |
Turnaround
The edited set lands in three to five working days. If a listing has a launch date, rush delivery brings that to 48 hours. You receive every edited frame, not a selection held back behind a second invoice, with full usage rights for Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, the MLS, your own site and paid advertising.
All prices in USD per property. Virtual tour tiers are listed in full on the pricing page.
Where we shoot
Based in La Fortuna, shooting nationwide. Travel beyond the Arenal area is quoted as a visible line item rather than folded into the rate.
La Fortuna & Arenal · Guanacaste · Tamarindo · Nosara · Santa Teresa · Manuel Antonio · Monteverde · San José · Osa Peninsula · Papagayo
Before you book a shoot
How much does real estate photography cost in Costa Rica?
Photography is quoted per property rather than per hour, because a two-bedroom condo and a six-bedroom estate are not the same job. The drivers are the number of rooms, whether you want a twilight exterior, whether drone aerials are included, and travel. Ask for the number before the shoot; ours is agreed in writing first.
Do you shoot luxury villas and estates?
It is most of what we do. Large properties need a different approach to a condo: more time, careful sequencing so the light is right room by room, twilight for the exterior, and aerials to show the setting and the land. An estate is usually a full day on site rather than a couple of hours.
What is a twilight shoot and is it worth it?
It is the twenty to thirty minutes after sunset when the sky still holds colour and the interior lights read warm against it. For a luxury villa or a hotel it produces the single strongest image in the set, and it is almost always the frame that ends up as the listing cover or the homepage hero.
Do you photograph hotels and boutique properties?
Yes, and the brief is different again. A hotel needs rooms shot consistently so a category reads the same across every unit, plus the restaurant, the pool, the spa and the arrival. We also handle Google Street View publication so the property appears inside its own Google listing.
How many photos do I get, and how fast?
Between 25 and 40 edited images for a home or rental, and 60 or more for an estate or a hotel. Delivery is three to five working days, or next day if a listing has a launch date. You get the full edited set, not a selection you have to pay again to unlock.
Can I use the photos on Airbnb, Vrbo, the MLS and my agency site?
Yes. Full usage rights for listing platforms, your own website, social media and paid advertising, with no per-platform licence and no expiry. If you are an agency shooting regularly, we can put that in a standing agreement.
Do you fly drones, and is it legal here?
Yes. Aerials matter more in Costa Rica than almost anywhere, because the setting is often the thing being sold: the ridge, the jungle, the distance to the beach. We fly within Costa Rican civil aviation rules and keep clear of national park airspace and controlled zones without clearance.
Which parts of Costa Rica do you cover?
We are based in La Fortuna and shoot nationwide. Guanacaste, Tamarindo, Papagayo, Nosara, Santa Teresa, Manuel Antonio, the Osa Peninsula, the Central Valley and San Jose are all regular. Travel beyond the Arenal area is quoted as a visible line item rather than hidden in the rate.
Do you do virtual staging or photo editing of furniture?
We colour-correct, straighten verticals, balance windows and clean up minor blemishes. We do not add furniture that is not there or remove permanent features, because a guest or buyer who arrives to something different leaves the review that costs you more than the shoot did.
Should I get stills, a 360 tour, or both?
Stills sell the property on a search grid; a 360 tour answers layout questions once someone is interested. A condo or a simple rental usually needs good stills only. A villa, an estate, a multi-building property or a hotel is where a tour earns its cost, and where the two together do noticeably better than either alone.
Tell us about the property
Send the location, the number of bedrooms, and whether it is a rental, a listing or a hotel. You get a fixed number back, agreed in writing before anyone books a shoot.
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