Sixteen Townhomes in a Single Frame
Photographing a development is a different problem than photographing a home.
With a single property, the exterior does its job in one frame. You find the center of the elevation, you get the light right, and the buyer understands what they are looking at. With a development, the thing you are actually documenting is the relationship between buildings — how they sit on the site, how the green space works, how the walkways connect one row to the next. None of that exists in a ground-level photo. You can shoot twenty exteriors and still not show what the place is.
Insignia Glen at 180 E River Rd in Des Plaines, Illinois is a sixteen-unit townhome development. Ogi Optics was brought in alongside Mark Kelner to document the completed project with our full Pro media package.
What Was Delivered
Professional photography throughout a representative unit — kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, and living spaces
Aerial drone photography capturing the full development, the site plan, and the surrounding green space
Pro cinematic video showcasing the development and the unit finishes
Property walkthrough giving a complete room-by-room tour of the layout
Detailed floor plan with accurate room dimensions
Marketing-ready images and video for MLS, developer marketing, and social media
Full package details are on our real estate services page.
How We Shot It
The drone carried the project. One aerial frame communicates the site plan, the scale, and the finish level of the entire development at once. It shows the rows of townhomes, the landscaped space between them, and how the whole thing sits within the surrounding neighborhood. That is the frame that tells someone what Insignia Glen actually is.
Then the walkway. The landscaped path running between the buildings is the ground-level version of the same idea — it shows circulation and community rather than a single front door, and it is the shot that gives a viewer the feeling of being inside the development rather than looking at it.
Then the unit. Brick and siding exterior with a covered entry, and interiors finished clean and modern throughout: white shaker kitchen with a waterfall island and gold fixtures, a tiled walk-in shower with a glass enclosure, and wide-plank flooring running through every room. Shot bright and neutral to let the finish level speak.
Then cinematic video and the floor plan. The video connected the exterior and interior into one continuous piece, and the floor plan resolved the layout — which matters more on townhomes than almost any other property type, since buyers rank room measurements and floor plans above nearly everything else when comparing similar units.
Why Developments Get Photographed Differently
A single listing has one job: get a specific buyer to book a specific showing.
A development has several. It markets the remaining units, yes — but it also becomes the developer's portfolio, the agent's proof of what they have handled, and the reference material for the next project, the next lender conversation, and the next partnership.
That changes what the media has to accomplish. It needs to document the build quality and the standard, not just make one unit look appealing. It needs to show the site as a place, not a product. And it needs to hold up years later, when the units are long gone and the only thing left is the record of what got built.
Which leads to the practical point worth making to anyone building in Chicagoland: the strongest time to photograph a project is right at completion, whether or not units are still available. Finished, clean, landscaped, before anyone moves in. That window is short and it does not come back. Every future buyer, lender, and partner is going to ask what you have built before — and the answer is only as good as the documentation.
Project Information
Development: Insignia Glen Address: 180 E River Rd, Des Plaines, IL Type: New construction townhome development — 16 units Shot with: Mark Kelner Package: Pro — listing photography, drone photography, property walkthrough, pro cinematic video, floor plan
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you photograph new construction and developments, not just individual listings? Yes. We handle new construction and multi-unit developments across Chicagoland, including aerial coverage of full sites, representative unit photography, cinematic video, and floor plans for developers, builders, and listing agents.
When is the best time to photograph a new development? Right at completion — finished, clean, landscaped, before anyone moves in. That window is short and does not come back. It is worth doing whether or not units are still available, because the media becomes the developer's portfolio for every project that follows.
Is drone photography included? Yes. Every Ogi Optics package includes aerial drone coverage. On developments it is the single most important deliverable, since site layout and scale cannot be communicated from ground level. Full package details are on our real estate services page.
Do you shoot outside the immediate Chicago area? Yes. We regularly shoot across Cook, McHenry, Kane, and Lake counties — including Des Plaines, Arlington Heights, Woodstock, Crystal Lake, and St. Charles.
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Ogi Optics is a BBB Accredited real estate and small business media company serving Chicagoland. Listing photography, new construction and development media, cinematic video, drone footage, virtual staging, and floor plans.
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