Customer Spotlight

Every day at Aryeo, we are on a mission to empower real estate photographers to come together in doing what they love. That’s why we are excited to introduce our new Customer Spotlight Series focusing on the creators in our community.  In this series, we make it a point to highlight some of the great people and businesses we support each and every day.

Our first edition of the Aryeo Customer Spotlight series features Deanna DiMarzio from Deanna DiMarzio Real Estate Photography. Our head of customer success Chelsea Darby spent the day with Deanna traveling from shoot to shoot in southern Boston observing, listening, and getting to know one of our longest and most supportive customers on an even deeper level. 

Deanna first joined Aryeo almost 3 years ago while in search of a business management solution specific to real estate. Deanna started her photography business over 10 years ago focusing on portraits and weddings. Her interest in commercial and real estate photography has grown during that time as she began spending more time exploring the art of photographing interior and exterior spaces. Deanna now works with real estate agents and homeowners across a wide radius in Southern Massachusetts. Her ability to capture the true essence of the home powers what potential buyers are viewing on sites like the local MLS, Realtor.com, Zillow, ect. It’s important that these marketing materials are of the highest quality and get the attention of potential home buyers. 

At our first scheduled shoot for the day, I stood by and watched Deanna gracefully shoot each shot with her Canon camera. She moved from room to room finding the perfect angle to shoot the space with ease. Real estate photography can make even the tiniest of spaces look vast and spacious. She made her way towards the space I was observing and as she approached I asked “How do you capture the perfect photo?” in awe as she worked. “Well, the trick to that is a wide-angle lens,” says Deanna.

“It’s all about the angle and the lighting within a space.” 

I was intrigued when a second smaller camera came out upon completing the photo shoot. Deanna explained this is her new favorite tool to create a 3D model of the home with the Matterport Cloud and Ricoh integration. “Matterport and the Ricoh integration has cut the time it would take me to do a 3D virtual tour literally in half,” said Deanna. We set the camera up to take a 3D photo of the room and hid around the corner while the camera did its work. With the Matterport & Ricoh integration, we had a 3D model of the room within seconds! 

As the day went on, I was somewhat naive to learn how much more goes into a real estate photography shoot than most people think! In addition to just taking photos, real estate photographers should be prepared to spend additional time and resources on things like house prep, photo editing, and admin work. With some help from the agent, cluttered counter items were quickly tucked away along with other random odds and ends that could affect the way the photos look to potential buyers.

With so much that goes into a single photo shoot I was curious how Deanna managed her schedule and traveling between appointments. Realtors usually need a quick turnaround time on the photos, with deadlines of 24 to 48 hours being most common. To manage her time, Deanna limits herself to four photo shoots a day. “I deliver the photos to my customers the same day, so it is important to leave enough time at the end of the day to edit, upload, and deliver my work,” Deanna explains. Aryeo helps Deanna easily upload and organize the content for each listing and deliver it to her customers by the end of the day. “Building strong relationships with my customers keeps them coming back and increases the amount of referrals I receive. I haven’t had to advertise my business or services in years and I believe that is because of the level of service I strive to provide my customers.” 

During one of our many conversations throughout the day, Deanna and I made a fun discovery! Earlier this year, my husband and I bought our first home which happens to be in an area that Deanna is familiar with and often finds herself photographing for her clientele. Come to find out, Deanna actually shot the photos of my now new home! The photos of this house set the benchmark for what we wanted in a home and after months of searching decided to go see it. The beautiful photos of this old house from the 1700’s  are what originally sold my husband and I on our dream home. (Thanks Deanna!)‍

As the day came to end, I asked Deanna to share a time she (or the business) had to overcome a challenge. Deanna explained that real estate marketing is one of the most challenging industries to stay up to date with, especially in today's world! It can be tough to stand out or make a good first impression with more traditional professional real estate photography. “When Drone photography made its introduction into real estate I knew I had to get one” said Deanna. Friends in the industry said “you don’t need that,” or “it’s just a phase,” but Deanna was convinced this new technology was more than just a phase. “Drone photography made it possible to achieve a fantastic bird’s-eye view shot of the property and also expanded the level of services I offer my customers.” The same story is true with Matterport and 3D tours of homes.‍

Special thanks to Deanna for spending the day with me and for the wonderful conversations we shared together!

We introduced our Customer Spotlight Series to highlight some of the great people and businesses we support every day. Empowerment begins with saving photographers and other content creators time and money. Equally as important are sharing knowledge and providing top notch support. By elevating the stories of our customers and building a thriving online community we support those in the pursuit of a sustainable livelihood by helping photographers deliver content, create marketing materials, and more efficiently run their business.‍

Interested in being featured in our Customer Spotlight series? Contact us at [email protected].