New at Distillery Homes · 8 min read · September 21, 2026
Introducing Distillery Homes Photography & Video
Property, hospitality and event photography and film for luxury listings, hotels, tourism boards and events — drone, FPV, 8K, 360 and underwater — shooting in South America from September to March and North America from April to September.
Book a shoot: hello@distilleryhomes.com
Tell us the property or event, where it is, and when you need the finished work. We are now booking summer 2027 in North America.
Why a rental company is picking up a camera
Distillery Homes has spent seven years running short-term rentals in Windsor's Walkerville Distillery District. In that business the photographs are the storefront. A guest decides in a few seconds of scrolling whether a house is worth a closer look, and almost nothing else on a listing — not the price, not the reviews — works as hard as the first image.
So we learned to shoot our own houses: the exposed brick, the century-old trim, the light at the right hour, the backyard in June. The polaroid-framed photos you see across this site are ours. Other owners, agents and operators started asking who took them. This is the answer, offered as a service.
We are also the photographers of record for RE/MAX Preferred Realty, shooting real estate listings for their agents across Windsor and Essex County. If you are looking for a real estate photographer or drone videographer in Windsor, Ontario, that is the work we do every week.
From the portfolio: The Argyle House
Both images on this page come from The Argyle House, one of our own heritage homes on Argyle Road in Walkerville, shot for its listing and for direct booking. The same approach goes into client work: natural light, true colour, straight verticals, and detail shots that show the finish a guest or buyer is paying for.
Who it is for
- Luxury property. Listings and estates where the buyer pool is small, often remote, and deciding from images and film before they ever book a viewing. We take on properties of seven figures and above.
- Hotels and hospitality. Rooms, public spaces, food and drink, and the setting around the building — the material a booking engine, an OTA listing or a brand campaign actually needs.
- Tourism boards. Destination footage that sells a place rather than a single address: neighbourhoods, coastline, festivals, the view from the air.
- Events. Weddings, launches, festivals and private events, covered on the ground and from above.
What we shoot with
The kit is built for work that a phone, or a standard camera drone, can't do:
- DJI Osmo 360 II for 8K 360° video — immersive tours and footage that can be reframed into any angle after the shoot.
- Sony Alpha 7R cameras for high-resolution stills: interiors, architecture and detail with the dynamic range to hold a bright window and a dark room in the same frame.
- DJI Avata FPV drones for acrobatic aerial footage — dives, tight turns and flights through doorways and between trees that a typical camera drone, and most drone pilots, can't fly.
Here is what each format is good for:
| Format | What it is good for |
|---|---|
| Drone | Establishing shots, lot lines, proximity to water, parks and downtown, and the scale of an estate that no ground-level photo can show. |
| FPV drone | A single continuous flight that moves through a property — in the front door, through the rooms, out over the pool. The one-take walkthrough that keeps people watching to the end. |
| 8K video | Footage with enough resolution to crop, reframe and cut vertical versions for social without shooting twice, and to hold up on large screens. |
| 8K 360 | Immersive tours a remote buyer or event planner can move through at their own pace. |
| Underwater | Pools, waterfront and coastal properties, resorts and dive-adjacent tourism, shot from below the surface. |
| Stills | Interiors, exteriors, detail and lifestyle photography for listings, booking platforms, print and press. |
A listing photo has one job: earn the next click. Everything else — the tour, the viewing, the offer — only happens if it does.
Two hemispheres, one season each
We follow the good light. From September to March we shoot in South America, and from April to September in North America, based out of Windsor, Ontario. For a client, that means we are already in the region during the season you want to show off, rather than flying in for a single day.
North American summer is the busiest window for hotels, tourism boards and events, and it books early. We are taking bookings for summer 2027 now.
How payment works
For property listings, we can be paid as a percentage of the sale price, so the cost of the work is tied to the result it is meant to produce. Other projects are quoted up front.
We accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, cash, Apple Pay, Visa and Mastercard.
Common questions
Is there a minimum property value?
For real estate, yes: we work on properties of seven figures and above. Hotels, tourism boards and events are quoted per project.
Where do you work?
South America from September to March and North America from April to September. If your project falls outside the season for your region, ask — we will tell you plainly whether we can make it work.
How far ahead should I book?
As early as you can for summer. Summer 2027 in North America is open for booking now, and hotel, tourism and event dates tend to be set well in advance.
What equipment do you use?
A DJI Osmo 360 II for 8K 360° video, Sony Alpha 7R cameras for high-resolution stills, and DJI Avata FPV drones for acrobatic aerial footage, alongside standard drone, 8K video and underwater work.
How does payment work?
Property listings can be paid as a percentage of the sale price. Other projects are quoted up front. We accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, cash, Apple Pay, Visa and Mastercard.
Do you work with real estate agents in Windsor–Essex?
Yes. We are the photographers of record for RE/MAX Preferred Realty and shoot listings across Windsor, Walkerville, Tecumseh, LaSalle, Lakeshore and the rest of Essex County.
Can you shoot a short-term rental?
It is where we started. If your rental meets the property minimum, or is part of a larger portfolio, get in touch.
Get in touch: hello@distilleryhomes.com
Send the property or event, the location, your dates, and which formats you are interested in. We reply within a day.
About the photographer
Clayton Hartford manages Distillery Homes and has spent seven years photographing and marketing its homes in Walkerville, both as short-term rentals and for sale. Alongside the Distillery Homes portfolio, he runs Radar Canada, a digital advertising and IT agency; visit them for advertising, digital media and website inquiries. Before that, he worked in technology and digital advertising at Rocket Fuel and Brave Software, which is where the habit of treating every image as something that has to earn a click comes from.
Related: Distillery Design: interior design and painting · Broker open house at 763 Monmouth Road · A history of Walkerville