Two commercial shoots: NEXUS from the air and a retail center in Everett
October 19, 2026 · By Alona Ishchenko
NEXUS, Denny Triangle, Seattle. Drone aerial, October 2026.
Most of what I photograph is homes. This month, two projects were not: a condominium tower in downtown Seattle photographed from the air, and a retail center in Everett photographed from the ground and from the sky. Here is what each one needed, and what a commercial shoot covers.
NEXUS, from the air
NEXUS stands in the Denny Triangle, between downtown and South Lake Union. From the street it is one tower among several. From the air the whole neighborhood reads at once: the skyline behind it, the Space Needle to the west, Lake Union going blue at dusk. That context is what a marketing team needs when the building itself is already well known.
Downtown Seattle is controlled airspace, so each flight is authorized before I leave the house, and the shot list is planned around the light: late afternoon for the skyline, sunset for the towers toward the Needle, the last minutes of blue hour for the lake.
The Denny Triangle toward the Space Needle, sunset.South Lake Union and Lake Union, dusk.
A retail center on Everett Mall Way
The second project was a retail center on Everett Mall Way, right beside Interstate 5, anchored by Floor & Decor and Urban Air Adventure Park. The owner needed the full set a leasing package or offering memorandum uses: the site from the freeway, the pylon sign from the ground and from the air, a true, level elevation of each anchor, closer frames of the entrances and the customer pick-up canopy, the available space, and the whole site from above.
We shot on a weekday afternoon on purpose. A leasing broker wants to see the center working, so the parking lot and the sidewalks show real customers, including one family heading out of Urban Air with their balloons.
The center beside Interstate 5, from the air.The pylon sign, from the ground.Floor & Decor, a straight, level elevation.Urban Air, a weekday afternoon.
What a commercial shoot covers
Whether it is a tower, a strip center or a new build, the list is the same. It is the order a broker, a buyer or a tenant looks at a property.
Approach. The front elevation in the right light, verticals straight, signage clean.
Context. Drone aerials: the site, parking, access and the neighbors.
Arrival. Entrance, signage and lobby, lit so the finishes read.
Inside. The main space, then the rooms a tour would stop at.
Details. Finishes, systems and branding: the second page of the memorandum.
Dusk. The same elevation again, with the lights on.
How it is priced
Commercial work is quoted per project rather than from the home packages, because a single storefront and a multi-tenant site are not the same job. Send me the address and what the photos are for (leasing, sale, construction progress or marketing) and I will reply with a quote. Both projects above, with every photo full screen, are on the commercial photography page.
