Columbus Market Lead, Real Estate Photography

This Is a Ground Floor Role

We are opening Columbus, and we are hiring the first person on the ground here.

That word matters. You are not applicant number forty at a company that already has a Columbus operation running. There is no Columbus operation yet. There is a proven playbook, a real client base in Pittsburgh, an editing team ready to go, and a market with nobody in it. You are the person who plants the flag.

Whoever takes this seat and performs will be the most important person in this market for a long time.

About Exposure It

Exposure It is a professional real estate media company out of Pittsburgh. We work with top brokerages, teams, and agents to deliver high quality listing photography, drone, video, and 3D tours. We built our reputation on fast turnaround, consistent quality, and service agents actually rave about, and Columbus is where we are taking it next.

We are not a marketplace app and we are not a franchise. We are an owner operated company that answers the phone. That is why our agents stay.

The Role

This is not a route you get handed. Columbus is a market we are building, and you are the person on the ground building it.

Half of this job is the camera. You shoot residential listings, you upload, and our team handles the editing, the delivery, and the client side. You will never touch Lightroom for us, chase an invoice, or manage a calendar.

The other half is being the face of Exposure It in Columbus. That means walking into brokerages, standing up in front of a room at a sales meeting, showing up at open houses, and being at the events where agents actually are. If you want a job where you show up, shoot, and disappear, this is not the one.

We give you everything you need for that part. Leave behind cards, sample galleries, a pricing sheet, a ten minute presentation you can deliver cold, and a booking link that goes straight to our scheduling team. You bring the face and the follow through.

You Will Not Be Doing This Alone

This is the part most companies leave out when they hire someone to open a market, and it is the reason those hires fail.

Our ownership team will be in Columbus with you. We walk into offices with you. We present alongside you at sales meetings until you are ready to run them yourself, and then we keep showing up anyway. We are on the phone with you between visits, and when you hit a wall with a brokerage, you are not the one figuring it out alone.

We have already done this in Pittsburgh. We know which conversations work, which offices are worth a second visit, and what to say when an agent tells you they already have a photographer. You get all of that on day one instead of learning it the expensive way.

Nobody is handing you a territory and wishing you luck.

What You Will Be Doing

Behind the camera

Shoot 30 to 50 high resolution interior and exterior photos per property using HDR bracketing
Capture drone aerials when included in the package
Shoot cinematic walkthrough video and vertical reels on premium packages
Capture 3D tours
Upload unedited files same day after each shoot to our platform
Follow established shot lists, workflows, and brand standards

In the market

Visit brokerage offices across the Columbus metro and build real relationships with managing brokers, office admins, and producing agents
Present Exposure It at office sales meetings, with our team alongside you until you want the room to yourself
Stop by open houses on weekends, introduce yourself, and leave something behind
Attend Realtor association events, agent mixers, and industry functions
Follow up with agents and offices you have met by phone, text, or email to keep those relationships moving
Keep a simple running log of who you talked to and what came of it
Represent Exposure It professionally with agents, homeowners, and tenants on every job

What You Will Not Be Doing

No editing or post production. Our team handles all retouching and delivery.
No client scheduling or rescheduling. Our operations team manages all of that.
No invoicing or chasing payment.
No pricing negotiation. You hand off the booking link and we take it from there.
No figuring it out alone. See above.

Compensation and Benefits

This is a full time W2 position. You are an employee, not a contractor.

Base salary of $42,000, paid every two weeks whether the market is busy or slow
15% commission on all Columbus revenue. Not just the shoots you personally perform. If an agent you brought in books while you are on vacation, you still earn on it.
Mileage fully reimbursed at the current IRS rate for every business mile, including office visits, open houses, and industry events. Tax free to you.
A monthly budget for business development. Association dues, event fees, coffee and lunch drops at offices, printed materials. You are not paying out of pocket to build our brand.
Paid time off

Realistic earnings at a normal volume land between $58,000 and $70,000. At high volume this role clears $75,000.

Here is why that matters. Most real estate photography work in this market is 1099 contract at around 30% commission. On that arrangement you pay your own self employment tax and every dollar of vehicle cost out of the same check. On ours, we cover half your payroll tax, we reimburse your mileage on top of your pay, and you have a salary underneath you. At the same number of shoots, your take home here is meaningfully higher than a standard contract gig, and you can do that math yourself.

The First 90 Days

We will be straight with you about this because you deserve to know it before you accept.

Columbus is a new market for us. Your first month will be lighter than your sixth, and that is expected. Your salary is there specifically so you are not sweating a slow February.

We run a formal review at day 45 and day 90, and we measure activity rather than revenue, because revenue in real estate lags relationship building by two to three months. Offices visited, sales meetings presented at, agents met, repeat bookings. You will know the exact targets before your first day, and you will know where you stand well before anyone is surprised.

If it is working, this becomes permanent and it grows. If it is not, you will hear it from us early and directly, not at the end of a quiet six months.

Where This Goes

Columbus is not going to be a one photographer market. As volume grows we add shooters, and the person who built the book is the first person we look at to lead them.

For the right person the path looks like this:

Months 1 to 3. You learn the workflow, you shoot, and you and our team hit the offices together.
Months 4 to 12. Your book grows, your commission compounds, and you start running sales meetings on your own.
Year 2 and beyond. As we add Columbus photographers, you earn on their work too, and you have first look at leading the market.

We are telling you this because we want the person who is looking for that, not the person who wants a slot to fill for eight months.

Required Qualifications

Minimum 50 completed real estate photography shoots. Not headshots, not events, not weddings.
Active FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate
Full frame mirrorless or DSLR camera body capable of HDR auto bracketing
14 to 16mm wide angle lens, full frame equivalent
Sturdy tripod
Reliable drone for aerial photography
Reliable personal vehicle and clean driving record. You will cover the greater Columbus metro.
You live in or near Columbus and want to be known here
Availability for Saturday shoots and occasional evening industry events
Ability to deliver consistent, clean compositions. Straight verticals, proper exposure, full room coverage.

Preferred, Not Required

Existing relationships with Columbus area agents or brokerages
Gimbal and experience shooting cinematic real estate video
Prior Matterport or 3D tour experience
Any background where you had to introduce yourself to strangers and be memorable

This Is a Fit If

You can shoot a clean listing without hand holding
You are comfortable walking into a room where you do not know a single person
You want your name on something rather than a shift on someone else's schedule
You have your Part 107 and use your drone regularly
You are thinking about the next five years, not the next five weeks

This Is Not a Fit If

You want to be told exactly where to go every day
Networking and putting yourself out there sounds exhausting
You want to shoot and go home without ever speaking at length to anyone

How to Apply

Send us the following. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

A link to your real estate photography portfolio, whether that is a website, Dropbox, or Google Drive folder
Two or three full sample shoot sets from recent listings, minimum 20 photos each, edited or unedited both fine
Confirmation that you currently hold an active FAA Part 107 certification, including cert number if you are comfortable
Your current gear setup: camera body, lens, drone model
Approximate number of real estate shoots you have completed in the last 12 months
Two or three sentences on how you would introduce Exposure It at a brokerage sales meeting

We read every complete application personally.

Exposure It is an equal opportunity employer. We value reliability, quality, and professionalism above all else.

Pay: $52,000.00 - $76,000.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k)
401(k) matching
Paid time off
Retirement plan

Application Question(s):

Are you comfortable presenting to a room of 20 to 40 real estate agents?
In two or three sentences, how would you introduce Exposure It at a brokerage sales meeting?
Please list your current photography gear.
How many real estate shoots have you completed in the last 12 months?

Experience:

real estate photography: 1 year (Required)
real estate videography: 1 year (Preferred)

License/Certification:

FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate (Required)

Ability to Commute:

Columbus, OH (Required)

Work Location: On the road