VANCOUVER — Photographer Russ Heinl is known for his aerial work on five films and 11 glossy picture books, including the popular Over Canada: An Aerial Adventure. But these days, he says, he's busy in the helicopter taking bird's-eye photos of sumptuous real estate.

In the past three months, the Vancouver Island-based photographer has shot about a dozen houses priced from $7-million to $28-million, all in British Columbia.

"Business is going crazy," Mr. Heinl says of his real-estate phot...