For this post, however, I will be sharing my love for photography as part of the #LocalGuidesLove challenge. There is still some time to join in the fun so do give it a go and share your love for all things Local Guides (see this post for details).
Recently, I had a personal situation happening which resulted in me heading back to the UK for 2 weeks. Whilst I was there I got to pick up a Pixel 6 Pro phone that I had already ordered, delivered and just waiting patiently for me in Manchester. And it’s been really nice to finally have an ultra-wide lens to take photos with. I am and have been a Pixel phone user since the days when it was called the Nexus phones. Google fanboy through and through. 
So here are some photos that I took during my UK trip and lightly edited on Snapseed (an amazing mobile app for simple photo editing… also made by Google). I’ve chosen photos that are related to the Local Guides program so that you can see the type of photos that I would upload onto Maps as well. Incidentally, I haven’t uploaded these photos (yet); I tend to be months behind and still slowly uploading photos from last September!!
Some examples of photos showing store fronts:
Some examples showing a wider capture:
Some examples of inside buildings. This is where the ultra wide view is really so amazing and helps to capture the full ambiance of the place.
Some examples of food photography. This is where I struggled a bit actually with the Pixel 6 Pro. I noticed that in some of my close up photos, the focal point is not correct (the background is clear whilst the foreground showing the food is not). Sometimes, I wouldn’t notice that the focal point was wrong until much later when revisiting my photos at which point it was way too late to retake the shot.
And even though I tapped to give the program a nudge to make sure it focusses on the area that I tapped, it still wouldn’t do that. I can’t remember what settings I used and it could be that I was trying to take a close-up shot using the ultra wide lens (I didn’t think this makes a difference though so maybe the experts in this community can help out). Basically, I still need to play around a bit more in taking close up shots.
And finally, some evening/night shots highlighting the power of the #TeamPixel, although I did enhance the shots with Snapseed too. These are my usual ‘beauty’ shots that I don’t normally upload to Maps in case it’s too over-edited… i.e. they look more beautiful than in real life!
All these shots were taken on Night Mode and with the ultra wide lens.
Fun fact about sunsets/sunrises: they last longer the further they are from the equatorial line. So, I recently moved back to Malaysia and have enjoyed some of the beautiful sunsets here but they are so fleeting; that blazing orange/red glow across the skies last for a short while. When I was in Manchester, I only just realised that the sunsets were so much longer (maybe 20-30 minutes) and I was just walking everywhere and taking amazing shots of city scenes with the beautiful blaze from the sunset. 
Anyway, I love the camera capabilities of the Pixel 6 Pro but I haven’t had much chance to take many photos in Malaysia partly because all I seem to do every day is work, work, work (and why I’m also not on Connect very often). There are still some features that I will need to play around with so hopefully sometime this year, I’ll be back with another post after having used the phone for a few more months! 
I hope you’ve enjoyed my #LocalGuidesLove for taking photos! I’m sure many of our photography fans here on Connect can attest to the joys of taking photos and sharing them on Maps, and (hopefully) get the notification saying they have been chosen as a featured photo! I welcome you all to share your love of photography too and share the photos that you’ve taken in the past few months and what are the ones that you’ve uploaded to Google Maps. If you’re keen to take part in this challenge don’t forget to use the #LocalGuidesLove hashtag!
These are some of the posts submitted in the photography category too:
Great work on the new outlet… I saw another post of yours about it too! I visited a similar 
And interestingly enough, when I went to get the link for the place, I just realised that it’s map markers are all over the place too. Looks like I may be able to get some nice points fixing them 
- exciting to hear you picked up the 6! I was reading about your food shots and getting the focus right - are you shooting that in the standard camera mode or with portrait? I think Google Photos allows you to refocus and manipulate the focus of the intended subject in post? Or at least it used to let you (I’ve seen some features come and go without notice); even to that, I think the pics are great! 
