RECAP Two Maps photography nerds having fun in Bangalore

[MortenCopenhagen]

Yesterday I spent a full day with Madhukar (@palmad1) in Bangalore for an intensive one-on-one Google Maps photography session.

In a way this was a practical follow-up to the virtual meeting on Smart photography: Make your photos pop organized by @Kumaarsantosh the night before. See the announcement here
[Virtual] India, December 13, Ghumakkad Gossip V2: 📷 Smart Photography for Google Maps: Make Your Photos Pop.

And soon you can find the recap here:
Recap: [Virtual] India, December 13, Ghumakkad Gossip V2: 📷 Smart Photography for Google Maps: Make Your Photos Pop.

Madhukar had prepared some very good questions for us to discuss. We were able to cover a lot of topics mostly related to photography, Connect, and much more in a very honest and direct way.

After lunch we went on a photo walk near my hotel. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing tips on how to take straight shots of storefronts to increase the chances of getting your photos featured on Google Maps. We aimed at making the cover photos which are the primary photos of places on Maps.

A major challenge is to make sure you don’t tilt the camera as illustrated below.

The face of your phone needs to be perfectly parallel to the storefront. No tilting up and no tilting down.
It takes some practice to do this to avoid leaning vertical lines.

But Madhukar is a quick learner. He was able to edit his 4 new storefront photos by using the dynamic filter in Google Photos, crop the images correctly so they will fill the frame on Google Maps. Also adding brightness and black spots to really make the images pop.

After that, he submitted the pictures to Google Maps. We held our breath for 30 to 60 seconds before checking to see if they had become featured. Excitement abounds.

I’m proud to report that 4 out of 4 storefront photos got featured. Not only that, they all became the Cover Photo! HOORAY and congratulations!

I hope @palmad1 will add some more details below and share his raw and edited images together with the Maps links.

[Ssiddharth2000]

Wow that’s such an excellent meet-up @MortenCopenhagen It was all about taking the best photos of storefront and making them pop using the photo editor. I will use the tip and try to take photos without tilting the camera. I’m glad your trip to India is full of fun and amazing discussion on Maps and connect.
@palmad1 So glad to see you accompany Morten around Bangalore. Please share some more tips for taking the best photos of storefront. Thanks for sharing this amazing recap

[NareshDarji]

Looks like you both had a great day exploring Bangalore and sharpening your Maps photography skills. @MortenCopenhagen

Thanks for sharing the recap and tips!

[Supriyadevkar]

First of all, thank you very much, @MortenCopenhagen .With the guidance you provided, I took many photos again yesterday using your tricks, and they have truly turned out very beautiful. Of course, there is still scope for further improvement, but I definitely feel that these photos are better than the earlier ones. Overall, your guidance has certainly been very helpful, and for that, I am truly grateful to you.

[SophatCHY]

Thanks for the recap, @MortenCopenhagen! Your tip about keeping the phone parallel to the storefront to avoid leaning lines is super practical.

Congrats to @palmad1. That’s impressive and highlights the effectiveness of these techniques.

I’m excited to practice these skills for my contributions to Google Maps. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[AbhijeetUniyal]

Great post @MortenCopenhagen . Looks that you really had a very great time sharing helpful tips related to photography

[SholaIB]

Hello @MortenCopenhagen

This is so good of you to spend these times wisely with other TRACians. I’m thrilled you can be with @palmad1 .

Mind you we will be expecting so much from you next TRAC. You have been learning all the tricks and getting all the tips from these road nerds.

Goodluck mate and thanks for sharing these photos etc.

Happy mapping
Cheers

[palmad1]

Hello @MortenCopenhagen,

Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to write such an incredibly detailed and generous recap! It truly was an intensive, fun, and highly valuable photography session.

I’m still buzzing from the experience! Being able to discuss Connect, photography, and editing techniques with you one-on-one was an invaluable privilege, and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the streets of Bangalore with you.

The “Cover Photo” Process

I was amazed at how quickly I could see the difference when focusing on your key advice: making sure the phone is perfectly parallel to the storefront. That technique, combined with the post-processing tips (dynamic filter, cropping, and adjusting brightness/black points), made all the difference!

The excitement when we saw the instant featured photos was incredible! It was the perfect confirmation that the process works. Hooray!!

My Featured Photos

Here are the details from our session, as requested:

Location: Ajfan Dates and Nuts

Original Photo (Before):

Edited Photo (After):

Location: Cafe Iftar

Original Photo (Before):

Edited Photo (After):

Location: Om Ganesh Fruits Juice Center

Original Photo (Before):

Edited Photo (After):

Location: Carry Fresh Hypermarket

Original Photo (Before):

Edited Photo (After):

Thank you once again for your guidance, time, and kind wishes!

[palmad1]

Thank you for the kind words, @Ssiddharth2000! It was truly a privilege to accompany @MortenCopenhagen on this photography session.

The biggest tip I can share is intentionality. Before you even click, decide exactly what you want to show the user. To make the photo “pop”, remember to keep your phone perfectly parallel to the storefront, and try adjusting the “Brightness/Black point” during editing!

[MortenCopenhagen]

Thanks for so quickly sharing some of your cover photos before and after editing.

I believe they can inspire others to make their photos pop and stand out.

Readers might notice how we make sure to have the most important part of the storefront (store name + entrance) perfectly centered horizontally. This allows for a perfect image after Google has auto-cropped the images to suit the different uses of our photos.

You may wonder why there is so much extra space to the right and left of the storefronts. This allows the photos to look great whether Google Maps need a tall format, a square, or landscape format copy of the image. This is demonstrated below with some screenshots. See how all that extra space is not showing on the business pages on mobile.

Note: The above storefront is a lot taller than what is shown here. So to get a straight shot, the compromise was to leave out the upper part of it. To include more, you would need to tilt up and make the sides of the storefront converge.

Note: Above, the height of the edited image should have been a tiny bit taller, as this would have made the F in Fruits and the “LS” in vegetables also fit into this auto-cropped cover photo.

At both the second and the last shop, we were able to successfully ask the store managers to turn on the lights in their storefront signage. We were out a little early for the golden hour, so this helped the quality a lot. Btw., asking stores to turn on the light in signs was a first for me.

Below you will find screenshots from the 4 places as they are shown on computers. Notice how more of the wider images are shown here.

Note, how more of the surroundings is included in this auto-cropped landscape version of the coverphoto.

Note: In the above screenshot you can see how parts might be covered by the search bar. In this instance nothing important in the image got lost.

Note: In the above screenshot you can see both a square and a landscape copy of @palmad1’s coverphoto. This illustrates perfectly that our storefront photos need to allow for the auto-cropping made by Google Maps.

Note: As you can see on computers, the entire width of the store name is shown above, plus some extra on each side of the store.

To let the storefront fill the frame no matter what format is needed allows us to “zoom in” closely while not wasting any space and not losing important details. This makes your cover photos stand out. So does making them pop by increasing the brightness, the color saturation, and the contrast. Cropping correctly and popping the colors is a sure way to get your photos featured.

[palmad1]

Thank you for the lovely comment, @SholaIB! It was such a fantastic experience learning from @MortenCopenhagen in person.

I definitely hear you- the pressure is on!

I’m truly grateful for this community and the way everyone shares their wisdom. It really helps all of us raise the bar and make much higher quality contributions to Google Maps.

I’ll do my best to live up to the expectations!

[NunungAfuah]

Wow I love the story about Local Guides friendship! Thanks for sharing @MortenCopenhagen

[palmad1]

Thank you so much for the kind wishes, @SophatCHY! It’s really exciting to see those tips leading to instant results.

Good luck with your practice of these skills!

[palmad1]

Thank you for adding those extra details and the screenshots, @MortenCopenhagen!

The screenshots really make the ‘extra area’ concept clear. That’s a great lesson in horizontal centering to ensure that the photo looks perfect regardless of how Google crops the image.

I also really appreciated your guidance on how to handle that taller storefront- positioning the phone was key. And a huge thanks to the store owners who were kind enough to turn on their signage lights for us! It really shows how a little extra effort and a friendly interaction can make a photo truly stand out.

[Laurent]

Hi Mr @MortenCopenhagen as well as mr @palmad1 there’s a great duo there! ..

Congratulations to you both for this successful Host and all the tips which encourage and teach a lot ..

Nice recap !

#LG.

[Kumaarsantosh]

First and foremost, I would like to once again extend my heartfelt thanks to @MortenCopenhagen for visiting India and for taking the time to connect with so many Local Guides across the country and beyond during your stay. Your presence and willingness to engage so openly truly reflect the spirit of collaboration and learning that our community values deeply. Hospitality, warmth, and genuine care are integral to our culture, guided by the belief of “Atithi Devo Bhava” (The guest is God). I am confident that this essence of India resonated with you and that you experienced it throughout your visit.

I would also like to express my pride and appreciation for @palmad1, who thoughtfully ensured an in-person follow-up interaction with you after our ** [Virtual] India, December 13, Ghumakkad Gossip V2: Smart Photography for Google Maps: Make Your Photos Pop** meet-up. This initiative beautifully extended the impact of the virtual session into a meaningful face-to-face exchange, further strengthening connections within the community and reinforcing the welcoming spirit we strive to uphold.

@MortenCopenhagen

I’m proud to report that 4 out of 4 storefront photos got featured. Not only that, they all became the Cover Photo! HOORAY and congratulations!

It comes as no surprise that this experience proved to be so impactful. The practical insights and guidance shared came from a highly accomplished and seasoned Local Guide, someone who has achieved the remarkable milestone of nearly two billion photo views, with numerous images featured or selected as cover photos. Having the opportunity to learn directly and in person from such an experienced contributor is truly invaluable, and Madhukar is indeed fortunate to have benefited from this close interaction, exchanging knowledge and gaining first-hand exposure to these proven techniques.

This experience stands as a powerful source of motivation for many within the community who aspire to contribute high-quality photos, increase their photo views, and improve their chances of having images featured or chosen as cover photos on Google Maps. It reinforces the idea that consistent effort, quality, and learning from experienced contributors can lead to meaningful impact.

Thank you very much for taking the time to share this detailed account for the benefit of the broader community. Your willingness to document and pass on these learnings adds significant value and inspiration for all.

[MortenCopenhagen]

Hi @Kumaarsantosh and @palmad1 and @PrasadVR

Don’t be mistaken, I certainly learn a lot from our interactions also. How to structure and explain and demonstrate some of the more technical aspects of taking storefront cover photos only gets better by having an engaged audience. Thank you so much.

Only the air pollution in Indian cities is worth mentioning as something in need of improvement. I just checked: 3 out of 4 new cars sold in Denmark in this November were electric cars. Breathing clean air should be a right of all Indians also. I could not help mentioning this.

[Ssiddharth2000]

Thanks for sharing the before and after photos, it’s really very helpful.
@palmad1 @MortenCopenhagen Quick question - Aren’t we supposed to avoid capturing human faces while uploading photos to Maps? I use the Magic Eraser feature in Photo editor to take out the faces in case it gets captured. But in your example I see the cover photos showing a few faces.

Example

@MortenCopenhagen

Thanks once again for the guidance.

[MortenCopenhagen]

Great question, @Ssiddharth2000

The official answer is Yes we should blur or remove faces. But this practice was something @palmad1 already mastered, so to save time we “forgot” it.

I have observed some signs that Google Maps might be relaxing a bit on this. First, photos with faces can get featured (as you see here) and secondly the selection of the single frame to represent a video is not often one showing a random person walking through the frame.

Sorry, for not giving a more precise answer.

[Ssiddharth2000]

Thanks @MortenCopenhagen I think it answers my question to a great extent