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Introduction:
As Local Guides, it’s often amazing which of all of our many photos we contribute to Google Maps has the most views. We’ve come to call this our star photo and this post is all about such stars. It includes a set of leaderboards that, as well as showcasing the star photos of hundreds of Local Guides from all over the world, presents a very detailed analysis of their performance. Whether we’re a Level 10 or a Level 2 Local Guide, we all have a star photo, so you can join in to showcase yours and it’s simple to do. Just hit this link and register or if you want some help then add a comment in this post and someone will jump in to help you.
So what can you learn from the Star Photos Leaderboards?
Well from the very detailed analysis of the star photos of the hundreds of participating Local Guides from all over the world, you can learn a lot about what type of places and what type of photos seem to get the most views on Google Maps and remember, views are important as they are a pretty good indication on how helpful your photos are to Maps users.
So if you haven’t as yet shared your star photo then register now as we’d all love to see it!
The Cover GIF:
Following along the lines of the first 2024 Photo Views Leaderboards post, the cover GIF of this first star photos leaderboards post for 2024 features a photo taken by a participating Local Guide, namely @nigelfreeney As you can see the photo is a brilliant shot taken of the Eiffel Tower and here is Nigel’s story about this shot.
In 1987 between qualifying as a Psychiatric Nurse, and starting work in that role, I decided to take a short road trip. The plan was to drive from the Southwest of England, via a ferry to Le Havre, and on to Paris (320 miles). I travelled on my Honda Superdream 250 motorbike, which was a sturdy, good looking bike and big enough to carry all the gear that I needed. I went armed with a little cash, high school French that I hadn’t tested for 7 years, a Zenith TTL 35mm camera, and the confidence of youth (25). I had a map, but of course no mobile phone to get help if I needed it.>
The weather was excellent, but I hadn’t set off early enough in the day. So, after more than 10 hours, I arrived in Paris at gone 11:00pm local time and had no hope of locating accommodation. I ended up trying to sleep on a bench around the Jardins du Trocadéro. I did not feel very safe or comfortable. The benches are very narrow and meant to put people off sleeping rough. I parked my bike in front of a bench and probably managed to get about 2 hours sleep. This is certainly not something I would have recommended then, and certainly wouldn’t recommend it today.
In the evening I end up on the left side of the Trocadéro Square overlooking the Fontaine du Jardin du Trocadéro. This was an automatic exposure, but the resulting image was a lot lighter than the post processed result. Between the fountains and the cars, a crowd had gathered to watch the laser display - you can just make out the light of the laser from the box rising above the level of the cars. By reducing the exposure level, I was able to declutter the image. This shifted the focus of the picture to arch of the Eiffel Tower with the Military School neatly framed in the distance. At the same time, it accentuated all the fun effects of a long exposure, with light trails and ghosted pedestrians. This has always been one of my all-time favourite pictures.
Thank you Nigel for sharing this great photo with us and the interesting story behind it.
. Wonderful long-exposure photo. Eiffel isn’t even the star, it’s the perfect timing for the exposure. Nothing is blown out, the lines from the car lights are beautiful, zero camera shake. Amazing!
. Then she came back at me with a reply way too fast for me to understand 
. So from that point forward I always started of with “Je suis Anglais, et mon Francais est tres pouvre.” “I am English, and my French is very poor”. That helped me get through the rest of the trip 
