Local Guides' 2024 Album of Star 360 Spheres

[AdamGT]

1 - Introduction

This post is an "album" if you will, showcasing Local Guides' star 360 spheres.  It's the place to showcase our "best" 360 spheres contributed to Maps and is fundamental to and integrated with the monthly Star 360 Spheres leaderboards focused on the performance of these 360 spheres.  It follow on from the Local Guides, 2023 Album of Star 360 Spheres post.

2 - Questions:

Because we want this post to very much look like an album, if you have any questions or wish to comment about star 360 spheres generally, or a specific Local Guide's star 360 sphere in this album, or how to participate here or on the Leaderboards, then please do not add them in comments in this album post. Instead, add them in a comment on Discussion on Local Guides' 2024 Star 360 Spheres post. Please note that any such comments added here will be moved to the special discussion post.

3 - Steps to add your star 360 sphere:
To participate, you need to take a screenshot of your star sphere thumbnail shown on Maps and add it in a comment on this post following the formatting criteria as outlined below.  A good idea is to use the steps mentioned as a checklist and make sure you cover each step.  Your screenshot should:

1. [20 points]  include only one image of your star 360 sphere, clearly showing the current star views overlaid over it.  Larger screenshots are best but do not over enlarge your screenshot at the expense of quality/resolution;
2. [20 points]  only be of your star sphere and not show any Maps details other than those overlaid over your star 360 sphere itself on Maps;
3. [10 points] preferably be taken in landscape (more wide than tall) layout as these photos look better than portrait or vertical layout (more tall than wide),
4. [10 points]  be posted centered,
5. [5 points]  have only one blank line (i.e. no text) at the top between the screenshot itself and your Connect avatar and post date details,
6. [20 points]  include a caption using the following format
   
   Caption: Star 360 sphere by @YourConnectUsername of [name of the place] uploaded onto Google Maps on [include date uploaded] and showing star views of [enter star views] as at [include star views date]
   
   Notes:
   * If you're participating in the star 360 sphere leaderboards, the caption to be used will be automatically generated for you. Just copy and paste it with your screenshot;
   * If you're adding your screenshot on a desktop PC then add the caption as part of the Insert Photos process so that it is better integrated with the screenshot itself.
   
   
7. [10 points]  The caption shows the correct star date & star views (screenshot) date.
8. [10 points]  The star views shown on your caption must be the same as that shown on your screenshot and if you're a Top 100 Local Guides leaderboard participant, it must also be equal to the star views you have entered for your star 360 sphere on the Top 100 System!
9. [5 point]  Add one blank after your image and caption but not before!
   
   Note: The Connect editor at times adds extra blank lines and for best readability on mobile devices we don't want these extra blank lines, thank you! So after you save your screenshot post, check it and if you see too many blank lines, delete them. In my own screenshot post here, for better readability I have also added one blank line at the end of my screenshot post
   
   
10. [15 points]  Add the name of the place, city and country as a heading and that heading must be the shared link of your star 360 sphere on Maps.  Interested Local Guides can then simply select your heading to visit and view your star 360 sphere on Maps.
    
    
11. [20 points]  Immediately under the heading (no blank lines before) tell the story about your star 360 sphere or the place etc. This is important so make it interesting so others, including Search Engine robots, will enjoy reading and like your story and you just never know your star 360 sphere might be featured in other places on Connect as well as the Web and thus build on its impact.
12. [5 points] Include in your description details of make and model of the camera/smartphone used (e.g. Canon, EOS 7D, icoh Theta, Insta360).
    
    You might also like to mention:
    (a) If this is this your best 360 sphere ?
    (b) Was this just a point and shoot 360 sphere ?
    

Important Notes:

1. After adding your star 360 sphere screenshot, you should check it on both mobile and a PC for formatting and consistency (especially line spacing). You will be able to compare yours with others in the album;
2. The points shown in red against each of the above requirements (maximum 150), are used to measure how well your star 360 sphere screenshot fits in with the specified formatting criteria and is explained in more detail in the Discussion on Star Photos, Videos & 360 Spheres post.
3. Why did I say use your imagination and make the story about your star 360 sphere or the place or meal etc interesting so others, including Search Engine robots, will enjoy reading it? It's because our contributions are not only shown in this album on Connect, they are also shown in the public domain and therefore will end up on general Google Search Results Pages (SERPs) etc. If we make our descriptions interesting, this will help generate generic "hits" to our 360 spheres which means more views. So when writing your description for your star 360 sphere screenshot, think of it as a mini post of it's own. Give it some thought, make it interesting but there's no need to go overboard!!!

4 - Examples of star 360 sphere screenshots

For a great example of how to post your screenshot of your star 360 sphere, I encourage you to check out the following 360 spheres posts:

1. Centro Deportivo Chapultepec AC, Mexico City, Mexico by @LightRich which you can see here;
2. The 360 sphere of "Giardino degli Aranci" (Orange Garden), Roma, Italy by @AT_Rome and
3. Nuffield Health Taunton Fitness & Wellbeing Gym, Taunton, United Kingdom by @nigelfreeney which you can find here.

5 - Updating your star 360 sphere:

From time to time you might wish to edit or update your star 360 sphere.  For example, you have made a mistake in your post or the star views may have increased or you might even have a new star 360 sphere!  Simple! There are two different scenarios here, (a) editing or updating your existing star 360 sphere and (b) adding a new star 360 sphere!

1. when editing or updating your existing star 360 sphere you simply re-visit your existing entry in this post and update it using either of the two procedures mentioned in Sections 5.1 and 5.2 below, which as you can see depends on whether you are or are not currently participating on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards.
   
   ** It's important to note that when editing or updating your existing star 360 sphere you must not start a new comment for this.
   
   
2. when adding a new star 360 sphere, you add it in a new comment on this post following the steps detailed in Section #3 above.

5.1 Participant on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards

1. Visit your Maps profile and take a new screenshot of your new or current star 360 sphere thumbnail showing the current star views and in the format as specified in points 1 to 3 of the formatting criteria in section 3 above.
2. Update your star 360 sphere details on the Top 100 Local Guides system.
3. Copy the caption suggested on the Top 100 Local Guides system
4. If you are adding a new star 360 sphere as described in point 5(b) above then add this in a new comment in this post following the steps detailed in Section 3 above and then go to step 16 below.  If on the other hand you editing or updating your existing star 360 sphere (see point 5(a) above) then continue on with the following steps.
5. Find your star 360 sphere as you previously added in this album post.
6. Select the ellipsis menu (3 blue dots)
7. Select Edit Reply
8. Select the screenshot of your star 360 sphere
9. Select the pencil icon to activate the edit function
10. Delete your old star 360 sphere screenshot
11. Add the new screenshot showing the updated star 360 sphere views
12. Paste the caption copied at step 3 above.
13. Select Done
14. You could add in your description a brief mention of the change in 360 sphere's star views for example:
    
    Date       Star views
    Feb 2023 10,000
    Mar 2033  15,000
    Apr 2023   17,050
    
    
15. Select Save Changes
16. Job done! Grab a coffee!!
    
    

5.2 Non-participant on the Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards

1. Visit your Maps profile and take a new screenshot of your new or current star 360 sphere thumbnail showing the current star views and in the format as specified in points 1 to 3 of the formatting criteria in section 3 above.
2. Find your star 360 sphere as you previously added in this album post.
3. Select the ellipsis menu (3 blue dots)
4. Select Edit Reply
5. Select the screenshot of your star 360 sphere
6. Select the pencil icon to activate the edit function
7. Take a copy of the current caption
8. Delete your old star 360 sphere screenshot
9. Add the new screenshot showing the new or updated star 360 sphere views
10. Paste back the old caption
11. Update the star views and star views date on the caption
12. Select Done
13. Select Save Changes
14. Job done! Grab a coffee

6 - The Top 100 Local Guides Star 360 sphere leaderboards:

As mentioned in the introduction above, as well as adding your star 360 sphere in this album, if you wish, you can also join the soon to be released Top 100 Local Guides Star 360 sphere leaderboards. If you wish to join this fun, motivational and educational adjunct to this post, then hit this link.  As well as the Star 360 sphere leaderboards, you will also see how you can join other Top 100 Local Guides leaderboards, namely the Points, Photo Views and Countries focused leaderboards which are described here.

7 - Conclusion

OK so now let's start learning what are the best type of 360 spheres to contribute to Maps.  I do hope that you will join me and the many other Local Guides interesting in learning how to improve the quality of our 360 sphere contributions to Maps.

[LightRich]

Caption: @LightRich's Star 360 Sphere of Centro Deportivo Chapultepec AC uploaded onto Google Maps on 2017-03-16 and showing star views of 804,298 as at 2024-03-31

Centro Deportivo Chapultepec AC, Mexico City, Mexico

Creo que esta fue la primera foto en 360 que tomé y la hice con la ahora extinta aplicación Street View. Estoy sorprendido con la calidad de las imágenes que esta aplicación puede tomar, según las especificaciones de la cámara del teléfono celular.

Fue algo gracioso porque me sentí un poco avergonzado cuando estaba disparando con mi teléfono celular girando alrededor del mismo lugar, apuntando al cielo y al suelo varias veces. En ese momento ver a alguien haciendo eso podría parecer bastante extraño, jaja. Afortunadamente, era temprano en la mañana y había poca gente alrededor. De todos modos intenté hacerlo lo más rápido posible y por eso la costura no quedó perfecta.

[Kumaarsantosh]

Caption: @Kumaarsantosh's Star 360 Sphere of SkyJumper Trampoline Park - Noida Spectrum uploaded onto Google Maps on 2023-09-28 and showing star views of 41,404 as at 2024-04-01

I have changed my Star 360 Spheres from the Previous Star 360 Spheres of Reliance Digital, Spectrum Metro Mall, Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Indi... Uploaded onto Google Maps on 2023-06-15 with the new one from SkyJumper Trampoline Park - Noida Spectrum as described below.

SkyJumper Trampoline Park - Noida Spectrum, India

SkyJumper Trampoline Park is inside the Spectrum Metro City Mall, Noida, India. This is one of its kind of amusement parks. This place is full of entertainment for Kids and youngsters. One can jump off the walls, fly through the air with a proper cushioning on the ground to avoid the risks of getting hurt. A number of interconnected trampolines are there to add to the entertainment. Even adults are enjoying this facility. Offcourse there is a price for entry ticket. This 360 Sphere captures the exterior of the place.

The change in 360 sphere's star views in last SIX cycles:

Date                                    Star views        Change in Star Views
09-September-2023                5051                          ----

30-September-2023                6362                         1311

01-November-2023                 8509                          2147

01-December-2023                10,565                        2056

01-January-2024                    25,781                      15,216

01-February-2024                  33,825                        8,044

01-March-2024                      34,755                           930

01-April-2024                         41404                          6649

[AT_Rome]

Caption: @AT_Rome's Star 360 Sphere of Giardino degli Aranci uploaded onto Google Maps on 2017-05-07 and showing star views of 798,727 as at 2024-03-28

"Giardino degli Aranci" (Orange Garden), Roma, Italy

This is one of my rare photos taken in "360 degree" mode, and depicts the suggestive and romantic "Giardino degli Aranci" (garden of orange trees) located on the Aventine hill, in the heart of ancient Rome near the Circus Maximus.

It is possible to see in the distance the unmistakable profile of the dome of St. Peter's, in the Vatican City (which, I recall, is the smallest sovereign state in the world)

[jayasimha78]

Caption: @jayasimha78 Star 360 Sphere of Regal Stockton City Center, Movie Theater uploaded onto Google Maps on 2019-11-10 and showing star views of 451544 as at 2023-09-05

Regal Stockton City Center Movie Theater

This is a 360 sphere of Regal Stockton City center captured using Ricoh Theta Camera.

[MattGatlin]

Caption: @MattGatlin's Star 360 Sphere of Margaritaville Montego Bay uploaded onto Google Maps on 2017-01-16 and showing star views of 243,692 as at 2024-03-29

 Margaritaville, Montego Bay,  Jamaica

I took this 360 while visiting Jamaica in 2017. At that time I was just experimenting with photo spheres, so I appear in most of the early ones. Only later did I get better at hiding. 

[TiffanyStockstill]

 Caption: Star 360 image by @TiffanyStockstill of the Metairie Approach from Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge uploaded to Maps in 08/2022 and showing the star views of 538192 as of 03/27/2024

Metairie, Louisiana 

[nigelfreeney]

Caption: @nigelfreeney's Star 360 Sphere of Nuffield Health Taunton Fitness & Wellbeing Gym uploaded onto Google Maps on 2019-11-01 and showing star views of 41,180 as at 2024-03-28

Nuffield Health Taunton Fitness & Wellbeing Gym, Taunton, United Kingdom

This is one of the first 360 images I uploaded onto Google Maps. I was simply experimenting. I was not very skilled at editing then, hence the big blurred patches to hide the camera and tripod - I have come a long way since then. The camera was an Insta360 OneX.

In the following years I have had two new camera upgrades. The Ricoh Theta Z1 51GB. This was good but has limited video capability and as I also create blue lines for Google Street View was not a practical solution. I now use an Insta360 One RS 1 Inch 360 Edition. This gives me the best balance of workflow and adaptability.

I am also developing my skills in editing to hide the camera and tripod, as well as efficiently and quickly blurring faces etc. Of course, it is much easier if you can compose the image so that it needs the least amount of editing afterwards!

Views each month

Month	Total views	Count Change
March '24	41,180	1,257
February '24	39,923	377*
January '24	39,546	2,417
December '23	37,129	1,184
November '23	35,945

*This shows the hit that was taken whilst Google is making changes to its count infrastructure.

Caption: @nigelfreeney's rising 360 Sphere of La Jaconde (Mona Lisa) uploaded onto Google Maps on 2023-09-26 and showing views of 23,213 as at 2024-03-28

I expect the picture above, of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, to become my star 360 in the next 2-3 months. It was taken with a broken Insta360 One RS 1 Inch 360 Edition and uploaded at the end of September 2023. I didn't realise it at the time, but the lenses were misaligned. This required a great deal of post work to correct most of the obvious issues. There were also a lot of faces to blur. I think three factors for this doing well are:

1. The basic image is good and the post work prevented the errors from being too noticeable
2. The image was submitted to a smaller section of the Louvre dedicated to the Mona Lisa
3. It's a 360 sphere - the competition will remain relatively limited in tourist places in France
   1. For health and safety reasons selfie sticks and tripods are not allowed.
   2. I had my camera mounted on a baseball cap with an adaptor
   3. I have since realised that because I use a nadir image at the base of the photo I am better of simply holding the camera up at arms length. This latter point is also helpful where it is stipulated that only handheld cameras can be used.

Views of Mona Lisa each month

Month	Total views	Count Change
March '24	23,213	3,820
February '24	19,393

[RooksieN]

Caption: @RooksieN's Star 360 Sphere of Fox Theatre uploaded onto Google Maps on 2023-10-09 and showing star views of 2,807 as at 2024-03-01

Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Happy Halloween! I was taking a Ghost Tour of the Fox Theatre and getting to go behind the scenes. After my tour, I found this amazing ballroom and no one was around so I took advantage and made a gorgeous 360 Sphere photo, truly 360! I only have 3-360 Sphere photos to date, but I believe that this one is my best so far. I took this photo with my Google Pixel 6 Pro cell phone.

Date       Star views
Feb 2024 2,300
Mar 2024  2,807

[JohnDDoe]

Caption: @JohnDDoe's Star 360 Sphere of Kurfürstendamm uploaded onto Google Maps on 2022-05-28 and showing star views of 543,420 as at 2024-03-14

Kurfürstendamm, Berlin, Deutschland

Kurfürstendamm is the main shopping street in Berlin's Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district, running from Rathenauplatz in the Grunewald district to Breitscheidplatz with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the Charlottenburg district, where it merges with Tauentzienstraße.