2022
I enlisted as a Local Guide(LG) on 26th October, 2017. As soon as I started I came across SveinR's post on his learning as a LG. Inspired by that post I also wanted to write after having some experience. So here I go with my two cents. For the sake of records I already have a million views as of yesterday posting about 1500+ photos.
This is my first post on what I have learnt in last ~80+ days as a Local Guide while posting photos. May be all of this has been posted by others already. I got good results, catching eyeballs, following these points.
- Photograph of fashion stores having lot of colourfully dressed mannequins with properly labelled racks. Instore and show window of ethnic wear showrooms in lighted conditions after sunset. Fashion store 'shelfie' may not work so good but a gift shop 'shelfie' may work wonders towards attracting more views.
- Photos of local famous restaurants, eateries, desert shops and bakeries. More so if they are existing for 50 years as a brand chain or a single store. Clicks of the wall decor specially if they are antique or very modern. Pictures on the wall having information about the place. Snap of the menu cards designed out of the ordinary makes good informative photos. The food should be clicked before one starts eating. Photos of food, especially those which make the plate look gorgeous, taken in close up with black background to the white plate attracts lot of eyeballs. The flash can be used to get this effect. Pictures of exotic food, local food, street food, counters having colourful decor in the background with illuminated hues, freezer boxes of ice creams/deserts with visible windows, videos of 30 seconds duration on how the plating is done, making of the food/ice cream are eye candies to the Google Maps users.
- Long shots having a lot of depth, even for a landscape can fetch a lot of views.
- Large architecture captured in bright sunny conditions or contrasting background e.g. one side is bright blue with the other side having dark rain clouds with the architecture in between are also of great interest. This can be a famous landmark like Colosseum.
- When too many shops/businesses are being captured in one place e.g. a large mall, the shop facades or insides should not be tagged as a photo of the mall. Checking the address as inside the mall and posting it under that name of the business house works better. If not found adding it as a missing place, even if they are chain stores or a large brand will bring more views.
- While capturing strip malls or large malls the snaps should be taken at a time when the shops are illuminated fully and there is minimal ambient lighting from external sources. This brings an additional effect to the photos. The difference can be found for photos of shops around Food Courts with a lot of skylights taken in daylight.
- Post a review along with the pictures will fetch more views. The review has to be at least a para in length having minimum 50-60 characters and not a 1-2 liner.
- Photos of village like architecture and of original village draws a lot of attention.
- Even pictures of local provision stores or a nearby music school can also generate a lot of bumper views.
Will try and add on to this list as I progress further in my journey as a LG.
Few of my photos when the view count reached 0.5m
