What I have learned by posting 10600+ photos, earning 8300+ points and getting 130+ million view

[Svein]

I originally  tried using my DSLR camera and stiching them on a PC, but my Pixel XL and the Google camera app photosphere feature takes by far the best quality 360 pictures in my opinion. It just takes some practice to hold the camera in the same place when taking all the pictures. I pick a spot on the ground and make sure I hold the phone at eye height over the same spot for all the pictures to be stitched.

[davidcox]

@Svein Thanks for the information.  I did see some of yours and they look great. I will have to try it. I have a Samsung and will start looking for an app that works with S7 and then start experimenting.

[HeyJoe]

@Svein Thank you for the great content and inspirations. 

[LucioV]

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@Svein wrote:

I originally  tried using my DSLR camera and stiching them on a PC, but my Pixel XL and the Google camera app photosphere feature takes by far the best quality 360 pictures in my opinion. It just takes some practice to hold the camera in the same place when taking all the pictures. I pick a spot on the ground and make sure I hold the phone at eye height over the same spot for all the pictures to be stitched.

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I agree.

I'm using a wire, with an usb-c plug, and a weight, pointing a point in the ground, to keep the phone at the same point while shooting.

Using a tayrona head could help more!

[anaflo07]

Buenos días, tus palabras me animan a seguir subiendo fotos, a veces pienso que el sentido tiene fotos de los sitios a los que vas y subirlas

Me gusta hacer fotos, se un poco sobre este tema, pero me alegra ver como mis fotos pueden ayudar a otras personas a decidir si o no a ese lugar.

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[shafferac6]

Thank you for this article!  When traveling to a new place I love viewing quality photos of the location to better orient myself with the new surroundings.

Sometimes I think it to be quite interesting as to what photos receive the most or least amount of views. For example, my photos of the soda fountains in fast food places get tons of hits. Why is that?? Everyone knows they serve Coke at In-n-Out, but still people want to see a photo of it.  

Thanks again for the article!

[davidcox]

@shafferac6  I am not sure that is what people want to see but it is what the photo algorithm wants to show. I would not have thought of it. Great point, I did not know that one, thanks.  I guess it shows options for beverages and distinguished type of place it is. Looking back at mine one of the things that really confused me was a shot I happened to be 4 coolers of self-serve soda bottles and cans. Over that is a TV showing a woman's face over the coolers. It is very weird.  Now that I go back and look it is one of highest traffic pictures I have taken. I had no idea why. On their my business page it is the top image and beats a great exterior shot.  I want to go back and see if a shot of the cash register area and menu over it will place higher it did not but was not as clear.

 So by extension in a bar would the back of the bar and the bottle set up get lots of hits?   It would be an indication of the type of place it is by the shape and colors of the bottles artificial intelligence can certainly tell the difference between a bottle of Sprite vs a bottle of vodka. Food shots show information about the place so beverages do too I guess.  By extension, if both soft drinks and alcohol are served at the same establishment potential customer would want to have both shown.  Most of my shots so far are of locations that are flagged in contribute as needing photos and seem to be fairly low volume search locations not sure if that affects it.  Only a couple of shots regarding bars so now frame of reference yet. It does look like Google likes coolers and soda dispensers in restaurants. Going to test the others.

[FazeelUsmani]

@Svein Thanks a lot for sharing the experience. Your photos looks awesome.

Congratulations!!!

[beepinb]

What an inspirational post Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. It is so good to see your dedication in making Maps better.  The photo quality is absolutely amazing and thanks to you for great tips and advice.

[Yabbiesinthedam]

Good on you  @SveinR .

What a great effort.

Tell me, does Google pick photos if they have a watermark in them?

What would probably happen if you watermarked or included a piece of code in the photo that you could search for later?

Keep up the good work,

Paul