4 tips for taking great photos

[YanniY]

When reading a review about a place, an accompanying photo often adds context not captured by words. A well-taken photo of a place helps others by providing visual insight.

Below are some useful tips that you can follow when taking and uploading photos to Google Maps:

 Keep it relevant.

Photographs are a great way to share your experience with a business in an artistic, evocative way. Make sure your photograph is about the relevant business page. Photos that are not related to the business provide inaccurate information about a place, resulting in a bad experience for users of Google Maps.

Pictures are worth 1000 words.

Take and upload a variety of images that capture the  food, menu, or the interior or exterior. Selfies or images with faces in them are prohibited. Any images that can aid in the discovery of places will help others all over the world.

Quality over quantity.

As best as you can, upload high quality photos. Photos that are blurry, overexposed due to a bright flash, rotated, or too dark don’t accurately capture the essence of a place. Take advantage of the sources of natural light you can find. You can even create your own light diffuser by covering your napkin over a phone’s light source to brighten up your subject without harsh and over-exposed lighting.

Local Guides photo policy

Photos that violate the content policy including illegal content, violations of copyright, trademark infringement, pornography, incitement of violence, promotion of hate, or invasion of privacy may result in your photos being removed.

[Shoikat]

Thanks for the tips Yanni

[K M ZakiurR]

Good tips Yanni. I would like to add a few:

1. Photos of visiting/business cards are also a valuable source of information for a business (given you get consent from the owner to post on maps) and donot include personal information.
2. It is also important to moderate and check what others have posted as often an unrelated photo can be misleading.
3. When taking photos of a place try to aim from the natural eye level as this is where we usually tend to see the real world from. This gives an instantly recognizable identity to the place.
4. Respect the rules. If a place has strict 'no photograph policy' then refrain from it.

[YanniY]

Hi @K M ZakiurR

You have shared some really good feedback that other Local Guides can benefit from! Thanks!

[ThivHari]

Thanx for the tips. 

[Nick-Hobgood]

Thanks @YanniY !  

I would like to add another tip that I find very helpful - 

 - For those phones or cameras that allow it - shoot in RAW.  RAW captures the greatest amount of information that your sensor will allow.  This requires more space as the images will be large but it allows for much more processing range for light and color.  RAW images will let you reduce highlights where overexposed and lighten shadows were the image is underexposed and regain some of the detail and colors that were visible with the eye which dynamically samples continuously giving us a greater range of color and light.  

OK  - enough nerdiness, shoot RAW you won't regret it. 

Nick

[LxCuong]

thank you YanniY

[ZedTransforms]

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@K M ZakiurR wrote:

Good tips Yanni. I would like to add a few:

1. Photos of visiting/business cards are also a valuable source of information for a business (given you get consent from the owner to post on maps) and donot include personal information.
2. It is also important to moderate and check what others have posted as often an unrelated photo can be misleading.
3. When taking photos of a place try to aim from the natural eye level as this is where we usually tend to see the real world from. This gives an instantly recognizable identity to the place.
4. Respect the rules. If a place has strict 'no photograph policy' then refrain from it.

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Its really informative ...Thank You

[PranaycoffeeC]

So good

[MichaelZ]

Thanks for the tips