I have been photographing Google 360° Virtual Tours for eight years. One could say that I am one of the first photographers in the the Google camp. Okay, I was not the first to get into the program, but I did go through the Google training program, and as I recall, it was not an easy program. Now there is no training program and it is like the wild west or a free for all.
Basically, anyone in the world can be a Google 360° Virtual Tour photographer, as long as you have a “one shot” camera and take and upload fifty panoramas to Google, you are a “Trusted Photographer” for Google and Google Maps. Sorry, but to me that is absolute crap. These one shot cameras produce the lowest quality of photo that is very grainy and do not even compare to what I was told by Google to get, yes, I was told. Also, a lot of the time the person taking the photo knows absolutely nothing about how to do a photoshoot correctly, or at least on how I was trained.
Let me give you a little insight on what I had to do to get a “Google Trusted Photographer Badge”. First, I had to take a multiple choice test that had to be studied for. I don’t remember how many questions were on the test, but there were at least fifty, and I needed a 90% to pass. Plus, I needed to pass the test on the first try, otherwise I was not to be admitted into the program. Thank goodness I passed.
Then Google gave me the equipment list that I needed to get on my own. This list of equipment was mandatory, not optional. They asked me to purchase a Nikon or Cannon camera body ( I don’t remember the model types they said I could get ), I had a Sony. So guess what, I had to get another camera. $1000 dollars later, I had my new Nikon camera. But it does not stop there. Then, I needed to purchase a Sigma 8mm fisheye lens for my new Nikon at $900. Then a Manfrotto ball head for my tripod, remote, precision 360° rotating head, and some other accessories. Roughly $2300 in equipment was purchased before I was a “Trusted Photographer”.
Google demanded this equipment because they wanted a “cookie cutter” type of experience for the user as well as for the Google brand. So, now on to step three. I had to photograph ten tours without a mistake. Back then, Google had a quality control team that looked at every tour from start to finish and every tour had to be mistake free. Since Google told me how they wanted the camera settings to be, that was great because I would of had to guess if the did not have that type of direction.
The steps to photographing a proper Google 360° Virtual Tour are as follows. The first shot is ten feet from the business entrance, the second four feet from the door and the third, three feet inside the door. Then for the inside, I just had to follow in a open path method being careful not to go over furniture, through walls or glass doors. Sometimes this is not an easy task. Then I would take five steps between each panoramic image. I photograph in brackets, so I need to take twelve pictures to make one panoramic image.
Then after I finished the tour, I would upload the images to the Google panorama stitching platform. Yes, way back when the program started, Google had their own platform. This made it a lot easier then what I use today to stitch my panoramas together. After Google stitched my panoramas together, I had to connect the panoramas. This was the hardest part for me because I had to make sure that when the user would press on the arrow to go forward or backward, they would go in a straight line.
Google made me do ten tours exactly like this and if I made one mistake, just one, I had to start over at number one and do all ten mistake free. I made a mistake on the tenth one I photographed and had to start over. After the second round of ten mistake free tours, I was a Google Trusted Photographer.
Now here is another step. Every time I went out in the field to go and talk with business owners about the program, I had to make sure nobody claimed that business in Sales Force. Yes, Google used to use Sales Force for claming leads. Eight years ago, there were four of us photographers in the San Diego County and three of them were in the program for about two years already, so I had some competition. Luckily, two of them were my friends. But yes, we had to claim our businesses every day, and if we did not and someone else walked in and claimed it, it was there business.
So after about a month of me working as a Trusted Photographer, Google made and announcement, The 360° virtual tour program will be dismantled. WTF! They will be taking away the Google stitching platform, Sales Force and everything else. What were we going to do as Google Trusted Photographers now?
Fast forward six months. Thank goodness a couple of software engineers, who are also Trusted Photographers stepped up and made platforms that took the place of the Google platform. So every photographer in the world that wanted to be in the program still had a choice of two platforms to use. One is GoThru and the other is Panoskin. After looking at both, I chose to use the GoThru platform. I am glad I did too. Al, the owner and developer is the best customer service person I have ever met or have done business with. I could write a whole article about him and one day I will. I love you Al, you are the best and your platform rocks!
Then Google made another announcement that anyone who wants to be a Trusted Photographer can be. Just get a “one shot” camera and upload fifty panoramic images to Google and Google Maps and you will be “Trusted”. Again, total crap! My apologies to all of you who have gotten your badge this way and I feel for you, because you have not been properly trained.
So to the business owner who would like a Google 360° Virtual Tour of your business, who would you rather hire, a person who was put through the ringer and has the best professional gear to make you look world class on Google and Google Maps, or someone who posted fifty pictures on Google? Your choice.
In closing, I am sure not one person will read this article, but if you do and you are a business owner in the San Diego county area, I will photograph a five panoramic Google 360° Virtual Tour of your business for only $97.
www.americasfinest360.com / bgphotos619@gmail.com / 619-316-9671