"curb appeal" picture? How do YOU accomplish it?

I deal with a few companies that I do shops for requiring "curb appeal" photos. What they WANT is you to stand on the mountain top right next to the store and take an overall photograph, complete with road entrances, parking lot and building. Well..... not many mountain tops nearby.

I do go across the street IF POSSIBLE to take a picture but that isn't always an option.

I've tried a few panoramic apps (Android) that capture it all but the companies complain the photo is too small.

Any ideas? Anybody know of a panoramic app that will allow you to enlarge the photo without making it distorted?

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

Salutations fellow mystery shop,

I have done several shops that require "curb side appeal" photos. This is based on my experience and strongly you suggest asking your scheduler for clarification. What I have done is take multiple pictures that cover the area required. This way the can pick and use any photo with a good narrative to get a better idea of what you observed.

I've never had a MSC or client ask for a panoramic view photo. Curbside appeal does not mean panoramic. Is this a curbside for gas station mystery shops or audits? I usually take the photo from my car as I am driving away from the property. Find out what file size the MSC wants and set your camera accordingly. Different MSCs and clients have different photo size requirements. It is best to properly size them in the camera BEFORE taking the photo.

If I set the photo for 640x480 as requested, I am unable to capture the entire area. I HAVE done a series of shots so they could pick and choose.

Here is a direct quote from an email just today:

"Do you have another Curb Appeal Photo for this location, one that depicts the entire site (canopy, dispensers, main ID, building), in one shot?"

For most of the gas station shops I do, they are happy as long as I get the building and the canopy in the shot. I think I know the one you are talking about, where they want the entire property. For these, this is where a camera with zoom lens can come in handy. I can often get a better angle from a far away vantage point, and then zoom in so the station fills the image. Other times I do as Sybil2 says, and just shoot from the car. I may have to make a couple of blocks sometimes until I can safely stop my car in the right place.

Or use a drone

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

I usually just park across the street and get it from there whether I'm in another business lot or on a side street.

There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

I feel your pain. I've done a couple of gas stations that were located on a VERY BUSY five lane street. The only way I could get a complete photo was to park across the street. It took forever to get a break in the traffic and get a decent shot.

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

It can be difficult. I just do the best I can and I'll always explain in comments that it was impossible to get the MID or whatever in the shot too, or whatever the case may be. I go across the street if I can, if not I stand at the edge of the property as directed and take the shot. I'm not risking my life for a pic of a gas station but I do give it my best effort.

`

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2015 05:22AM by MelanieOR.

Back to the OP's original question of panoramic apps...are you shooting the original pictures in horizontal [landscape] or vertical [portrait]? Shooting vertical should give the most useable image when they are stitched together, but the problem is you are going to rapidly exceed the maximum file size.

When I do these jobs, I set my camera on the highest resolution, with the lens at the widest angle [usually 18mm]. I'll shoot 3-4 pictures with the camera pointed in the general direction of the station as I drive towards it. I can usually get a good overall shot this way [and no, I'm not looking through the viewfinder as I drive]. An added advantage is, if they deny the audit, I still have the overall picture for proof of visit--had that happen one time. I did receive a partial fee.

.
Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)

"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei

0P - To answer your question, or in this case the MSC's question, I would reply that I don't have a photo that shows all those details. I would let them know that I have other photos, but that it was impossible to take a single photo with all of the details showing.

They bulldozed the mountain and put in a parking lot so I lost the elevation I had on my previous shop.

"With a pink hotel, a boutique and a swinging hot spot…."

@Ribbit wrote:

If I set the photo for 640x480 as requested, I am unable to capture the entire area. I HAVE done a series of shots so they could pick and choose.

Here is a direct quote from an email just today:

"Do you have another Curb Appeal Photo for this location, one that depicts the entire site (canopy, dispensers, main ID, building), in one shot?"

If you have Windows pre windows 8 you can use Microsoft Office Picture manager to resize any size photo to 640X480.
Choose edit pictures button along the top. It open the edit menu on the right. Choose resize. From there use the radio button for predefined width X height. Web large is 640 X 480.

I used to get my photos from across the street or the business next door.

~~*~~*~~*~~ kal ~~*~~*~~*~~
Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just forget to load the film.

One time, I took it from the road while in my car. I was in the turning lane at a red light, and no cars were coming obstruct the picture. Usually, I just stand as far back as I can.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

"curb appeal" picture? How do YOU accomplish it?

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine