I would stay away from any shop that requires 'discreet' photos. Maybe if enough shoppers ignore these shops they will change the requirements.

This works for me too as it allows you take as many pictures from the video as much you need and I agree that you have to stay still in front of the area where you need the most pictures

@LisaSTL wrote:

Hmmm. Were you asked to take photos "discretely" or "discreetly?" I wanted to be more discreet since discretion is the better part of valor, but after seeing the word spelled incorrectly throughout the entire thread..............LOL.

And I have read all the replies where it said discrete. I cringed (did I spell that correctly?) as I read each one but just before I got to Lisa's after reading so many replies spelled that way I was thinking i need to look that word up..maybe I am wrong. So thanks Lisa.

You might have thought it, I actually did it just to be sure there wasn't a new "accepted" spelling

I used to work for a well known bank as a property manager, and one of our PMs was on site doing a bank inspection, (he didn't tell anyone inside he was on location), he starting taking photos, and within 15 minutes the local police were on site ready to haul him off in handcuffs. Took several pieces of ID and 3 phone calls to get him out of that one. We had good laughs for several years. Do NOT attempt ANY photos in any bank!

Hi everyone, this my first post. I'm a new shopper (1 year) and I wanted to share that I've learned you can take discreet photos with your phone by plugging in and pressing the volume control on your earphones. It just looks like you're adjusting or muting what your listening to. Sometimes I'll say "hold on" a couple of times like I'm trying to pause a phone conversation. Of course I had to practice holding the phone at the correct angle, but so far it's the only way I've been able to get closeups without looking suspicious. I usually set the screen brightness at the lowest before I start a shop to prevent other patrons from blowing my cover, then snap 5 shots of the subject to increase my chance of getting a good picture. I hope this is helpful to someone.

Have fun taking pictures of the Castle!

Think it will work?

@jay225 wrote:

most of the work i do now consists of doing undercover photo audits for different apps. the plus side is they pay very quickly,and there's no real report, narrative wise... downside is you basically have to be a ninja, and the pay blows unless you can hit tons of stores.

I just looked at an app offer with 49 photos and 89 questions for $5.75. This is a secret shop?? Do I stage a UFO landing in the parking lot so everyone is looking out the front of the store while I secretly take 49 photos in a drugstore?
They need to start drug testing the report developers.
I can see Cheech and Chong making up these assignments, late at night, in a smoke filled room, saying,
Dude, why not make them try to take secret pictures of the stuff next to the cash registers, oh, oh, and in the locked cases front of the pharmacy counter. Oh yeah, and see if they can score, I mean buy some Sudafed with out an ID.
I got the munchies, man.

If you remember the 60's and 70's this makes total sense.

@cindy55 wrote:

I just looked at an app offer with 49 photos and 89 questions for $5.75. This is a secret shop?? Do I stage a UFO landing in the parking lot so everyone is looking out the front of the store while I secretly take 49 photos in a drugstore?
They need to start drug testing the report developers.
I can see Cheech and Chong making up these assignments
If you remember the 60's and 70's this makes total sense.

You and I are showing our ages, because yes, I remember Cheech and Chong! I wonder how many other MSers out there do??? Crazy scenario for a shop, tho!

@jellybee wrote:

Not sure about the androids, but on the iPhone you can take photos using the volume button on the side. It looks like you're just holding the phone.

Yes, you can push the volume button to snap a photo on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge too. I had to take one discreet photo last night of the carving station at a busy restaurant. I just dimmed the screen, held it casually almost against my gut, and clicked the volume button 8 times. I suggest holding the phone horizontally when taking photos without looking at the screen. That gives you more room for error. Even if the photo is not exactly straight, you can always rotate it a few degrees with a photo editor.

I did a shop recently where I needed a lot of "discreet" photos...I pretended I was taking selfies....they don't know what direction the camera is really pointing. I just preened and smiled while taking the pics of what I needed. Selfies are a common thing. People will think I'm narcissistic not a mystery shopper.

Well, silly me... In January of this year I accepted an assignment where you were given about 9 hotels/motels in your city to take photos of. The assignment was to take photo's of the hotel's signage at night and to take photos of any trucks that had company logos on them in the parking lot. It seems some hotels were charging payments to companies who wanted to illegally use the hotel's parking lots for their companies overflow vehicles.

Taking the hotel/motel signs was crazy. They were so high in the air and at night the street light and traffic light glare hitting the signage made the photos almost impossible to come out clear. So, you walk across the street and try again. YEAH, really discreet. Now for the trucks, you take a photo of the company logo sign on the side of the truck and the truck's license plate.

What was I thinking? It wasn't security that threatened me, it was the truck drivers wondering why I was taking pictures of their license plates. I mean really, how discreet could I really be with my camera flashing in the night. I ended up stopping after I got threatened. It was really frightening. I'm 5'5" and weigh 132 pounds. Hey, these men were huge and angry.

I called the scheduler and stated what happened. The next day I noticed the listings for the hotel assignment had been removed. Again, what was I thinking. Hindsight is 20/20.

I did receive a very modest 'Went to the location fee.' BUT, if things escalated would they have paid my hospital bill. NOT!

I did a Visa terminal shop at a grocery store and it was definitely awkward, but it helped that my spouse happened to come along with me. I instructed him to keep his focus on the cashier throughout the transaction, and engage them in a few seconds of basic small talk near the end, while I took care of the credit card payment (and got my photos). I would do the shop again but not alone.

Has anyone just pretended they were going to use Apple Pay, Google Wallet or Android Pay with their phone? Seems like it would justify fiddling with the phone next to the cc terminal. You could then change to the required credit card with the excuse the app is crashing.

A similar excuse came in very handy when I was taking photos of menu boards at a coffee shop chain. I had struggled to figure out the company's new app on my own time, so I knew it was believable that I might need to step aside and spend a few minutes standing there pressing random buttons on my phone before paying for the order with the app.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Has anyone just pretended they were going to use Apple Pay, Google Wallet or Android Pay with their phone? Seems like it would justify fiddling with the phone next to the cc terminal. You could then change to the required credit card with the excuse the app is crashing.

Sounds complicated and a lot of work. Just snap the photo or have video on and be done with it.

As an allergy sufferer, I love the Sudafed reference. I would have an easier time buying it if I cooked meth in my garage. But no, I have to be legal and suffer in the process.

@cindy55 wrote:

I just looked at an app offer with 49 photos and 89 questions for $5.75. This is a secret shop?? Do I stage a UFO landing in the parking lot so everyone is looking out the front of the store while I secretly take 49 photos in a drugstore?
They need to start drug testing the report developers.
I can see Cheech and Chong making up these assignments, late at night, in a smoke filled room, saying,
Dude, why not make them try to take secret pictures of the stuff next to the cash registers, oh, oh, and in the locked cases front of the pharmacy counter. Oh yeah, and see if they can score, I mean buy some Sudafed with out an ID.
I got the munchies, man.

If you remember the 60's and 70's this makes total sense.

How is it any more work? People are taking photos with their phone so it just an excuse. Video is fine as long as the shopper is in a one party state and has the tools and knowledge to clip a portion for POV. To me that sounds like more work.

@AZwolfman wrote:

Sounds complicated and a lot of work. Just snap the photo or have video on and be done with it.

@BirdyC wrote:

@LisaSTL wrote:

Hmmm. Were you asked to take photos "discretely" or "discreetly?" I wanted to be more discreet since discretion is the better part of valor, but after seeing the word spelled incorrectly throughout the entire thread..............LOL.

Thank you for that, Lisa! I've tried throughout this thread to subtly, and not so subtly (!) point out that "discrete" is not the correct word. Some got it, some didn't. And it's been driving me crazy that people continue to use the wrong word!

I'm glad somebody else brought it up because I was about to go into full snark mode.

Now you can just say you were catching Pokemon

Lynn should build this into her "shop it!" App it could make Pokemon sounds and even put one on screen while you are taking photos. I'm brilliant.

Right there with you! I take whatever pictures I can do discreetly and then at the end do the ones I can't and do them however way is needed. I'm not going to take any chances these days to have people think I'm doing something out of the ordinary and get tackled or worse or call the cops! I don't make enough for that and I usually don't repeat a shop like that anyway.