How to get pictures of a mystery shop like the ones they editors want.
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Yes, my experience with Maritz is that you end up making a photo shoot of the project.
On my last gas station shop for them, I took 88 photos.
If the bathrooms have stalls, if I recall the instructions, don't they say "concentrate on the sink/mirror/paper towel area". In tiny restrooms, take extra photos. Put in the comment area: "bathroom is tiny, about 4'x6'. I opened the door, stood as far back as I could, and this is the best photo I could possibly get. I have more photos if you need them." Then I submit the best photo.
Good luck.
On my last gas station shop for them, I took 88 photos.
If the bathrooms have stalls, if I recall the instructions, don't they say "concentrate on the sink/mirror/paper towel area". In tiny restrooms, take extra photos. Put in the comment area: "bathroom is tiny, about 4'x6'. I opened the door, stood as far back as I could, and this is the best photo I could possibly get. I have more photos if you need them." Then I submit the best photo.
Good luck.
I suppose next time just do what the editors are saying. For small bathrooms, the key is getting entire fixtures in the picture and don't worry too much about getting the widest possible angle. I usually get a picture of the sink area including the entire sink and a toilet or urinal if possible. I might instead do the toilet area or an entire stall. For yellow stations, I submit both. For overall photos, I don't worry too much about getting the PID in the photo as long as I have the entire canopy from a corner angle showing the logo and all or most of the store in the frame. For ID signs, get the entire sign from the ground to the top no matter how tall. This can be hard using a phone, but if that is your tool of choice you will have to do the extra legwork. I do these things and it is very rare for me to have a photo questioned.
At the risk of tedium, as I have mentioned this before several ties, both my smart phone and digital camera have a panoramic feature. I use it a lot, mainly in the restroom and overall interior pictures. Saved my ass more than once.
I dislike the shots of miniature bathrooms. I now know where they are, and I no longer perform shops at those places. (My phone has a panoramic feature, too. The phone fell on a bathroom floor when I was attempting to photograph a little restroom. EW! There is not enough cleanser in the world to make me feel good about the phone.)
Maybe that's what living is-- recognizing the marvels and oddities around you. (S. K. Ali)
Wow. When did MaritzCX start allowing phone photos? I had to buy a Sony camera when I started working for them 6 years ago and was specifically told NOT to use a phone for photos because only the camera could guaranty that all the photos would 640x480 pixels. Also, when I did my last service station for them two months ago, their mobile debriefing app STILL wasn't able to handle service stations so I had to use the laptop and it was easier to just upload photos from my camera.
I never, ever had a debrief returned for an incorrect bathroom photo. I've uploaded photos that got lost in the saving process ("Your report is complete" next day an email "Your report is missing photos"
. Super annoying and definitely a factor of their archaic reporting software.
I never, ever had a debrief returned for an incorrect bathroom photo. I've uploaded photos that got lost in the saving process ("Your report is complete" next day an email "Your report is missing photos"
. Super annoying and definitely a factor of their archaic reporting software.
@LIJake wrote:
At the risk of tedium, as I have mentioned this before several ties, both my smart phone and digital camera have a panoramic feature. I use it a lot, mainly in the restroom and overall interior pictures. Saved my ass more than once.
How do you get the panoramic photos to 640x480 pixels? Or do you not worry about that?
@mystery2me wrote:
How do you get the panoramic photos to 640x480 pixels? Or do you not worry about that?
I use pixresizer for all my batch photos. Works fine.
And I believe the instructions for only one of the gas station brands specifies that a camera must be used and not a phone. I prefer a small digital camera as I can easily take pictures with one hand and there is a wrist strap that prevents the camera from falling to the ground. I take pictures of restrooms but just don't use them.
@kryswyn916 wrote:
Wow. When did MaritzCX start allowing phone photos? I had to buy a Sony camera when I started working for them 6 years ago and was specifically told NOT to use a phone for photos because only the camera could guaranty that all the photos would 640x480 pixels. Also, when I did my last service station for them two months ago, their mobile debriefing app STILL wasn't able to handle service stations so I had to use the laptop and it was easier to just upload photos from my camera.
I use my smart phone all the time, except for a particular brand of station where 640x480 is required. In that case, I use my tablet, because it naturally takes low resolution photos. My phone takes better photos than my digital camera which is an older model. I have never gotten complaints from Maritz after submitting high resolution shots. I think the guidelines are to ensure a minimum quality of photo, not a maximum.
@LIJake wrote:
@mystery2me wrote:
How do you get the panoramic photos to 640x480 pixels? Or do you not worry about that?
I use pixresizer for all my batch photos. Works fine.
So you submit them as 640x300 or something like that, or does PixResizer squish them into 640x480?
Anytime you do gas stations, it will save a ton of eye rolling and grumbling (I"m talking about me here) if you use a digital camera and take a LOT of photos. It doesn't really add a lot of time to take extra photos and then you have them when they ask for different ones. (And they will.) I prefer not to worry about my route bonuses being denied because I didn't get paid for one lousy station that I wouldn't go back 70 miles for. I want to have all the photos I need before I leave the site. I'm not saying I've never forgotten a photo or I've never had to go back. I'm saying I do everything in my power to not let that happen.
On the bathrooms, take one of the stalls. Take one of the handwashing and mirror area. Take one of the floor and trashcans if it needs to be separate to show. Take one of all of those elements together if you can. Then take an extra.
Take 3 PID photos. All of them should show the entire thing from bottom to top. Close as you can get. zoom out. Another, zoom out, and the last one. You will just upload the best of the 3.
Evaluating the restroom shared by a QSR just means if there is a Subway sharing the space to go ahead and evaluate it.
If you don't want to make a photo shoot out of it I suggest you don't do any more gas stations.
Try thinking of it this way: photos or narrative? I choose photos.
Take 3 PID photos. All of them should show the entire thing from bottom to top. Close as you can get. zoom out. Another, zoom out, and the last one. You will just upload the best of the 3.
Evaluating the restroom shared by a QSR just means if there is a Subway sharing the space to go ahead and evaluate it.
If you don't want to make a photo shoot out of it I suggest you don't do any more gas stations.
Try thinking of it this way: photos or narrative? I choose photos.
@bmttinman wrote:
I am having trouble getting the photos required for Maritz on the Service stations. I am have extreme trouble with the small bathrooms with stalls and getting any detail. Famous quotes are Object reference not set to an instance of an object. The PID photo cannot be the same as the Overall photo. Please submit a unique image that includes all of the required elements for the PID photo. Please evaluate the Restroom(s) as per page 26 of your guidelines which say, "Restrooms shared by a QSR or another entity will be evaluated per same guidelines above. Anyone that can give me a lesson would help. I shoot with a smart phone and I really do not want to make a photo shoot out of this projected.
The PID photo should never be the same as the overall photo. The PID photo is a closeup of the PID...the overall photo is the entire site. I really have no issues with the photos. The issue with the restroom shared by the QSR means just pretend there is no QSR and pretend they are the gas station's restrooms. And when you take a restroom picture, make sure you get a sink in the shot. If there are stalls and you can't see the actual toilets, no biggie, although you can take some of the toilets too. But they want to see the sink area. If it is tiny, stand in the doorway and get as much as you can. But I think you are overstressing about it.
And 88 pictures? Wow. Never.
As to the question of camera vs. phone -- Maritz now has an app for reporting.
And 88 pictures? Wow. Never.
As to the question of camera vs. phone -- Maritz now has an app for reporting.
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