Since the launch of Ricoh's Theta camera, it brought back memories of my time with an IPIX camera in the 1990s. It functions the same way since it captures spherical images which needs to be stitched together with a desktop software. For Ricoh's Theta, you only need an iPhone app if you don't have a computer at your disposal.

Judging from the quality of the images, the first thing that came to mind is that Google could open this up to people with such a camera to capture extended Street View photos.

Google Business Photographer

This sounds really spiffy. Google Business Photographer. Wow. You must earn as much money as the stock has in recent years. That would be cool if you could make a load of cash by joining them.

Right now, the program is only available in the US, Australia, NZ and UK, and in time will be extended to other parts of the world. To sign up to be a trusted photographer, Google has some requirements which you must meet.

Equipment List
Google has strict criteria for this, and you need to have a camera with a 8mm fish eye with a 180 degree field of view. You can use most commercially available DSLRs with either APS-C or Full Frame sensor. So forget that puny smartphone camera you been raving about. It won't do.

Exposure Stacking Technique
To capture successful photos, you need to overlap each picture to make a seamless bubble, meaning you have to capture four scene from a single shooting vantage. Each of these must be bracketed, so you have a total of 12 frames with varying exposure. With three frames, you stack the exposure to create the best dynamic range for each scene therefore negating the HDR effect. You get a blended image. Exposure stacking allows you to shoot at a low ISO so that noise would not be a problem. Lower ISO also gives much better dynamic range which is what Google is looking for. To know more about exposure stacking, click this link. Since this will be shot with a tripod, there is no need to worry about shutter speed or aperture. You can preset your aperture to a f/11 value to get the best image for any indoor location.

Must have a Viable Photography Business

Yep, you have to be pro in some ways, with a dedicated photography set up, website and license to operate a business. This is to avoid any eventual flare ups between the business owner. There is even a clause that says this:-

Photographer will refund all Service Fees to the Business (but will have no further liability with respect to the agreement) if Google rejects the photographs for failure to meet the Google Business Photos technical specifications and Photographer does not correct the failure after re-photographing the Business at a mutually-agreed upon time.

How Street View is Extended Indoors

The whole idea is that upon walking on the road, or driving, you might want to take a peek at what's in store. It could be that you're running some chop shop or whore house that looks perfectly decent from the outside but it rocks on the inside! I'm just kidding. But if whoring is legal in your country, I am sure Google will allow indoor photos of your establishment on Google maps.

To get an idea of what sort of photos can be achieved through the humble use of a camera on a tripod, just click the link here.

Published Rates for Photographic Services

You get a rough ballpark cost for doing something like this and I have put two such services here. It's not much really. In fact, Google doesn't pay you a cent for taking the photos, the businesses that want their pictures taken do.

You can of course charge a fee for this that is beyond the structured fees charged by these individuals as it does not include transport, lodging or any other operation cost. Personally, I have problems with such a cost structure as it is not something you can a 'stable' business. I have often argued that photographers are paid far less today than they were during the analogue era for one simple thing. Film was a consumable cost and can be charged back to the client, whereas computer time, spent in post production of images cannot. In its day, you paid a photographer to take a fixed number of pictures which came out of a color lab. Today, you need to BUY computers to enhance your images before delivering them to your client, which you can't charge for. Software cost money and so does the computer. If you are not handy with a computer or software for imaging, you had to hire help and that added up to your final cost of delivery. This is something people take for granted in the digital world.

UK Rates For Google Street View Photography

Micro Business £195.00
Up to 5 Virtual Tour viewpointsUp to 10 Static PhotographsSetup of Google+ Local pageHosting on Google+ LocalEnhanced Google Search resultsIntegration into Google Street ViewIntegration into Google MapsQR codes linking to your tour

Small Business £245.00
Up to 10 Virtual Tour viewpointsUp to 10 Static PhotographsSetup of Google+ Local pageHosting on Google+ LocalEnhanced Google Search resultsIntegration into Google Street ViewIntegration into Google MapsQR codes linking to your tour 

Medium Business £345.00
Up to 20 Virtual Tour viewpointsUp to 15 Static PhotographsSetup of Google+ Local pageHosting on Google+ LocalEnhanced Google Search resultsIntegration into Google Street ViewIntegration into Google MapsQR codes linking to your tour 

Large Business £445.00
Up to 30 Virtual Tour viewpointsUp to 15 Static PhotographsSetup of Google+ Local pageHosting on Google+ LocalEnhanced Google Search resultsIntegration into Google Street ViewIntegration into Google MapsQR codes linking to your tour

US Rates for Google Street View Photography

Package One- $299Consists of approximately 1 hour of 360 Panorama Photography with up to 10 scenes of your business interior. Also included an additional 1/2 hour with up to 6 still photographs required by Google of your business, signage, and details of your location. Average business floor plan of 1500 sf or less. All images are uploaded to Google Pages for you.

Package Two- $399Consists of approximately 1.25 hours of 360 Panorama Photography with up to 15 scenes of your business interior. Also included an additional 1/2 hour with up to 6 still photographs required by Google of your business, signage, and details of your location, with and additional 1/2 hour shooting 10 still photographs specified by you. Average business floor plan of  2000 sf or less. All images are uploaded to Google Places for you.

Package Three-$499Consists of approximately 1.5 hours of 360 Panorama Photography with up to 30 scenes of your business interior. Also included an additional 1/2 hour with up to 6 still photographs required by Google of your business, signage, and details of your location, with and additional 1/2 hour shooting 10 still photographs specified by you. Average business floor plan of 2500 sf or less. Also, an additional 1/2 hour commercial portrait session with your team. All images are uploaded to Google Places for you.

Package Four – $999This is for a small Furniture store / Department Store / Large Retailer – Consists of approximately 2-4 hours of 360 Panorama Photography with up to 40 scenes of your business interior. Also included an additional 1/2 hour with up to 6 still photographs required by Google of your business, signage, and details of your location, with and additional 1/2 hour shooting 10 still photographs specified by you. Average business floor plan of 5000 to 7000 sf. Also, an additional 1/2 hour commercial portrait session with your team. All images are uploaded to Google Places for you.

Making Money Myth Dispelled

Yes, it's not a full time affair judging from the fees pros are charging for something like this. You can't possibly be charging these rates and relying on this to bring home the bacon so to speak. A typical package with a basic location shoot with travel time, planning and digital post production will cost you 4 hours tops. For US$299, that works out to less than a US$100 bucks an hour. In a day, you can only possibly do two clients, which means US$600 a day tops. Doesn't make sense if you are a Pro. Wedding photographers earn more than that in a single sitting. Judging from the fees charged now, you can safely assume that it is not a niche photography market.

If you are an amateur on the other hand, with a Ricoh Theta camera and a Tripod. It makes good sense to earn some pocket money by shooting an entire location with for a mere fee of US$299. That's coz the Ricoh Theta cost only US$399! You could get a return on investment real quick and make money on your second shoot. Sounds lovely but until Google makes that official, you won't be qualifying yourself as a Google Business Photographer.

Update: Google has introduced a new Street App, which allows you to upload bubble photos using an Android device and there is support for bubble photos shot on the new Ricoh Theta as well, however there is no word on this from Google to say that you can junk your DSLR in favor of the Ricoh point and shoot to qualify as a Google Business Photographer.

Marissa Meyer of Yahoo may have earned the rancor of photographers everywhere when she categorically said that there is no such thing as a "professional photographer" after the relaunch of the Flickr site.

Such anger from the photographic community is not new, which reflects the very sorry state of digital imaging and digital photography.

Before we jump into this contentious issue let's put everything up for review.

Digital Imaging is a Disruptive Force 

You can't deny how digital imaging has changed the professional landscape forever. Unlike the days of film, where every shot you took costed money, every frame you squeeze out of a DSLR now is free from processing fees.

So when it is free, you get to shoot more at no further cost. And when you shoot more, you gotta have ONE frame in your hundreds of shots that will nail the shot a client wants. If this is the case, then the client will automatically assume that to get ONE frame that is spot on for them, they can't be possibly paying you for your time or exposure cost!

Will Work for Peanuts?

How many times have you answered a call for a photographic project only to realize that you will be paid with "Exposure" and "links to your website".  I am afraid there are just too many to call up. Internet sites like dpreview.com and thephoblographer.com use this to lure photographer cum writers out to the open with the promise of "exposure".

If you try editorial work, and have a portfolio to show, you'd probably be asked to shoot for free in return for a byline that shows you own the photo. For the offending publication, they get to use your photo for life and once up on the Internet, it will be flogged and reused to death without your permission.

So be mindful about those "work for free" projects that could bring you a few second of Internet fame but little else.

Don't Be a Gear Head

Love the new DSLR? Gotta have that new spiffy lens? Do you earn enough to buy all that in a single leap? Let's not fool ourselves about the cost of these new toys. Buy what you NEED and not what you want. The difference between the two is obvious. The ones you NEED are the ones that have immediate value to you. The ones you WANT are dream toys and tools you wish to have.

It's the Business and not the Photography

Photography as seen through the eyes of professionals has to be more these days especially when you are starting out. Going pro is about earning a living out of it and not about your photography alone. You need to have the acumen to run a business!

There is no two ways around it. Either you have it or you don't. Often it is never about your photography but rather how you run a profitable business that decides if you can turn pro.

The Last Word

Any monkey with a camera can claim to be a pro these days. Digital photography has made it so much easier to shoot a picture that any iPhone totting folk can claim to be a photographer of sorts specializing in food porn. When you have competition from such a crowd, how do you justify that 300 dollar an hour food shoot in your studio?

There will always be a demand for photographers in every industry, it's just a matter if that is a paying one. I have read elsewhere that in order to be a successful photographer, you need to do some market research and price your services lower than the next guy you're fighting with. If that was a success formula, then we should all set up stalls selling $1 dollar take away coffees just outside Starbucks. I am sure it will work. Don't you think?