FAQ's

Independent studies by Google show:

  • 67% of people want to see virtual tours of businesses – that’s over half the participants!
  •  Prospective clients ages 18-34 are 130% MORE LIKELY to buy from you if you have a virtual tour.
  • 84% of businesses reported that Google Street View tours increased their foot traffic.

This 360 degree tour allows your customers to easily navigate your business and click on clearly defined points of interest to find more information and even make purchases from you.   Your tour is hosted on high-speed servers and is easily embedded into your website and social media.   These tours are customized for your business and fully immerse your clients into your space and brand.

This tour is a basic, bare-bones virtual tour that has been uploaded to Google Maps and attached to your Google My Business listing. It works just like a Google Street View – just inside your business.

Pros:  1) It gives your Google My Business listing a boost in the local SEO rankings.  2) It allows customers to click directly from their Google search to see images inside your business.

Cons:  1) It gets confusing to navigate, especially if you have lots of way points: Google requires one every 5′, so it can get messy.  2) Google Street View tours don’t support custom hot spots, hyperlinks, or informational popups.

You may not need both – each tour serves a different purpose.

Google Street View tours help boost your exposure in local Google search results and draw customers into your Google My Business listing but not necessarily to your website.

Custom tours engage your customers on a deeper level and immerse them in your brand.  These tours embed directly into your site and are easily shared on social media.  Every custom tour package includes a Google Street View tour so that you get the best of both worlds.

A Google Trusted Photographer is a photographer who is certified by Google to create virtual tours of private property.

  • Recipients of the Street View trusted badge
  • Distinguished contributors with fifty approved and published 360° photos
  • Equipped to use the Trusted brand assets for marketing purposes

The S.T.A.R. Promise comes with all our custom virtual tour packages:

  • S – Street View Listing

A Google Street View virtual tour is included in all our custom tour packages.  We link your 360 tour directly to your Google My Business listing  so that your potential customers experience your business before they ever step inside.

  • T -Total 360° Experience
Complete immersion into your space is high priority, so we edit out  the distracting elements including our tripod.  Yes, it takes us longer to process your tour, but we believe high quality results make a difference in your customer’s tour experience.
  • A – Analytic Reporting

After you embed your custom 360 tour in your website, we’ll send you monthly analytics reports including how many people viewed your tour, which scene(s) are the most popular, etc.  Virtual tours are an investment in your business, and we are committed to delivering you trackable results.

  • R – Refreshed Tour

As small business owners ourselves, we understand the only constant in business is change.  As your business evolves, your image will as well.  We’re here to help: within six months of your initial tour, we’ll come out and refresh your tour one time with any updated scenes you need — at no extra charge. 

  1. Schedule a Consultation – We learn about your business and goals and then walk you through the options and features available to best meet those goals.  You choose the best tour package for your business.  We won’t sell you something you don’t need.  Start small: you can always grow into something bigger later.
  2. Choose Your Session Date – Once you select the virtual tour that’s right for your business, we’ll schedule your session.  And don’t worry: we provide a location questionnaire and a checklist to help you prepare for your tour.  Your business will be ready when we get there.
  3. Watch Your Engagement Grow – We’ll submit your Google Street View Tour to Google Maps within a week.  For a custom tour you’ll receive it within 14 – 30 business days depending on the size and customization of your tour.  You’ll also receive detailed instructions on how to embed your 360 tour in your website.  

We’re here to help you through each step of your tour including getting things ready.   We’ll walk you through our location questionnaire and check list to ensure your business (and employees) are completely ready for the session. 

Each business is different depending on its size, but a typical session lasts one to two hours.  After we process your images, we’ll submit your Google Street View tour to Google within a week, and it should be live on Google within two weeks (depending on their backlog of approvals). 

Custom tours take a little longer because we work closely with you to craft a customer experience surrounding your brand, your products, and your services. 

We submit your Street View Tour to Google Maps within a week of your session and link it to your Google My Business listing.  

Custom Virtual Tours are delivered with embed codes within 7 – 21 business days depending on the size and customization of your tour.  You’ll also receive detailed instructions on how to embed your 360 tour into your website.  

Yes!

  • We build a desktop & mobile-friendly version of each custom tour.
  • Google Street View tours are inherently mobile friendly.

After we build and submit your Google Street View Tour, Google hosts it.  Sometimes the waypoints break in their system, and we have to wait until they fix them.

We host our custom tours with Amazon servers.  Your first year of hosting is included with your custom tour.

After the first year, hosting is $899 per year or $89 per month.  These rates are subject to change at any time, but you will receive a renewal contract locking in your rate for the next year.

  1. There are no wrong questions. Seriously, we’ve been doing this a long time, so ask us your questions.
  2. We’re going to assist you with wardrobe selection, but to get started, think solids but avoid all black or all white.
  3. Have your clothes cleaned and pressed. Wrinkles show up in pictures.
  4. Consider getting a manicure. Clean hands are very important: no chipping nail polish or dirty fingernails.
  5. Drink plenty of water for several days leading up to your session. Hydration keeps your skin looking healthier!
  6. Things to bring with you: clean clothes, makeup for touchups, and accessories like jewelry or neck ties.
  7. It’s impossible to mess this up, so don’t worry. You’re going to be great!
Absolutely! Most people don’t like portraits of themselves because their expression isn’t genuine.

Think about it: when you’re looking into a camera lens, the thought going through your mind is, “I hope I look good.” The reality is the anxiety you feel when you think those words actually translates to your face without your knowing it. Your pictures turn out looking “fake,” making you feel unphotogenic.

Everyone is beautiful when they’re being themselves. It’s our job to bring that out in you. You can’t mess this up. We promise.

Come have fun with us, and relax. We’ll take some great pictures that you can actually be proud to post to Facebook and LinkedIn.

Absolutely! Most people don’t like portraits of themselves because their expression isn’t genuine.

Think about it: when you’re looking into a camera lens, the thought going through your mind is, “I hope I look ok.” The reality is that the anxiety you feel when you think those words actually translates to your face without your knowing it. Your pictures turn out looking “fake,” and thus you feel that you’re not very photogenic.

Everyone is photogenic when they are being their genuine self. It’s our job to bring that out in you. You can’t mess up your headshot session. We promise. Come relax and have fun with us. We’ll take some great pictures that you can actually be proud to post to Facebook and LinkedIn.

  1. After we photograph your headshot session, you choose your favorite images before you leave.
  2. We hand-retouch your selections and upload them within two business days of your session to a private gallery for you to download. If you need them rushed, please contact us.

Our Hand Re-touching includes whitening your teeth, reducing the appearance of wrinkles, and removing blemishes. 

Our rule of thumb is “If it can be fixed within two weeks, then we’re willing to address it.” 

For example, we will brighten your smile because you can get whitening strips and have brighter teeth in two weeks. People shouldn’t be able to tell that we’ve “Photoshopped” you. Too much re-touching makes you look plastic, and we want you to be the best version of you on your best day.

$75 per hour with one hour minimum. Beauty Retouching includes, but is not limited to: body shaping/slimming, filling in hair, reducing wrinkles in clothing, removing rosacea, and flawless skin.

Yes – with some minor restrictions.  The copyright remains with Shining Star Studios LLC, but we grant a broad commercial usage in perpetuity in writing.  In short, you can’t claim the picture as your own nor re -sell nor give it to another party to use.  Common sense things like that.

Yes! ☻ Please contact us directly to request an application to our No Profit from a Non-Profit program.

After you book your headshot session package with payment:

 

  1. We schedule a Styling Consultation call to collaborate on your headshot goals and message.
  2. We photograph you! Before you leave, you choose your favorite images.
  3. We hand-edit your favorites & send you a download link within two business days.
  4. You download your final edited photographs with a commercial use license.

Glad you asked! You can expect us to guide you through our entire process from the beginning where we discuss what you want your headshot to convey, to the end when we deliver your headshots in multiple crops ready to be used.

 

When you get to the studio and first sit down in front of the camera, you’re going to feel awkward. That’s normal – everybody feels awkward. It’s our job to put you at ease – not yours. Before long you won’t even realize we captured the perfect headshot because you were too busy engaging with us in a relaxing atmosphere.

 

Expect to be coached on how to pose, present yourself, and use body language to communicate. Our goal is for you leave our studio feeling empowered to take on your profession because you learned something new from your time with us.

Don’t worry – we discuss this in depth during our planning call.  We got you covered!

 

Each person is different, so the headshot session we craft for you is unique to you and your profession. What you wear depends on what message you want to send. If going for approachable and trustworthy, then your wardrobe will be completely different than if you’re going for a powerful and authoritative look. The point is that we collaborate with you to deliver a headshot that communicates your message.

 

We have years of experience in color psychology and personal presence- not to mention body language- so rest assured that we will guide you on exactly what to wear and how to wear it for your headshot portraits.

Our Headshot Mini Sessions do not include hair and makeup; however, we happily share our list of professionals upon request.

 

Our Standard and Luxury Sessions do include professional hair and makeup.  We partner with a local Hollywood-trained hair and makeup studio, so you get the best in Greenville.

 

For men who forgo the service, we suggest bringing a powder foundation to cut down on oil shine. You can find it in any cosmetic aisle, but for best results, we suggest you go to a makeup counter and get professional help matching the color to your skin.

  1. Clean and pressed clothes for each look we are photographing.
  2. Your own makeup for touchups and reducing shine.  For men, we suggest a translucent powder or pressed foundation that matches your skin tone.  Any salesperson can help you at a cosmetics store like Ulta or Sephora.
  3. Glasses, if you wear them.
  4. A friend or significant other.  You may find the two of you in one shot together. ☻

We do our best to satisfy every client, but in the rare instance you don’t like any of your headshot photos, we will refund your session fee minus travel and location expenses as long as no photos or products were downloaded from your gallery. If you download or take screen shots of any of the pictures, no refund requests will be granted. Thank you for understanding that this is how we provide for our children. ☻

Most of our professional headshots are photographed in our home studio located five miles from downtown Greenville, SC.

The Location Upgrade is $150 if you would like an outdoor or off-site session. We setup our fully portable studio on location. This doesn’t include any required location permit fees (if applicable).

We travel within a 20 mile radius of zip code 29614. For distances more than 20 miles, please contact us for a quote.

Additional re-touched headshot portraits are available for $190 each, but if you buy two, you get a third for free!

You can, but the quality isn’t going to match what a professional photographer is going to deliver. We use lighting and editing techniques to give you the best real estate pictures possible.

Yes – with some minor restrictions.  The copyright remains with Shining Star Studios LLC, but we grant you a broad commercial usage in perpetuity in writing.  In short, you can’t claim the picture as your own nor re -sell nor give it to another party to use.  Common sense things like that.

You can expect professional photography and drone shots (if applicable) delivered to you via Google Drive within two business days of the photoshoot or within two days of payment – whichever is later. You will receive two version of the final photos: MLS web-sized and full resolution size for your print marketing.

Through a Google Drive link which we email you within two business days of your session.  There two folders: one for MLS sized photos, and one with high resolution photos for your print marketing.

No. If you have a particular way you would like something staged, we recommend discussing the particulars with us before we photograph your house. We photograph houses AS-IS in that we do not tidy up clutter or Photoshop out phone cords, etc. We reserve the right to move furniture and/or clutter in order to access room corners for the best photographic angles, but we will return furniture to the same position from which it was moved. We highly encourage you to have your home cleaned and professionally staged so that it is in top condition for photography.

We do our very best to satisfy every client, but please educate yourself on our editing style by looking through our real estate portfolio. We take multiple exposures and merge them into one picture (HDR) in our editing process. Please refer to our Real Estate Portfolio by clicking here. Our HDR style is very clean and professional. Please understand that we do not offer refunds on real estate photography. Thank you for understanding that this is how we provide for our children. ☻

  1. You request a booking by clicking here.
  2. We call you to confirm session time and take payment
  3. We photograph your property & upload your photos to Google Drive.
  4. You download your final edited photographs with a MLS and marketing use license.

After we photograph your property, we need two business days to process the pictures. Then we upload them to a Google Drive folder and email you the link. You have five business days to download them before we remove the folder from our drive. If you need them rushed, please contact us for a quote.

After we upload to your private gallery, we will email you the link. You then have five business days from the date of the email to download your real estate pictures.

Color correction and lighting enhancements are included in all our real estate packages. If you need more advanced editing (sky replacements, adding sod/grass, etc), please contact us for a quote. 

Yes. We have Aerial Only Photography packages starting at $200. We offer discounts for pre-payment if you need multiple drone sessions.

Yes. We have a FAA certified Unmanned Aircraft Pilot on staff.

Yes. We will happily travel within a 20 mile radius of zip code 29614 for free. For distances of 21 – 50 miles there is a $30 travel fee. For more than 20 miles, please contact us for a quote.

Let’s start with your brand.

Your BRAND is your client’s personal overall perception of your business, product, service, employees, and even you.  It is all-encompassing: your messaging, colors, logos, communication, stories, character, etc. In one word – it’s your reputation.

BRANDING is what you do to affect your reputation. 

Think of Publix and Aldi: same industry, but two different reputations, messages, and shopping experience results in two different feelings you’re having right now. That’s branding.

PERSONAL BRANDING encompasses how other people think of you as an individual person.  Everyone has a personal brand even if they don’t own a business.  Think of that person who is always late to everything!  Tardiness is a part of their personal brand.

On the other hand, think of the most professional person you know: organized, timely, helpful, kind, etc.  That person has a strong personal brand.

Think of Batman’s branding.  We all recognize his logo, and he uses it on everything he touches.  But he’s also dark, lonely, and mysterious.  

CORPORATE BRANDING equals personal branding except at a business level.  The smaller the business, the more interchangeable the two are, but a business’ internal culture greatly affects it’s brand.

Think Publix and Aldi: two different internal cultures and two difference shopping experiences results in two different impressions you’re having right now. That’s branding.  

Don’t worry: we love helping people just getting started!  We walk through a very detailed questionnaire that covers several aspects of building your brand.  From colors, to imagery, to ideal client avatars, we guide you through setting up your initial branding guidelines.

Because you get commercial usage rights in perpetuity.  It is industry standard that family photographers only allow their photographs to be used for personal use, but commercial photography is different.  Unlike most commercial photographers who charge additional licensing fees that need to be renegotiated and renewed when they expire, we license your image forever. 

Yes – with some minor restrictions.  The copyright remains with Shining Star Studios LLC, but you receive a broad commercial usage in perpetuity in writing.  In short, you can’t claim the picture as your own nor re -sell nor give it to another party to use.  Common sense things like that.

We have an online gallery system that allows you to choose and download them right away.

While we are happy to assist you in brainstorming for social media and branding, we don’t specialize in those services.  However, we have a strong network of professionals who eat, breath, and sleep that stuff — we are happy to refer you to them.

An authentic headshot is a perfect place to start!

First of all, we walk you through this step by step:

  1. When you book a session, the first thing we do is send a detailed questionnaire to learn as much as we can about you, your business, and your branding goals.
  2.  We study your answers and develop a plan to reach your objectives.
  3. We setup a video call where we brainstorm ideas with you and share the roadmap and brainstorm new ideas with you. This is when we work out the details and schedule your session.
  4. Session time! We capture all the photographs and/or video.  Don’t worry, you can’t mess this up.
  5. After you session, we build an online image library for you to pull from whenever you need it. It’s like having your own personal stock image website for your brand.
  6. You download what you need when you need it –  all with a commercial usage license.

That depends on your brand and the message you want to deliver.  We discuss wardrobe choices, color, fit, and style in depth during the planning session.  Don’t worry – we have you covered!

Professional hair and makeup isn’t included in any of our branding packages.  However, if you want to hire a hair and makeup artist for your session, we work with a professional hair and makeup studio in town and can refer you to a number of wonderful artists.

During our planning meeting, we discuss what clothes, props, accessories, and makeup to bring with you. Two days before your scheduled session, we send you a session checklist so that you don’t forget anything.

Photographs:

We perform basic color corrections and fix lens distortion on every photograph.  For facial close-ups, we brighten teeth, reduce the appearance of wrinkles and bags, and remove obvious blemishes before we deposit them into your online image library.  You can license and download any image at anytime.  If you need additional editing to a specific photograph, we are happy to quote you an advanced editing rate depending on what you need done.

Video:

We edit video based on the session goals.  We are unable to provide any retouching to video due to the nature of video editing. We outsource all video retouching if you want it, and bill you separately.

Still Have Questions?

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