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The Importance of Taking Good Pictures During a Cleaning Inspection

Back in May, we published an article that touched on using photos to improve cleaning quality. We covered photos’ importance in the communication process, their ability to tell a story about maintenance issues and we explained how photos in a cleaning inspection can help you make your business case. But how do you ensure that you are taking good photos? What should you include in the photo that best communicates an issue for your follow-up team? In this post, you will learn the basic guidelines of picture taking in cleaning inspections and you will be on your way to becoming an effective cleaning photographer.

No two cleaning programs are the same, and no two cleaning problems are the same either.   You’ll need to take different types of photos, depending on the cleaning issues.  With that said, following these guidelines should help you narrow your scope for the purpose of picture-taking.

1. Decide What you Want to Include in the Shot

This concept is straight-forward, and easy to determine. If you want to focus on the deficiency only, you might want to consider taking a close-up of the problem. For example, if there is a section of carpeting with a stain or spot, include that entire spot in the photo and frame it properly. If you want to include the surrounding area to indicate the issue’s location, just make sure there is still a clear view of the cleaning deficiency.

2. Use Good Lighting

If a picture is too dark, it will be difficult to look at and there won’t be an accurate depiction of the severity of the issue being documented. If you are in a dimly lit area that appears dark in photos, turn your device’s flash on.

3. Take Your Time

No one likes a blurry or pixelated picture. Most phone cameras are equipped with an “auto-focus” system, and this helps you take great pictures. When you have the deficiency or object in-frame, you can tap your finger on the object on your screen to focus the picture before you capture it.

4. Re-take your Photos If Necessary

There’s no shame in trying to get the best angle possible, especially if it helps you convey a problem to your follow-up team.

5. Include Words with your Pictures

It’s always useful to include a caption to indicate why you took the picture. It may help to make clear what types of supplies or equipment are needed to take care of the issue, or it may help to clarify a specific location. Apps like Smart Inspect even give you the ability to indicate building identification tags that are room-specific for every work order you create. These tags attached to your pictures ensure the proper information is documented.

Photos enhance the effectiveness of a work order and are very valuable to your maintenance team.  When you are taking a photo, you should be sure that your photos are high quality, include the right information, use proper lighting, and are well-labeled. If you approach photo-taking with these guidelines when filling out a work order or notifying your maintenance team, you will make their jobs and yours much easier.

Are you still having trouble taking photos? Are you looking for more guidelines on picture taking in cleaning? Contact the Smart Inspect support team using the form below, and a member of our tech-savvy support team will reach out to assist you.