IMO, the most annoying and useless photo type ever introduced into an alleged ‘Professional Report’!
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You can go overboard with it, true. sometimes i dial it forward a bit from the X .5 maximum zoom out. But it is invaluable to saving time and effort in tight spaces. I don’t see the reason why a client would think its annoying? they are used to seeing wide angle shots in real estate listings, gimmie a break.
I said what I said.
Ask your clients how useful they think those photos are to their understanding of the issues presented to them within those photos.
…Or are you just using them for overview, listing type photos that are useless to a functional, informative report, ya know, the kind that realtors like?
my photos are not what offers understanding of the issues, they provide a location to know where to go to see and repair them. my comments provide understanding of the issues.
how useful are fisheye photos in providing a location? they cant be beat.
… and those shots deceptively make the rooms appear larger than they are. That’s why they take them, duh! They are also photoshopped to correct any barrel distortion.
Are they not goofy looking? Or is there minor distortion? I think that makes a difference.
My narratives describe the defect location, but nothing wrong with a photo reenforcing the narrative for a better understanding. As long as it is not goofy looking 
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I think, in the context of a home inspection report, it looks professional.
i’m not preparing the report to be included in the next issue of home and garden magazine, guys. its to inform.
go read google reviews for other people’s inspection companies. you will eventually find a 1 star review from a disgruntled client saying “they told me we had issues but we couldnt find them!!! WTF!!!”
When im on the side of a house with 3’ between the house and the fence, and i have to take a photo of something at the wall, a wide angle shot provides valuable context that will save my client time.
from that perspective, i think its “goofy” to not use it, if that option is available to you.
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Not needed.
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also true, to be fair.
I strive for greatness, not adequacy
Let’s see an example…
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This one is at the maximum .5X. A single shot to show all of the outlets with Hot & Ground reversed. You get the idea of the scale, scope & location pretty quick, no?
what are the other options? three different shots of a corner of a room?
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. . .and falls short of both! Thoroughness is what makes a great report, not fancy photos.
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First, nothing wrong with that photo IMO. But I have no idea what room that is, so it still must be narrated.
I would likely use terms such as
Many rooms had receptacles…
Rear bedroom had…
Kitchen had…
And then one or more photos of the actual defect.
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the comment format in spectora has a location field. this one said “front left bedroom”
I dont fault you for that method of reporting, and who knows, maybe Ill do it that way at some point in my career.
I report that way for certain deficiencies, just missing doorstops or missing window frames or several areas of minor moisture damage at the exterior veneer.
But with something like electrical issues, i think most clients want to know exactly how many and where. that’s what i would want if i were in their shoes. So i think my comment was an example of “going the extra mile” and being thorough.
Why? The bedroom you just showed could likely have one that is bad causing everything downstream to indicate a fault. But…once again…there is nothing “wrong” with what you are doing. The important part is you located and identified a defect. At this point, it is all style IMO.
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Just put a removable sticker on the outlets plates beside outlets with problems. You can put a different color sticker to indicate switched outlets.
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Not. Every outlet would have to be miswired even if they are on the same circuit. Outlets are wired in parallel not series. Miswiring one outlet won’t affect the others if they are wired properly.
here’s another example. when there are two water heaters (or AC’s, etc etc), i provide an informational item for both and label them #1 & #2, so that i can differentiate them in their respective deficiency comments.
to do that, I need a photo of both of them.
sometimes its hard to get a clear shot of both of them in a tight attic.
edit: and a similar example with 2 ac’s in a tight side-yard
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i kind of forgot about that method, one of my instructors suggested we get 4 different colors of tape and keep it with us for that.
