A customer in Denver said my camera work was making his chimney look worse than it was

I used to take all my inspection photos from the ground with a zoom lens, thinking it showed the full picture. This guy, after I gave him a quote for a full rebuild, asked to see the shots. He pointed at the screen and said, 'That angle makes the crown look like it's falling off, but from my roof it's just a small crack.' He was right. I was making things look more scary to justify bigger jobs. Now I carry a small drone for top-down shots and always take a ground photo next to a ladder for scale. My quotes are more honest, and I've actually gotten more referrals because people trust the report. Has anyone else had a client call them out on how they present their findings?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivia_webb23d ago

Remember my buddy who got told his roof close-ups made moss look like a jungle? He started adding wide shots for context too.

the_jana15d ago

I used to roll my eyes at that stuff, but seeing a client's confused face changed my mind fast.

holly_williams23d ago

Got called out once for making a simple gutter seam leak look like Niagara Falls in my close-up photos. Felt like a total hack when the homeowner climbed up and showed me it was just a tiny drip. Started using a coin for scale in every shot after that, felt like an idiot but it works. Honestly, getting checked like that was the best thing for my business, keeps you from fooling yourself.