People tend to put surprisingly little thought into the pictures that they post on their online dating profiles. Casual, throwaway photos are what you see on many of them. A little effort, though, is all it takes to get stunning results and far greater interest from potential dates.

6 Tips for Writing the Perfect Dating Site Message

Photography Tips: How to Prevent Red-Eye in Flash Photography

The type of camera you use can have a big effect on the results you get

In general, the higher the quality of the camera that is used for your dating profile photo, the more beautiful you will look and the greater the interest will be from potential dates. A digital SLR camera or a high-quality micro 4/3s point-and-shoot camera can capture you and the context of the frame in the most beautiful way possible. Whether or not you are photogenic can be up to the camera. The cheaper the camera, the less photogenic you turn out to be. Phone cameras don’t make people look very good . This may change in the future, now that smartphone manufacturers are beginning to build better imaging technology into their products. For now, though, you should get a proper camera.

 

Don’t use the flash – it can make you look much older

Flashes tend to make photo subjects look two-dimensional. More importantly, the light of a flash can be hard and direct. The shadows that a flash casts can make your wrinkles appear deeper, your eyes harder and your blemishes bigger. Flash-lit photos can make you look several years older than you really are, then – even if you use an expensive digital SLR. The best way to take a picture for your online dating profile would be to either go outside in good light (though not direct, harsh sunlight) or to use indirect, but bright lighting indoors.

 

Use a good camera and try to achieve a depth of field effect

Depth of field is a photographic technique. It involves an artistic kind of blurring all around the subject. The subject alone is in sharp focus. If you are standing 3 feet away from the camera in a field of flowers, for instance, a depth of field effect will blur all the flowers in front of you and behind you. You alone will be in crisp focus. Online dating photos shot with depth of field tend to do particularly well in attracting responses. You can either learn something about photography to take such a photo or simply try to use the automatic depth of field setting on your camera.

Photos that are taken at certain times of day do better

Photographs taken around late afternoon tend to do much better than photos taken at other times. Online dating experts have a couple of theories about why this might be so. Some theorize that people tend to be more relaxed after 4 PM, with the stresses of the workday coming to an end. Others feel that outdoor photos taken during the Golden Hour – between 4 and 6 in the afternoon – tend to have a beautiful, natural hue. Whatever the reason may be, choosing the Golden Hour for your pictures gives you a better chance.

A few other tips should come in handy

In general, a quietly intimate or flirty look works well for women as long as they look directly at the camera as if their expression were meant just for the viewer. A smiling or romantic look doesn’t work well when you don’t look directly at the camera.

If you’re over 25, choosing an interesting subject for your photo will get you farther than simply posing by yourself. If you are a musician, for instance, you can pose with your music instrument. You could pose while running in the park, fixing your car or doing anything interesting. The more your photo helps make conversation possible, the more interesting your viewers will see you are.