Next to your written dating profile, your profile pics are one of the most important of how you present yourself on a dating app. Your profile is going to be what makes people decide if they want to meet you, but your photos are what people use to decide if they even want to read your profile. That’s why we offer a free review of your photos with all of our profile writing services.
Over the years, one thing that has always remained a constant is that most people have bad profile pics. So, what’s the solution? Should everyone go out to services like Snappr and hire a dating photographer to get professional pics done? Not necessarily.
When to Hire a Dating Photographer
Hiring a dating photographer is something I always call “your best last resort.” For most people, getting help from a friend can be a better (and more affordable) option. For a lot of people, having a stranger take their picture can be a stressful scenario leading to photos that look stiff and unnatural.
Additionally, a dating photographer may focus on taking the same 3-4 poses for all of their customers and they take too many photos where you aren’t smiling. They even take some where you are looking away from the camera. When it comes to your dating profile, the two biggest things that matter are accuracy and warmth. If you are looking away from the camera and you aren’t smiling, there is no way for any warmth to come through.
Limitations of Dating Photography
Additionally, there are limitations to setting up a session with a dating photographer. It’s good to have at least one photo with friends and at least one photo where you are involved in an activity that you love. If you go to a photographer, you are going to get a bunch of posed, solo shots. This is fine for 2-3 of your photos, but you want the rest to have a little more life and personality.
Tips to Hire a Dating Photographer
With all of that said, sometimes there isn’t a friend to help and a pile of selfies is just not going to cut it. So, here are some tips to help make sure that you get the best photos possible when you do need to hire a professional dating photographer.
- No Studios – You want natural light and real-world settings for your photos. Backdrops and photography studios will give you photos that look too staged and fake.
- Minimize Touch-Ups – You need to look the same in person as you do in your photos. A lot of photographers will happily do extra touch-ups beyond basic color correction. It is understandable that they want to make you look your best, but the last thing you want is for someone to feel like your photos are even a little misleading.
- Tell the photographer to treat you like a friend, not like a customer – The goal for your photos is candid, not catalog. Joke around with the photographer if you can. You might want to even consider asking them to put away their fancy camera and pick up their phone. You don’t want your photos to be perfect, you want them to feel real.
- Tell them if they make you pose in a way that makes you uncomfortable – I’m always amazed when I hear clients tell me how photographers made them pose in ways that made them uncomfortable or made them feel stupid. These are your photos. If you aren’t comfortable, you won’t look good. If you are going to spend the money on a photographer, make sure you feel comfortable during the photo shoot. The pics will be much better.
- Smile! – This seems like such a simple thing, but it makes a huge difference. When people look at your photos, they are more interested in whether they feel like you are the kind of person they’d want to be around than in whether you look sexy, thoughtful, or mysterious. Warmth comes from the eyes and the smile. If people can’t see those things, they are a lot less likely to connect with your photos.
In the end, it is possible to get good dating photos with a friend or with a professional photographer. If you have a friend who can help you, that’s always the best place to start. You’ll generally be more comfortable and relaxed and that will show in the photos. However, if that’s not an option, professionals can do a great job. Just make sure that you follow the tips I gave you so that you can avoid ending up with photos that fail to put your best face forward.
If you have any questions about your photos, or if you need help writing your dating profile, give me a call at 888-447-7634 or check out our profile writing services.
