Thinking Of Using A Professional Photographer For Your Online Dating Photos?
Key Points:
- Yes, having professional photos taken is a good idea
- Should professional photos be the only photos in your profile? No. A mix is still good.
- Having a well-created buttoned up profile is going to stand out.
- Pro tip for the guys: NO Fish.
Should You Use Professional Photos In Your Online Dating Profile, Yes or No?
The answer: Yes. In a nutshell, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to find time to have professional photos taken.
If “should” means necessary, no, it’s not an absolute “must do.” However, it’s something to think about if you want your profile to stand out and be noticed. It’s becoming more common these days, a new trend, and I think it’s a sign that people are starting to put more effort into their online dating profiles.
The biggest mistake I believe most people make when working on their profile is appearing as if they don’t care.
What screams, “I care,” more than taking the time, putting in the effort and spending the money, than making sure your online dating profile is one of the best of the best with a few nice professional photos?
Think of some of the most common complaints people have about online dating profiles. These complaints usually boil down to care and effort.
Spelling and grammar, for instance, is a popular criticism. If a person doesn’t take the time to catch their typos, what they are really saying is, I don’t care. I don’t care enough to proofread my work, I don’t care if I have run on sentences, I don’t care if I don’t know where to put commas and periods.
With that said: I think it’s ok to cut people some slack on spelling/grammar. We all make mistakes. If you want to condemn a person for writing “alot” instead of “a lot,” that’s your choice, but you could be missing out on a great person who isn’t perfect (just like the rest of us).
What I’m talking about is a profile as a whole. A little mistake here and there, no biggie. But, if your profile as a whole looks like a mod podge sloppy mess, then it’s time to rethink how you’d like to portray yourself.
When you have professional photos taken you say: I care about how I present myself and how people see me. After all, your online dating profile is your personal brand.
We’re not all influencers who have pictures of us taken every day. So, if you’re someone who is digging through old family photos to find the best picture of yourself or taking 10 selfies in your car, hiring a professional might be the way to go. People will notice if the photos of you are outdated and of poor quality.
Should professional photos be the only type of photos in your profile? No. A mix is still good.
Aside from showing profile readers (potential dates) what you look like, you also want to demonstrate what it would be like to be in your company. Using photos that show you in an active social setting is also a good idea: Laughing with friends, skiing the bunny trail, hiking with your dog.
I think it’s important to give people a little glimpse into your life. I think it’s important to show that you are more than someone who sits in their car taking selfies.
There’s one exception. Pro tip for the guys: NO Fish. If you are a master fisherman, ok, use the fish. But, if you are someone who went fishing once with your buddies and caught a big one, save it for later.
There is an interesting fish phenomenon on online dating. Ladies, you probably know what I’m talking about.
I digress.
Having a well-created, buttoned up profile is going to stand out. You want intrigue.
Creating curiosity is (more or less) all you’re trying to do with your profile. The goal of your online dating profile is to get conversations started. Curiosity leads to questions, questions lead to conversations, conversations lead to dates, dates lead to happily ever after.
Is getting professional photos taken a “must do?” No. But, you still want to use nice photos: Recent, good quality, not all selfies. You can read this post for more on that.
When you put effort into your online dating profile as a whole, it’s going to show. It will be noticed. That effort is what’s really going to capture attention.
Quick scenario:
A woman receives a message from two men. These two men are essentially the same (same job, height, hair color, etc.), but all she sees is their dating profile, their representation of themselves.
Who is she going to respond to?
Is she going to respond to the guy who has a sloppy looking profile? The one with 5 mirror selfies and a profile that says, “if you want to know something just ask,” Or “my friends told me to try this so here I go.”
OR, is she going to respond to the person who has a couple really nice professional photos, 3 or 4 social/active photos, and a nice well-written profile that illustrates who they are as a person: Interests, hobbies and values, etc.?
Who would you rather respond to?
Something to think about when you’re feeling frustrated about not getting the responses you’d like.
How you create your online dating profile is the one thing you can 100% control. You can’t control who initiates contact with you, you can’t control who will respond to you and you can’t control the outcome of a date. After you’re done with what you can control, human nature takes over. So, you might as well be the best you can be from the get-go, then let nature take its course.
My Books:
How To Write A Great Online Dating Profile.
Within, you will find my best tips and strategies, including dos and don’ts, before and after examples, and a template to follow. There is also advice on which photos to choose and how to craft email messages. You will also find full written samples and a questionnaire to use for idea generation.
I designed this dating journal to help you process thoughts and feelings as they relate to who you are deciding to spend time with. This journal is a mix of guided prompts and plenty of free flow. You may want to view it as a mix of a plain journal and an interactive workbook. The prompts are recurrent based on Date 1, Date 2, Date 3 and more.
