How to take dating photos like a professional

Millions of people are online dating and every one of them knows that their profile picture has an enormous impact on the number of responses they get. Online dating companies tell their subscribers that profiles with a picture are 15 times more likely to get a response than profiles without a picture.

Therefore, many online daters feel it is better to have a less than flattering picture than no picture at all, even if that poor picture results in disappointing responses. So, online daters upload poor quality images (out of focus, too dark or blown out), group photos, where you are left to wonder which person goes with the profile, or worse cropped photos where "extra people" are cut out, leaving amputated body parts.

In general, if you ask online daters about their online photos, many will tell you that they don't like their photos or worse -- that their photos don't even look like them anymore.

Why would millions of online daters upload poor images of themselves when they know how important their photos are to their online profile? There are three answers:

1. Most people don't have appropriate portraits of themselves. The last time they sat for a portrait was high school;
2. Online daters are not aware of the options available to them, like professional photographers specializing in dating portraits; and
3. Many people are intimidated by the technical specifications needed to upload photos to their online dating service, such as resolution, file and image size.

What does this mean for the professional digital photographer? It means that there is an untapped market of millions of individuals who require quality digital photography. In order to serve this market most effectively, a photographer needs to understand three key elements: the technical specifications of the images, the mentality of the client, and the final output.

The importance of the primary picture

First, a little background for those of you who have never visited an online dating site. Online dating "profiles" are made up of three parts. The first part is the primary image, which is displayed in search results.

The second part is the group of 4 to 25 secondary images, depending on the online dating company, used to round out the individual's portrait portfolio.

The third part is the written profile and questionnaire that an individual fills out in order to describe who he or she is and what he or she is looking for in a match.

Without a doubt, an individual's online dating success is directly related to the quality of the primary image. If you ask most online daters they will tell you that they only search for other online daters who have photos, and they only contact individuals whose primary photo appeals to them.

The secondary images and the written profile are only reviewed when an individual is attracted to the online daters primary picture.

Be aware of how the dating sites transform uploaded images

Most online dating companies only require that the uploaded images be no more than 500kb and have a JPG extension. This sounds pretty easy, right? What they don't tell you is that the final images are going to be manipulated so that they are no more than 500 pixels tall, 72 DPI, and will be cropped or rotated to a portrait orientation.

People who upload their images without these transformations in mind run the risk of having their images distorted to the point that the image is unrecognizable. Knowing this, a photographer can shoot and produce final images that are not only within the specifications for most online dating sites but are within the parameters of the final output requirements and therefore, will not be distorted by the online dating site.

Understanding the subject's mentality

It's important to understand how your client may feel when offering your services and when dealing with you during the photo shoot. Not only are these clients unaccustomed to purchasing photography services, they are also apprehensive about getting their portrait taken.

Invariably what you will hear is that they want portraits that look "natural". In essence, they don't want anyone to know that they paid for formal portraiture. This puts you, as the photographer, in somewhat of a quandary. You want your client to get the quality of the professional photo shoot while making them look natural as possible, but not so natural that it looks like "Uncle Phil" took a picture with a Polaroid.

Retouching is a no-no

Besides following the technical specifications mentioned above, retouching your client's portraits is another big issue. It's not uncommon for clients to ask for extensive retouching of their images. "Make me look 10 years younger" is frequently heard.

Over retouching a client's dating portraits can only hurt them in the end. The number one complaint heard about online dating is that people often upload old photographs to fool people, followed by complaints about by overly retouched "fake" photos.

Therefore, it's best to make it very clear to your client upfront that any retouching will be minimal and that the client should come to the photo shoot dressed as they would for a first date. This usually takes care of any hair, makeup and retouching issues.

If you have difficulty convincing a client to go with an accurate picture, I recommend you let them read Claire Bahn's "Use an accurate picture for your online dating profile," at http://www.connectedphotographer.com/issues/issue200510/00001666001.html here in Connected Photographer.

Other opportunities

What else can you, a budding dating photo photographer, do to get the most out of this emerging market? What follows are a few recommendations that can make your life much easier.

1. Maintain a completely digital workflow. Shooting film will dramatically increase a your cost and man-hours.
2. Shoot at the lowest resolution possible for your camera. Because of the technical specifications for dating portraits you will find that you do not need the top-of-the-line professional digital camera. You can take advantage of the low-cost of older digital cameras when providing online dating portraiture to your clients.
3. All online dating portrait shoots should actually be looked at as two distinct photo shoots. The first shoot is to capture a color digital headshot for the online dater's primary photo. The second is to capture a series of secondary images that can be described as casual or natural. If you have the ability to shoot in natural light, using natural light for the secondary images is preferable.
4. The optimum final output for the online dating portrait is: 72 DPI, no more than 500 pixels high, portrait orientation, shot on a white or light colored background with well balanced lighting.

All in all, the online dating phenomenon offers a terrific opportunity for digital photographers. An understanding of digital photographic techniques coupled with technical and retouching ability will allow a photographer to provide the very best service to online dating clients.

Remember, offering your service to the online dating market is an excellent way to promote your talents and studio to a much wider audience. Joining a network of online dating photographers can help you to get greater exposure and eliminate the burdens and headaches of client scheduling, billing and support.

Welcome to this exciting new market!

Gordon Gooch is the Founder and President of Datingheadshots. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing and developing one of the largest independent photographer networks in the U.S. Gooch founded Datingheadshots in 2002, combining his love of photography with his business and technology background.