Online Dating for Serious Relationships: Tips for Taking an Attention-Grabbing Dating Website Picture

You have seconds to grab someone's attention with your profile picture. On a dating site, the picture is typically the first thing someone looks at when going through profiles. Taking and choosing the right picture can increase your chances of being in contact with more people on the dating site and may even help you meet your match.

Take New Photos

Even if your photos are six months old, take new ones anyway. Some people can actually look quite a bit different in that time, especially if they lose or gain weight or change their hair color. Take as many photographs as possible so you have more than enough options to choose from.

Avoid the Boring Face Shot

Searching through dating profile pictures, you'll likely see many that depict a smiling face looking directly into the camera. If you take this type of picture, you'll get messages, but you'll likely get more if you make the photo more unique. Instead of taking a photo that shows nothing but your face, choose one that shows you doing something interesting, such as hiking on a mountain, throwing a football or doing a handstand in a field. It also gives people a reason to contact you if they notice something in your picture that they have in common with you or finds interesting.

Have Someone Else Take the Photographs

Having someone else take your photograph is especially useful if you're going to avoid the all-face photo. The person can judge the best lighting and whether you need to make any slight changes in the angle of your body or face. It leaves you free to do whatever you wish to make your photo stand out, especially if you're doing something that involves using your hands, such as playing an instrument.

Flirt With the Camera

Featuring a giant smile in your photo is nice, but it's not something you necessarily have to do in your picture. When you flirt with someone from a distance by only using your facial and body expressions, you're not frowning or scowling, but you likely don't have a big smile on your face either. Chances are you have a more seductive expression. Imagine that you spot an incredibly attractive person across the room and you put on an expression that invites him or her to come over and talk to you because you're interested. Make that face to the camera.

Have Confidence

Choose a photo that reflects as much of your confidence as possible. This means while you're being photographed, everything from what you're wearing to what you're doing at the time should make you feel confident. That energy and attitude is attractive and will show through in the picture.

When you're going through the photos, rely on your instincts for which one to use for your main picture on your dating profile. Even if you don't feel that you're photogenic and you think you look only so-so in the majority of the pictures, there is likely one that will jump out at you. If there isn't, there's no harm in waiting until you find one you are absolutely sure is the right one.