I see this question asked often on different dating groups across the internet. It seems like the common move is to just use whatever photos one happens to have on hand. From faces blocked by the light of the phone camera’s flash, to cropping out the upper or lower third of one’s face, to every kind of dreaded selfie imaginable… I’ve seen a lot of photos that are just not going to inspire people to swipe right. But not everyone is a professional photographer or has the latest greatest phone, I get that. These easy tips are meant to be useful to anyone regardless of their skill level or camera.
5 things all your tinder photos should include:
I uploaded this recent photo to Tinder & swiped right before I wrote this blog post to test how it would do. Unfortunately it looks like Tinder removed their “search matches” feature that display the amount of matches. Still, I immediately counted and there were fifty five new matches. My phone’s alerting me to new matches as I type. If you’re not getting these kinds of results, I know what I’m about to point out can help you.
1: LOCATION MATTERS
Find a location that will serve you as an interesting background. This is just a parking garage, but it’ a cool looking parking garage with a mural by Shepard Fairey. Find a background with something visually interesting that says something about you. This can make it easy for a match to have something to talk to you about. Two backgrounds to avoid: in your car, and a blank living room / basement wall.
2: PAY ATTENTION TO LIGHT
For this photo the only light used was the existing harsh lighting of the garage, but it still turned out well. Thats because I made sure to face the light source & stay far enough away from it so it wasn’t too harsh. Light thats’ too bright in your eyes can lead to unflattering squinting & facial expressions in your photos. If you happen to be outside in the day, a simple thing to do is your back to the sun. Turn flash off your phone if taking a pic of yourself in a mirror.
3: A WORD ABOUT WARDROBE
This could be it’s own blog post due to how much what you wear can affect how people see you. Wear clothes that fit your body properly. Make sure all buttons are buttoned, belts are clasped & that there are no food or sweat stains to be seen. If you wear dress shirts, iron them before being photographed. Choose an outfit that matches the location. Wearing a suit in the middle of a forest looks weird. Wearing a suit in front of a sleek glass wall looks cool. Some of these points may seem ridiculously obvious… but they’re all mistakes I’ve seen people make.
4: COMMON BODY LANGUAGE MISTAKES TO AVOID
We communicate in our photos nonverbally. Let’s go over a few things that could send the wrong message: Slouching, balled up fists, tense & awkward facial expressions, folded arms, looking too stiff, vulgar gestures, avoiding the camera are all things that should be avoided. I’m also not a fan of silly types of actions, particularly for guys (think pretending to hold up the leaning tower of Pisa) I like to guide my clients by simply having them mirror what I show them to do. This avoids confusion & produces more attractive natural looking photos.
5: BE MINDFUL OF TINDER’S PHOTO SIZE FORMAT
What you want to try to get in the habit of doing when taking a picture for any dating app or social media, is pay attention to the size used. A 1×1 square photo you posted to IG might crop out the top of your face if you use it for tinder’s weird kinda but not quite 5×7 format. If you have a great pro camera this isn’t that much of an issue as something like a CR3 file has plenty of data allowing for picture quality to be maintained even when cropped. This would allow you to just stand way back to get the right shot. But this isn’t an option for most. This info is particularly useful if you want to use a group photo or there is something you want to feature in the background of your photo.
So that’s it, this was just some easy to digest info as a way to introduce myself. These five basic things are certainly not the only things to factor into what makes for a successful photo people will right swipe on or like. But if you are mindful of these simple basics it should lead to more matches. Comment here or on either of my socials if you implemented this advice & let me know how it worked, or if there is anything you would like covered in future posts.