Dey reached out to me during a transitional moment in his life.
He was 39, recently divorced, and stepping back into dating for the first time in over a decade. He’s also the father of a young child, which meant he was thinking carefully about what this next chapter of life should look like.
Like many people coming out of long relationships, he didn’t have photos that worked for dating apps.
He said literally all of the photos in his camera roll had either his ex-wife or his daughter in them.
Dey said:
"I really don't have any online dating worthy profile pictures. I am emerging from a 12 year marriage and am really starting from scratch here."
It's worth noting that this situation is not at all unusual (maybe you're in it yourself). Many of my clients are Eastside professionals rebuilding their dating profiles after the end of a long relationship. They’ve built strong careers and full lives, but when it comes time to create a dating profile, they’re at square one.
And it's honestly not a bad thing — it just means we get to design your dating profile intentionally, from the ground up.
Dey lives on the Eastside and works as an AI architect at one of Seattle's tech giants. His work focuses on artificial intelligence, robotics, and complex systems.
Professionally, he’s extremely accomplished. And his work is both highly technical and deeply fascinating — but he was thoughtful about how that might land on a dating profile.
In an email during the planning phase of his dating photoshoot he wrote:
“I spend a lot of time working with robots of all kinds (drones, self-driving cars, manipulator arms etc). Also philosophy and ethics of artificial intelligence is a big research passion of mine. I am worried about putting out that persona too much on dating apps since it may come off as too geeky.”
To be clear, geeky isn’t a bad thing.
But when a dating profile shows only one narrow slice of a person — especially a highly technical slice — it can create an incomplete or misleading impression.
And in Dey’s case, that would have been inaccurate. Because he’s genuinely multi-faceted.
This is a balancing act I navigate often with highly intellectual and technically accomplished clients — a group that makes up a large portion of my Seattle and Eastside client base.
The goal isn’t to hide the “geeky” side.
It’s to make sure it’s one dimension of the person, not the entire story.
A good dating profile should feel multidimensional — the way someone does in real life.
Dey didn’t need to hide the intellectual side of his life.
In fact, that curiosity and depth are part of what make him interesting.
The real challenge was making sure his dating profile didn’t collapse his identity down to just one dimension.
An effective dating profile is built from photos that each do a slightly different job, revealing a different layer of the person.
So instead of trying to communicate everything in one image, we designed a set of photos that would work together.
The goal was to show Dey as:
That meant creating a mix of photos with different kinds of energy.
Some conversational and casual.
Some more polished and date-forward.
Some outdoors and active.
I took Dey through a series of questions to get to know who he is outside of work — how he spends his weekends, what kinds of places he enjoys, what he does in his downtime at home, etc. Then I used his answers to weave together a photoshoot itinerary built around the actual places Dey spends time, doing the actual things he enjoys doing.
As part of his dating photography package Dey worked with a professional stylist to dial in his shoot outfits, working with what he already owned plus buying a few new items.
To build that range of signals, we planned a shoot across several locations around Bothell, Kirkland, and the north end of the Eastside.
We started at Daily Grind Coffee, where the relaxed setting made it easy to capture natural conversation and candid expressions.
From there we walked along Old Main Street near The Bine, using the textures and movement of downtown Bothell for photos with date context and "join me" energy.
Later stops included McMenamins and Log Boom Park on Lake Washington, which is where Dey likes taking his daughter for walks on weekends.
A few photos of Dey in downtown Bothell:
We ended the shoot at Dey’s home, where we brought in a few more dimensions of who he is — his nerdy side, his domestic side, and his hands-on, handy side.
That included photos of Dey:
Photos like these — moments from everyday life at home — are rarely what men think to include in their dating profiles.
They assume they’re too ordinary.
In reality, these are often the most powerful images in a profile. They feel specific and information-dense — and they’re typically interpreted by relationship-minded women as confident and grounded (aka total boyfriend material).
Every part of Dey’s shoot was designed intentionally to create a well-rounded picture of him as both a person and a potential partner — so his dating profile feels authentic, dynamic, and alive.
If you’re curious how a photoshoot like this might take shape for you, here’s how the High-Signal Half-Day works.
By the end of the shoot, Dey had a complete high-signal photo set designed specifically for dating apps like Hinge and Bumble.
Instead of a collection of random images, the photos work together as a system.
One photo invites attention.
Another builds comfort.
Another reveals personality.
Together they tell a story about the kind of person someone would actually be meeting.
Here's how it looked:
What I love about this set is how clearly the photos feel like Dey.
You see a thoughtful guy who works in AI and robotics — but you also see someone comfortable in his own skin. Someone relaxed and friendly, with real hobbies and interests, quietly signaling competence as both a father and a homeowner.
Zero posturing.
Zero misrepresentation.
Just honest, intentional representation.
And that combination is exactly what makes a dating profile resonate with the right women.
Dey later left this review about his Bothell dating photography experience:
"I was going through a rough personal time in my life and at the recommendation of friends and family decided to do a dating photo shoot portfolio with Andrea. I can only describe the whole experience as life changing for me. I did it for myself primarily and not because I wanted to put myself on any dating site and Andrea delivered the confidence boost that I really needed. Her skills are amazing. If you think all you need is a friend with a DSLR camera, you are wrong!
This is where you need a professional and Andrea’s skills are unique: from the setting up of the scenes to making you feel at ease, Andrea will make it look effortless. I use some of the photos for professional sites like LinkedIn and I have people asking me where I got them :-)"
You can read more of my 300+ 5-star Google Reviews here.
Initially, Dey wasn’t even sure he would create a dating profile right away. But eventually he did — and the results surprised him.
He stepped back into dating with a completely different level of confidence.
And he met a wonderful woman — Darcy.
They've been together two years now and going strong.
Dey & Darcy on their two-year anniversary ❤️
And that’s really the point of these shoots.
Not to create a fake persona.
Not to manufacture attraction.
But to represent someone honestly and well — so the right people can recognize them.
Curious how this plays out for other clients?
See more dating photography results — or read how Vinicio met his wife on Hinge.
If you're stepping back into dating after a long relationship, there’s a good chance your photo situation looks a lot like Dey’s did.
Plenty of photos exist — but none that actually work for dating apps.
That’s incredibly common, especially among Seattle and Eastside professionals who have spent the past decade focused on building careers and families, rather than curating photos of themselves.
The good news is that starting from scratch can actually be an advantage.
It means we get to build your dating profile intentionally from the ground up — a small, carefully curated set of photos that represent you honestly and clearly.
If you'd like to talk through whether dating photography like this makes sense for you, let's talk it through.
No pressure — just a conversation.