If you’ve never gotten any direct feedback on your dating profile photos it can be hard to know which photos are working for you and which photos are working against you.
For many people, finding enough good photos of themselves to put together a decent dating profile is a real challenge (if it were easy, professional dating photography wouldn’t be a thing).
This leads a lot of folks to go digging through their camera roll looking for something (anything!) to put on their dating profile. And this is how people end up throwing photos on dating apps that really shouldn’t have made the cut.
Every photo on your dating profile should be helping you meet people you'd be excited about dating. If it's doing that job, it's costing you matches and needs to go.
👉 Take the free Dating Photo Audit
Free · 3–4 minutes · No uploads · Instant results
This is a quick and dirty list of the kinds of photos that are most likely working against you on dating apps. I suggest you nix them from your dating profile right away.
Look at your dating profile pics with a critical eye and delete the following:
Maybe you look older now or have less hair or more hair or are more fit or heavier or bearded or… the point is, you look different now.
People HATE when a first date shows up looking different than they do in photos. You’ve started off by failing to meet expectations (aka violating trust) and if the person is willing to consider a second date with you (they’re probably not), you’re digging out of a hole right from the start.
“But wait!”, you say, “I have some current photos in my profile also!” Okay--so now you’re asking people to try and guess which photos are *current* you? Nah. Making people work before they’ve even met you and sowing doubts about what you actually look like is not good no matter how you slice it.
Only use photos on your dating profile that look like you right now.
Disinterested, unwell, awkward, uncomfortable, pompous, guarded, inauthentic.... these are all things that can be inferred from facial expressions and body language and all are turnoffs.
Photos that make it onto your dating profile need to show you looking the kinds of ways that are universally attractive: engaged, healthy, well-rested, vivacious, interested, fit, etc..
If the energy and attitude you are exuding in a photo is not unequivocally positive, do not use it on your dating profile.
Certain camera angles can be really unflattering, particularly shooting up from below someone and shooting down from above someone. If the angle is severe enough you can even get distortion--if your head or your lower body look too big or too small, you've probably got distortion.
Even the most attractive people can look like a goober from the wrong angle.
More often than not, group photos end up being a net negative on apps like Hinge & Bumble (for very predictable reasons).
DROP A GROUP PHOTO IF:
— If it’s hard to tell which person is you (that’s just annoying)
— If you’re a dude, nix any group photos that include other dudes who are equally or more attractive than you (same thing but vice versa for ladies)
— If you’re straight, nix any photos of you with attractive members of the opposite sex (think of it like this--if you’re a straight guy hanging out at a bar with a beautiful woman or two, you’re not sending out “I’m available” signals to other women)
👉🏻 for more on group photos, read: 3 rules for group photos on dating profiles
Whatever kind of mask it is, if it covers part of your face, a photo of you wearing a mask is wasted dating profile real estate.
As we all discovered during the pandemic, you cannot tell what a person looks like when they’re wearing a mask. And let’s be real here--the main purpose of your dating profile photos is to show people what you look like and give them a glimpse into your personality.
Most of the time, mask photos on dating profiles are deeply unsatisfying.
Unless you are attempting to make a political / social statement *which you feel is most effectively made specifically as a photo* don't waste dating profile photo real estate on a photo of you wearing a mask.
Ditch the following photos from your dating profiles:
Are you all-in on a DIY dating photo revamp? A great next read is: 4 photos everyone needs in their dating profile.
If you want help diagnosing why your dating profile isn't performing, start with a quick, free photo audit.
The Dating Photo Audit identifies what's wrong with your dating photos and shows you what to fix first.
Free · 3–4 minutes · No uploads · Instant results
If you want expert, human feedback on your actual photos, the Gut Check is a short, honest video review ($75 · 3-day turnaround).