Choosing the Right Pictures for Your Dating Profile

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1 General Advice
        1.0.1 You don’t have to fill in all the blanks
        1.0.2 You’re being judged by your worst picture
        1.0.3 Don’t save the worst for last
        1.0.4 Show your face
        1.0.5 Easy on the filters
        1.0.6 No mirror selfies
        1.0.7 Easy on the controversial stuff
        1.0.8 Bring out yer pets
        1.0.9 No pictures with the opposite sex
        1.0.10 No kids
        1.0.11 Group shots
        1.0.12 Let your Instagram do the talkin’ (optional)
2 Gender Specific Advice
    2.1 For Women
        2.1.1 Be the main subject of your pictures
        2.1.2 Eeeasy on the filters!
        2.1.3 Don’t be a floating head
    2.2 For Men
        2.2.1 Let your pictures say more than a thousand words
        2.2.2 Absolutely no mirror selfies!

Selecting dating profile pictures can be hard, whether you have too few or too many to choose from. If the former sounds like a familiar problem, consider last week's guide on how to easily take good dating profile pictures at home.

There are many opinions and even studies on what constitutes a good dating profile picture, and the deeper we delve into the finer points, the more the advice tends to become situational.

In this guide though, we will focus on the basics. Following the advice below should help you avoid common mistakes and provide a very good starting point.

General Advice

You don't have to fill in all the blanks

Tinder, for example, allows you to display up to six pictures on your profile. Do you have six equally great pictures of yourself? Fantastic, fill 'er up!

Otherwise, you should use as many good pictures as you have of yourself, and not a single one more. If you have two great photos at your disposal, and lots of mediocre ones, you'll most likely do better if you just leave it at two. Why?

You're being judged by your worst picture

One very unflattering photo is enough to make many people close your profile and continue looking elsewhere, no matter how good the others were. The thought that this is what you normally look like and all the other pictures must have been taken from very flattering angles just sticks, even if only subconsciously.

If you're not certain in which pictures you look most attractive to others, I can whole-heatedly recommend using photofeeler to find out. (No, they're not paying me to say that.)

Don't save the worst for last

Your first and last picture are the most important ones, and you should choose the two in which you're generally considered most attractive. It might be a sad fact, but attention spans on swipe-based dating apps are very low. By the time people are looking at your last image, they have most likely forgotten that spectacular first picture that made them open your profile. This is especially true if all the photos in-between did not offer a clear view of you.

Show your face

At the very least your main picture should offer a clear, unobstructed view of your face. That means no sunglasses, or layover filters. Not all your photos have to follow this rule, and wearing sunglasses outdoors is perfectly fine, but most people want to see your eyes at least once and the chances of somebody opening your profile (or swiping right directly) are higher if they can see them right from the start.

Easy on the filters

Heavy filter usage just makes it seem like you have something to hide.

No mirror selfies

Having one or two selfies in your reel is perfectly acceptable, but ...read more on SwipeHelper.com