Pro Photoshoots for Dating Sites and Social Media
 

These days people use various social media and online dating platforms to meet potential intimate partners.  The images you post online are the first things that people see when they go to your profile.  As someone once said, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

I've enjoyed creating sexy images for clients who are active on many kinds of sites, including Facebook, Instagram, Fetlife, Adult Friend Finder, Alt.com, Ashley Madison, Swap Finder, Tinder and many others.  Each client has unique needs, but I will try to give a general overview of this field of photography, as I understand it after many years of practice.

If you think about it, women need very few dating photos, since they are usually inundated with messages from men.  Ideally, women would create minimal profiles and spend time contacting men who look interesting.  But that's not always how it works in reality.  Women have been conditioned to let men make the first move, and when their inbox is flooded with unappealing messages, many complain that men are pigs and give up on that particular platform.  

My philosophy on dating photos is that it's men who really need them!  That's why this blog post is going to be about photos for men.  

How do I help men create effective dating photos?  To start with, I interview the client to determine what I call their "dating business plan."  First I need to know the target audience.  For example, is the client looking for a long term monogamous partner, or is he a player who wants to slide through the urban scene and sample the charms of many ladies?

If he's a player, then explicit photos and images of cannibis use may be appropriate.   These tend to attract what could be called "party girls."  But for this post, I'm going to concentrate on the gentleman who is looking for a long term partner.  In my experience, these are often what people call high value men.  Admittedly, that view could be skewed by the fact that only some men can afford my rates, but let's ignore that and move on.
 

Men have a much harder job attracting attention online, so they need to be very purposeful with what they post, especially if they wish to attract a high value woman for a possible LTR.  We know that when these women are browsing through dating profile photos, they are most interested in a man's eyes, hands, arms, etc...  They are also looking for clues to his status, both financial and social.   The photo above shows my friend Dan, a high value single man.  He's a very sociable guy, who doesn't drink a lot, but likes chatting with people in bars.   I happen to like taking photos in bars, like the one above, so I asked him to volunteer for my bar photography project.

When high value men pay me to create good dating photos, I usually do a formal portrait first, which is often the image that women are most drawn to.   Then we do photos on location that show positive things about their lifestyle.  That could mean posing next to their vehicle, at the gym, on a hiking trail or doing their job.  One of the best options is to pose in a well fitted suit.  If they have a nice home or apartment, that can be worth doing an indoor photoshoot.   Women aren't looking for men who are couch potatoes or who live in their mother's basement.

These days you also have to be concerned with political symbolism.  There is so much polarization that a man should probably decide if he wants to appeal to women on the red team or the blue team.  

I'm often asked if I will create photos highlighting a dude's erect manhood.  There are scenarios where this is a good idea, but if a man is looking for an LTR, as opposed to one night stands, the last thing he should do is post images of his junk.

If you are ready to have pro photos to enhance your dating success, message me via the contact form at the top of the page!