I stumbled across this now archived post on Reddit from a young man asking why he is not seeing success on Hinge after hiring a photographer. Some of the advice here is useful but it’s also inconsistent and doesn’t included much context.
A lot has changed in the 12+ years since I started taking photos (professionally) for clients’ dating profiles. My methodology hasn’t changed but the market has been flooded by portrait photographers who are doing a disservice to singles thinking they need professional, staged portraits to see overnight results on dating apps.
Hired a photographer but still no success, what's the issue now?
byu/BOB_DE_DESTROYER inhingeapp
Hinge Dating Photo Review #1
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Seated photo, obviously staged. Not the end of the world, but definitely not candid and suggests a portrait photographer was hired. Photos should appear effortless.
Hinge Dating Photo Review #2
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Food prep photo – obviously staged, shows careless approach to cooking by cutting vegetables and looking away. Again, in an of itself, not a bad thing but another staged photo, similar filtered lighting suggests a professional was hired.
Hinge Dating Photo Review #3
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Suit photo looking away – looking away doesn’t automatically mean a photo is candid. The technical attributes of a blurred background, no one in the photo, generic nature environment suggests this was a planned portrait, not a candid photo. Blurred photos also remove details in background which in turn reduces talking points for people viewing your profile.
Hinge Dating Photo Review #4
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Seated couch photo – again looking away is not recommended especially in most photos as it suggests they are either trying to hide something, are nervous or something similar. Again, taking the photos with the same composition (framing) and lighting suggests a professional photographer was hired.
Hinge Dating Photo Review #5
Hinge Dating Photo Review #6
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Professional photos feel forced; they should feel effortless.
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Good photos do not mean technically crisp photos.
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Professional photos suggest some photoshop/editing was done, thus the person may not appear like their photos in person
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It’s ok to have photos that are not perfectly centered nor lit.
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It’s fine not having group photos but make sure photos look like they were taken by a friend (which is how I take my photos).
The problem with most dating app photographers is that they may say you will see more likes, matches and dates after working with them – this may not always be true. The thing is photos are not everything. Personality, hobbies, self-awareness etc. all matter.
I am not saying professional photos are worthless, you typically see women with better photos (they often have more friends, experience etc) but it’s not really the point as an attractive woman would get nearly the same amount of attention with ok or even bad photos. In fact, some women get enough attention and struggle with sifting through likes, avoiding unwanted attention etc which is a whole other topic for another time.
Even with the best photos, you may not see any material improvements depending on your swipe/messaging strategy, your filters (age, distance, etc), your location (some locations are horrible for dating apps). This is partly why I don’t take on a lot of clients – if I don’t think photos will help, I will let them know.
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Prompt #1 Avoid prompts that involve something one-off or happened to you
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Nearly died on mountains: it also suggests poor judgment.
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Being related to Ghengis Khan: this is something you have no control over and offers zero value in terms of personality, skills, passions etc.
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I won’t touch the Chinese divination prompt other than saying it’s trying way too hard here.
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Prompt #2: Not bad, offers 3 interests instead of just 1 but they are a bit generic (be more insightful).
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Prompt #3 : A bit more specific which is good.
Again, photos need to be re-done but even then, success may not be guaranteed. It’s impossible to tell without looking at the filters used, liking vs commenting strategy, location, as well as things like timing and more. Men typically focus way too much time and effort on photos while ignoring things like effort, sincerity, and realistic expectations.
It’s like someone hiring a gym trainer but ignoring things like diet, not getting sleep, drinking and smoking too much – a holistic strategy is often needed but people tend to look for quick fixes rather than build sustainable good foundations.
Similarly, avoid photographers with no google/yelp listings. Most people hate reviews but they do provide third party reviews. Also look up folks on Reddit. More so, photographers from big, corporate companies can be very hit or miss as they often outsource photographers and move through them quickly yielding inconsistent results.
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