The purpose of your online dating photo is to give the viewer some insight as to what you look like, aswell as to your character. Therefore, the most important part of your photo is your facial expression.

When someone is taking your profile photo, make sure your image isn’t captured with a shocked, blank, or even creepy expression, by doing the following: Think about something specific and imagine all the details. This will give you an emotion, which will translate onto your face as an expression. And that expression will give your still photo life, and give the viewer a glimpse into your personality.

By working on this with the person taking your photo, you will get a photo that represents the real you to someone who doesn’t know you.

To develop a strong expression, think about something specific. For example, rather than thinking about “being happy”, you want to think about a particular experience that made you happy.

Here are some suggestions of things to think about while you are having your photo taken, that will help you get a good expression on your face. Try them out and see what works best for you.

Suggestions for Things Women Can Think About

Flirty – ­ How would you look if you saw a guy you liked from across the room and you were hoping he would notice you? Give that look to the camera.

Love ­ – Think of the warm feeling that being in love gives you.

Secret nobody knows ­ – We don’t know that secret to tell you to think about.. but you do!

Favorite treat ­ – At the end of the workday, what kind of treat would you like to come home to? (For Breindel, it’s dark chocolate.)

Suggestions for Things Men Can Think About

Strength – ­ Think of something that you do better than other guys: swimming, chess, etc.

Lucky day – ­ You just won tickets to the game! Let’s see the smile.

Accomplishment ­ – Something you are proud of: catching a big fish, getting a promotion, etc.

Try a variety of these thoughts in your photos, look at the results, and see which helps bring out your personality the best. Remember, you are not just showing your face in a photo, you are giving the viewer insight into your character, and that will entice them to get to know you better.

*****

Blog by Breindel and Eric.  They are the founders of ShidduchPhotographer.com, a photography service that specializes in improving your shidduch photos, using Staged to Look Natural™ Photography. Both of them work together during photo sessions to make sure you feel your best, so that you look your best.

Breindel and Eric are happy to give you advice about your Saw You At Sinai profile photos. Please email any photos you would like us to look at to breindel@shidduchphotographer.com

The post Jewish Dating Profile: Things to think about while your photo is being taken appeared first on Orthodox Jewish Dating And Matchmaking At Saw You At Sinai.

In your shidduch photographs, there should be only one thing that shines, and that’s you. The shiny spot is what gets noticed, and we don’t want anything detracting from your inner spark and your killer smile. Here are several pitfalls to avoid:

 FACE

Remember how in all those old movies, the women were always going off to powder their noses? Well, that’s what you might need to do, in order to get your best photo. Even if you don’t need face powder in real life, you may need to use it when being photographed. Light may reflect on the oil of your skin. Being nervous in front of the camera may make you sweat, giving your skin more shine than you would like. You can find face powder in the makeup sections of drugstores and department store cosmetic sections (we use Elf HD (High Definition) Face Powder in clear), or you can use baby powder applied with a cotton ball. As far as makeup, frosted eyeshadow, frosted lipstick or glittery blush, should not be worn in photos.

LIGHTS

Lights are used to highlight your best angles. Keep the light sources themselves out of the picture, lest you be upstaged by a bright glare.

WINDOWS and MIRRORED SURFACES

These also can be glare sources, especially if you’re using a flash – you will see the flash in the reflections.

EYEGLASSES

Eyeglasses reflect light sources and camera flashes, which will mask the one thing we most want the viewer to see: your eyes! If you’re being photographed with your eyeglasses on, you’ll want to take many photos with your head angled in slightly different positions and/or with the camera moving to catch you at slightly different angles, so that you get some photos in which your glasses don’t have glare. And remember (from our Character article), no sunglasses!

BACKGROUND

Car lights, traffic lights, the sun, shiny steel poles, torches from angry villagers, are all common distractions in photographs. We recommend keeping them out of the frame. (Especially the angry villagers. Sometimes you just have to run away very fast.)

CLOTHING

Avoid clothing materials that are shiny, such as: satin, spandex, sequins, glitter, jeweled buttons, etc.

JEWELRY

Some jewelry or a watch, is fine, but don’t overdo it. Too many shiny pieces of gold and silver, diamonds and rhinestones, will only draw the eye of the viewer away from your face and toward the glitz.

We hope this article helps improve your next photograph: Take away the shiny, to make it your time to shine!

*****

Blog by Breindel and Eric.  They are the founders of ShidduchPhotographer.com, a photography service that specializes in improving your shidduch photos, using Staged to Look Natural™ Photography. Both of them work together during photo sessions to make sure you feel your best, so that you look your best.

Breindel and Eric are happy to give you advice about your Saw You At Sinai profile photos. Please email any photos you would like us to look at to breindel@shidduchphotographer.com

The post How to Shine in Your Photos… By Not Shining appeared first on Orthodox Jewish Dating And Matchmaking At Saw You At Sinai.

We all want to look good in our photos, but is there such a thing as too good?

Sometimes people can go overboard with their efforts to take a good dating profile photo, and when they do; they can put themselves into what we refer to as a “character”. By doing this, they not only portray themselves in a way that is not their authentic selves, but also, their “character” does not convey husband or wife material.

Take a look at your photographs, and make sure that you are not pigeonholing yourself into one of these characters:

Too Cool For Shul

This character looks like an AList movie star showing off while on vacation. Signs include: dark sunglasses, fancy cars, leather jackets, smoking a cigarette, a facial expression with attitude. Although a bad boy may be appealing on one level, you’re not expecting someone with that kind of attitude to make a good spouse.

The Vamp

This character wants to show that they are sexy, and goes way too far in showing it so that it turns out to be just about the only thing they do show about themselves. Signs include: pouty lips, showing too much skin, and poses in suggestive positions. While someone who sees your photo may find you appealing, the photo itself also suggests shallowness. It also suggests that you might not know when it is appropriate to “turn it off.”

Prince or Princess

This character wears only designer everything. Signs include: Designer eyeglasses, designer jewelry, designer clothes, designer accessories, and designer shoes.  It makes us wonder if they are too high maintenance or possibly massively in debt. Someone who might be an appropriate match, may pass them by, feeling that they are out of their league.

The Perpetual Youth

This character keeps using that same great photo that was taken when they were in high school or college even though that was 20 years ago. Signs include: Photos made from film, big hair, popped collars, and faces that generally don’t match the age stated in the profile. This is one of the most common characters that matchmakers have complained to us about. It wastes people’s time. When it comes to dating photographs, honesty is the best policy.

The Bodiless Person

This character only shows extreme closeups of their face. Signs include: You only get to see their face and the upper part of their neck. Matchmakers complained to us that many singles do this in order to hide a weight problem, and advise instead to be honest and show their full body photojust dress in a tasteful, flattering way.

The Party Animal

This character always shows themselves in a party situation with drinks in hand, or nearby. Signs include: Plenty of alcohol in the photo. “Party animal” does not really say “Marriageminded”. Enough said.

The Popular Person

This character is never alone in their online dating profile photos. Signs include: Photos with more than one person in it. This causes confusion, as potential partners try to figure out A) Which one is you, if you are in a photo with friends of your own gender,. and, even worse, B) Did you post a photo of yourself with an ex?

The Recent BreakUp

This character shows themselves in a photo with some body part of their ex . Signs include: a picture of a person with a dismembered arm around them. The problem with this is that the potential match viewing your photo spends time wondering whom you cut out of the picture, and why? Instead, we suggest that you make the time and effort to take a new photo with just you in it.

As you can see, it can be very easy to let a few photos tell a story about you that you didn’t intend to tell. Sometimes, even just one photo of the types mentioned above can be enough to put off potential matches from considering you. Remember that the “character” you really want to portray is yourself. You are a multidimensional person, and it is important to reflect that in your profile.

*****

Blog by Breindel and Eric.  They are the founders of ShidduchPhotographer.com, a photography service that specializes in improving your shidduch photos, using Staged to Look Natural™ Photography. Both of them work together during photo sessions to make sure you feel your best, so that you look your best.

Breindel and Eric are happy to give you advice about your Saw You At Sinai profile photos. Please email any photos you would like us to look at to breindel@shidduchphotographer.com

The post Don’t Be This Character in Your Online Dating Photos appeared first on Orthodox Jewish Dating And Matchmaking At Saw You At Sinai.