How to tell your story through your dating photos

By Ned P. Supan

Your dating photos should give someone a little idea of who you are. Not just what you look like, but what you’re into, what you enjoy doing and, ideally, what it might be like to spend time with you. One of the easiest ways to do that is to bring your interests into your photos.

If you’re into climbing, for example, why not have a photo of you actually climbing? If you love art, a shot of you looking around your favourite gallery can say much more than another picture of you standing against a wall and smiling at the camera. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. You’re simply giving people a glimpse into your life.

Show, rather than tell

A dating profile gives you relatively little space to tell your story. Your dating photos are an important part of that story – and they can sometimes communicate things that are difficult to put into words.

Someone who sees a photo of you doing something you genuinely enjoy immediately learns a little more about you. It might show that you’re active, creative, curious, or simply someone who likes getting out and doing things.

The same applies to pretty much any hobby. If you play guitar, a photo with your instrument can work brilliantly. If you’re a runner, wearing your running gear – or including a photo of you jogging in a park – gives people a clue about your lifestyle. If yoga is a big part of your life, carrying a yoga mat can be a simple way of bringing that interest into a photo.

You don’t necessarily have to be doing the activity. Your clothes can do some of the work too. A cycling jersey or favourite band T-shirt gives people a clue about your interests without making the photograph feel staged.

Props can help tell the story

There’s a slight danger with props: you don’t want your dating photos to look like a collection of clues in a detective game. But used naturally, they can be really useful.

A musical instrument, camera, yoga mat, bike, book or even a paintbrush can help show something about you. The important thing is that the object should relate to your actual life. There’s no point borrowing something for a photo if it has nothing to do with you.

The best dating photos tend to feel like genuine moments rather than a series of carefully constructed advertisements for your personality.

Don’t forget your friends

Not every photo on your dating profile needs to be taken by a professional dating photographer. A good photo taken by a friend can sometimes add something that a professional shoot can’t. A picture of you out with friends – at a gig, on a night out or doing something you regularly enjoy, can help show what your life actually looks like.

You don’t need lots of group shots – one is usually enough, and it should still be obvious which person you are. But including a natural photo taken by a friend can make your profile feel more relaxed and fun and give potential matches another glimpse of you in your everyday life. It can be another small piece of the story you’re telling through your dating photos.

You don’t have to give everything away

You also don’t need to explain every single interest you have through your photographs.

Think about your profile as a whole. Perhaps your main portrait is simply a great, natural photograph of you. Then another picture could show you doing something you enjoy, while another might hint at a particular interest through your clothes, props or surroundings. Together, the photos start to tell a story.

And that story gives someone looking at your profile more opportunities to think: “Oh, I’m into that too”. It gives them something to ask you about and, perhaps most importantly, something to connect with.

Make the photos personal

A good dating profile photographer will usually want to know a little about you before taking your pictures. What do you enjoy doing? What are you passionate about? Are there particular places, activities or interests that are important to you?

This doesn’t mean every photograph needs to illustrate a hobby. In fact, that could quickly become a bit contrived. The idea is to have a mixture of photographs that show you looking great, while also revealing some of the things that make you you.

There are plenty of ways to approach this, and it doesn’t have to dominate the shoot. A good set of dating photos should still include some straightforward portraits, but adding a few images that reveal your interests can make the whole profile feel more distinctive. The key is to think about what you would genuinely like someone to know about you, and then find natural ways of bringing that into the pictures.

You can also use the surroundings to tell part of the story. A gallery, park, bookshop, café or other place that you genuinely enjoy being in can provide a much more interesting backdrop than a generic location.

This is particularly useful when you’re choosing a dating profile photographer in London; clients can work with to create a varied set of images. London provides plenty of opportunities to find locations and situations that reflect different personalities and interests, rather than making every dating profile look the same.

The aim isn’t to turn your photos into a catalogue of your hobbies. It’s simply to give potential matches a few more clues about who you are.

Tell people what makes you, you

Ultimately, your interests are part of what makes you unique and interesting. So rather than just thinking, “What are the best poses for a dating profile?”, it can also be useful to ask, “What do I actually enjoy doing?”

If there’s an activity that can be naturally incorporated into a normal photo shoot, great. But if your particular interest needs a specific location or setting, it may be worth going somewhere that allows you to do it properly.

That’s where an experienced dating app photographer can help. They can think beyond the standard portrait locations and work out how an interest can be incorporated without making the photographs feel staged.

The resulting photographs are likely to feel much more like you – and that’s exactly what a dating profile should be about.

Snapped Up dating photos

At Snapped Up dating photos, we always try to tell people’s stories when we can. Your photos shouldn’t just show what you look like; they should give potential matches some idea of who you are.

We can incorporate interests into a normal shoot in all sorts of simple ways – perhaps through your clothes, a few props, or a bit of activity during the session.

For some interests, though, that isn’t practical in the usual locations. That’s when we can arrange a Bespoke Package shoot and go somewhere that allows you to do the thing you actually enjoy. If climbing is a big part of your life, for example, we can arrange a shoot at your climbing wall. Or if there’s another interest or activity you’d like to include, suggest it to us and we’ll help work out how to make the shoot happen.

The result should be a set of photographs that looks like you, feels like you and gives people a genuine sense of the person behind the profile.