DateableHow to choose your first profile photo
Pick a recent, well-lit photo of your face alone, at eye level, looking at the camera with a real smile. This is the photo people decide on.
Pick a recent, well-lit photo of your face alone, at eye level, looking at the camera, with a real smile. It is the photo people decide on in search, and changing it later means going through verification again, so choose carefully before you verify.
Why your first photo is your main photo
When people search on Dateable, your first photo is what they see, and it decides whether they open your profile at all. Good photos after it cannot help if nobody clicks through. On Dateable the first public photo must show your face, so this is not the slot for a landscape or a group shot.
Make it a clear photo of your face
Your first photo is the time for a headshot or a portrait. Nothing that forces people to wonder which person is you. A photo of you and a friend where they have to guess is not a first photo. A photo of you from six metres away is not a first photo. A close enough photo that they can see your face clearly is a first photo.
Your face alone means you, not you and a friend, and not a group. Your face alone means they decide on you, not on the other person in the photo.
Get the light and angle right
Good light means natural light. Window light is best. A lamp in a dark room is not enough. Sunlight from the side is better than directly overhead or directly behind you. If you take the photo outside, avoid harsh midday sun: an overcast day or morning light is kinder.
Eye level means the camera is level with your eyes. A photo from above or below distorts your face. Prop the phone or ask a friend to hold it at your eye level.
Looking at the camera means you look directly at the lens. A sideways look, over your shoulder or away from the lens reads as distant. Look straight at whoever is taking the photo.
Smile in a way that reads as real
A real smile reaches your eyes. People call it a genuine smile or a real smile because your eyes narrow slightly and the skin around them moves. A smile that only moves your mouth looks frozen. Think about something that makes you smile: a joke you like, someone you are happy about, a memory that is good. Smile at that. Then take the photo.
A smirk or a posed smile can read as guarded. Warmth in your face tells people you would be easy to meet.
No sunglasses, hats or hiding things
Sunglasses hide your eyes. Your eyes are one of the things people decide on. A hat shadows your face. A baseball cap, a beanie or a sun hat changes your silhouette and hides your hairline. If you are bald, your first photo should show that. If you wear glasses, your first photo should show glasses.
Anything that hides part of your face means people are seeing a filter, not you. The whole point of a first photo is that it is you as you are.
The background gives away more than you think
A plain background is safest. A wall, a clean stretch of window light, a blurred garden. A background that shows where you live is not safe. A photo taken in your bedroom, or in front of your door, or with your house number or street visible, is a first photo that tells people where to find you.
The same goes for a photo taken at your workplace or a place where you go regularly. A coffee shop you are at every Tuesday. Your gym. Your office. A background that identifies a place identifies a routine, and a routine is something a person who means you harm can use.
If your background has a landmark or a shop name or a street sign, edit it out. Blur it. Or take a new photo with a background that is neutral. The photo guide covers the rest of your set. Your first photo just needs to be clear, recent and safe.
Verification changes your first photo, so choose before you lock it in
On Dateable, verification is a live selfie compared to your profile photos by a reviewer. It checks that you match your photos, not your name, age or income. Change your first photo later and you verify again, so settle on it before you start.
Every photo is also reviewed before anyone else sees it, so a new first photo is not instant either. Choose one that looks like you on a good day and that you will be happy with for months.
Take a new one if you need to
Recent means you still look like it: same hair, same glasses, same build. If your best face shot predates a big change, take a new one.
If you do not like how you look in photos, take many. Bad light, the angle, the moment: all of these change how a photo reads. Ten photos taken in good light, at your eye level, with a real smile, gives you options. Pick the one where you look most like yourself, then get verified.
