| Your
Photographs are Important
You can, of course,
create a respectable online 'profile' on our personal ads site without including any
photographs at all, but we urge you very strongly to avoid this. Experience shows
that your advert will attract a great deal more attention if it includes at least one or
two good photographs (and preferably more). Profiles which contain
photographs typically receive between eight and ten times as many hits as those which
do not. If necessary, however, you can begin by
creating your on-line profile without any photographs, adding the pictures at a
later date.
Professionally
Taken Photographs
If you have your photographs
taken professionally, this will normally prompt you to make something of an effort with
your appearance - clothing, hair make-up etc. This is always a good start and helps
ensure a favourable first impression! The photographer will also ensure that
you are photographed against a simple uncluttered background - preferably in a pale,
unobtrusive colour such as pale blue. You will be posed in such a way that you are
not facing straight-on to the camera (e.g at 45 degrees to the lens), and you will
normally be prompted to smile and look directly into the camera lens
which gives the pictures a friendly, intimate look.. Ideally several pictures will
be taken, and the best four or five selected. Some will be tight 'head-shots' and
some will be 'head and shoulders', perhaps also with some 'three quarters' or 'full
length' photos. Whether the camera used is a film camera or a digital camera,
there will normally be an option to receive your pictures in digital format - usually on a
CD. If you have access to a computer, a digital image is what you ideally
require - so that it can be easily uploaded to your online gallery. (Alternatively,
good hard-copy pictures can be 'scanned' to provide suitable digital images.)
Taking Photographs
Yourself
It is not easy, or necessary,
to imitate the conditions of a professional studio, but if you re-read the preceding
section carefully you will have a reasonable idea of what to aim for. Try to enlist
the help of a friend or relative to operate the camera, and ensure that a dozen or so
pictures are taken of you, to give you the best chance getting three or four really
attractive images. Find a plain unobtrusive outdoor background such as a white, or
pale coloured wall. Failing that, a plain fence or hedge will keep the
background clutter to a minimum. Ideally choose a bright sunny day, but avoid having
your pictures taken in direct sunlight (which tends to result in very dark shadows and
'screwed-up' eyes!). Also, if possible, avoid direct flash photos as these
tend to have very dark shadows and possibly intrusive reflections.
If outdoor photos are not
practicable, you will have to settle for indoor pictures - probably using flash.
This is very much a second best option, but the same broad rules apply. Showing a
glimpse of your home, or your workplace, or some part of your social environment can
provide a 'context' for your pictures, but take care to avoid unnecessary and distracting
clutter! Try also to ensure that at least some of the pictures are tight close-ups -
within the technical limitations of your camera. Most of all, ensure that all
pictures are properly in focus, reasonably bright, and as sharp as you can possibly make
them. With modern digital cameras, you can normally see the quality of the picture
in a matter of seconds. If your first attempts are not really satisfactory,
persevere until you are sure that you have at least three or four different-looking images
that you can be really proud of.
Uploading Photographs to the Web
One way or another, you need to load your pictures into a
suitable folder on your computer. (If you use a digital camera, this should be
fairly easy. If you are using a film camera, you will probably need to have the
best prints 'scanned' to provide suitable digital images.) Then log into your online
profile and follow the instructions for uploading your pictures to your
gallery. Finally decide which image you want to be the 'headline' picture in
your online profile, and load it accordingly.
If all Else Fails!
If you experience serious difficulty in providing digital
photographs, please tell us about your problem. To do this use the 'Feedback' option
in the menu at the bottom of our dating Home Page - and we will do our
very best to help. The worst that can happen is that you have to post hard-copy
pictures to us so that we can scan them and add them to your gallery.
Whatever you do, make a serious effort to ensure that your online
profile contains a decent set of pictures. Believe us, it is truly worth the
effort, in getting the best possible response to your online personal ads.
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