All an attractive girl initially sees when she comes across your Tinder profile is your primary photo. Whether she delves into your other photos and into your profile blurb, or just moves on instead, will depend on how good that one photo is.
Here are the essential dos and don’ts for your main profile pic.
Make it a closeup.
Many guys use a primary picture where they are standing far away from the camera, or with a group of friends, wearing sunglasses, or sitting behind the wheel.
The more ‘blurry’ you are in your primary picture, the less positive impact you will make. It seems almost as if you do not want to show yourself clearly, or are detracting from your own value. Not a good thing.
The focus of the main pic is you.
Make sure the picture features your face and your upper body clearly. You should take up most of the frame. Girls instinctively like to see a man’s eyes, so do not hide behind sunglasses. If you look good in shades, you can feature that in one of your other photos.
Smile.
No excuses here, and make sure it’s a natural smile, not a forced one. It doesn’t need to be ear to ear (although it definitely can be), but it needs to show an honest positive vibe. Shoot the picture when you’re truly in a good mood. An honest hearty smile will always beat a ‘smile on demand’.
No selfies.
Take a natural photo – think of it as if you’re taking a snapshot of a good moment in your life. Remember that a girl instinctively tries to decipher who you are with very limited information, and every detail serves as a hint – for better or for worse.
A selfie will always make a girl wonder whether you have so little number of friends that you can’t even get someone to take your photo.
Shirt stays on.
Believe it or not, a shirt off in your primary photo is a turn off for most girls. Granted, some girls will fall for it, but you’re actually alienating the majority of the girls you’re trying to attract. Shirtless is too ‘in your face’ and it indicates shallowness (aka meathead).
If you have a great physique, you can show it with your shirt still on. Girls love subtlties. There’s plenty of ways to hint you’re lean and mean without taking off your shirt. If you feel that you absolutely must feature your exposed chest and abs, do it in a later photo in your profile.
No animals.
Guys showing how much they love their dog is the biggest cliche in online dating by now. Don’t be another statistic. Keep your dog or your cousin’s baby off the main pic, and when you do feature them later, just make sure it doesn’t look like a try-hard attempt to show how much you love animals and little kids. That tactic has been played out.
High resolution, pleasant background.
There’s no excuse for a pixelated picture which shows you haven’t upgraded your phone in 15 years. Stingy and not cool.
Even with you stealing most of the frame, the background still counts, so do not have it detract from the overall positive impression you’re making. A place as simple as the beach will do – just make sure it’s well lit and pleasant to the eye.
Your other pictures
You can and should feel free to go wild with your other photos. These should not be just like your first photo but with a different shirt and a different background. Make your photos diverse.
Show yourself in as many activities as you can, show your friends and your lifestyle. Use all the photo slots Tinder allows, and connect your Instagram account if you have one.
Remember that value is best conveyed subtly. Instead of a gym selfie that comes across as a try-hard attempt to show you’re buff, show a photo of you and a friend on the beach playing volleyball, where being shirtless is natural.
Don’t worry, the girl will figure it all out.