Picture Feedback Megathread

@Adrizzle Interesting theory, can make sense, but as you said, we need more data points to prove that a guy with (good) smartphone pics do better on OLD in 2024 than a guy with pro pics.

This seems odd to me as the goal of having pro pics is to stand out. It has been proven to work many times by many dating profile photographers. I'm curious to know what @MILFandCookies would think about this debate. I seriously doubt that going from high quality shots from a full frame camera to lower quality pics from an iPhone would yield better results for anyone's profile. We would need to make an experiment of shooting the same profile for someone with an iPhone and with a pro camera to prove that.

I tend to think that this rumor of "smartphone pics being better than pro pics now" started because of how OLD went significantly worse for the last couple of years, to the point of having a lot of guys with great pro pics not getting the expected results.

Why OLD went down the drain would be a better question IMO. And for this question, I think there are multiple factors at work to explain why it has become so hard to get a decent amount of matches now. The first obvious answer is dating apps trying to always milk more money from guys, like Tinder making boosts almost useless since around mid-2023...

On the topic of professional or non-professional pics:

I think a solid mix and some social intelligence are important here. Only staged “model” pics seem off-putting and tryhard especially as a man, online dating and on IG. You want a solid mix even less professional pics in relation imo.

I feel the same way when I see a profile of a woman who only has pictures from heavily edited photo shoots. Somehow it hurts her more than it helps her if it's just (!) pictures like that.

I agree with the above, I’d say the goal is to look as high value as possible while also looking as authentic and candid as possible. This means high quality, professional photos but also a cell phone pic or two and more importantly having photos that don’t all look posed/contrived and aren’t edited too much to look overdone. Especially these days anything that looks too perfect raises suspicion of being AI generated

maybe I need a profile with a few of each

i think there is some truth to this. i've had many people think i am a bot/fake account hell even girls i get with sometimes tell me the pics seemed too good to be true and they almost didn't believe it, seems to be negatively impacting my results i could otherwise have. trying to throw in some funny/artsy pics and a few more authentic looking ones rather than just modeling/edgy ones and will see how it goes and keep this updated

Hey guys, longtime lurker here. Been doing my thing for a while but decided to come to you fine gentlemen for some thoughts on my photos.

NoMoreSticks said:

Hey guys, longtime lurker here. Been doing my thing for a while but decided to come to you fine gentlemen for some thoughts on my photos.

https://imgur.com/a/ppS5CXI

Click to expand...

Fill the frame with yourself more. Find myself looking at the nice backgrounds over you in some of them. The guitar one has a really busy and distracting background. I like the one with the maroon shirt with the depth of field blurring the background. You are the main subject in it, crop the empty space above your head. A lot of your photos is just the background behind your head taking up 50% of the frame.

NoMoreSticks said:

Hey guys, longtime lurker here. Been doing my thing for a while but decided to come to you fine gentlemen for some thoughts on my photos.

https://imgur.com/a/ppS5CXI

Click to expand...

Sadly none of the pictures are great, so you won't stand out from the crowd with any of them.
Number 9 is usable, where you can see its side profile in front of the high-rise buildings. You have solid looks, so the base is there. Try to get better pictures, improve facial expression, posture, outfit and location and you will get very good pictures.

the 3rd one is the best in the bunch for now, would crop off the sky a bit, blur the background more, as for the above earlier post i threw in some artsy/authentic/funny pics just 1-3 and results have indeed improved

Hey guys, back after a long time.

I am trying to get some traction with my already existing photos, to no avail though.

The terrain is tough, I am living in 300k town with a technical university, but I am flexible and can move elsewhere.

Have a DSLR camera as well.

I would be thankful for any feedback you give me. I need to give a better impression, I believe.

TheGreatTurk said:

I would be thankful for any feedback you give me. I need to give a better impression, I believe.

Click to expand...

Mountain one - out of focus and I'd probably crop in closer.
Tourist selfie - This actually isn't too bad of a selfie and leather jacket looks good on you. I'd put it further down your stack.
Sitting on ledge - backgrounds not very interesting, and fashion is average. Overall a meh vibe.
Sitting on bench - decent, looks like you might have a nice smile, in which case I'd like to see your head up more and not looking down as much. The ring is a nice touch.
Girls kneeling - I'm torn on this one. On one hand I love it because it gives me the impression of these two girls serving you, you look good, they look good. On the other hand, it also gives me the impression you're old man who needs help with his shoes.
Cat - Indifferent. Don't know how cat photos do on apps. I've got a dog.

Overall you have the inklings of an archetype going the first two photos, and the red dress shirt photos, give me the impression of a sophisticated, mature man. The middle one breaks that, but not in a good way.

Your photos are decent, but they are lacking some intrigue. I'd prob swipe pretty quickly by them just out of lack of grabbing my attention.

Thanks a lot for these comments, I really appreciate.

I will try to absorb these, put them into use and make some new photos as well.

Just bought a new dark brown leather jacket, looking to get my hands on a black one too.

Stay tuned!