Taking good dating profile photos after 50

Your main photo is the first thing anyone sees, and often the reason they read further. The best dating photos are the simplest: good light, a real smile and a face people can see clearly. None of that needs expensive equipment.

The three photos everyone should have

Every profile needs a clear face photo, a full-length photo and one of you doing something you enjoy. Together they show what you look like, what to expect when you meet, and something to talk about.

Three to five photos in total is plenty. More than that and the good ones get lost.

How to take good photos with a phone

The secret is light and distance. Face soft daylight, have someone stand a few steps away, and take a lot of shots.

• Find good light. Stand facing a window during the day, or go outside on a bright but cloudy day or in late afternoon. Avoid harsh midday sun, which makes everyone squint, and overhead lights, which add shadows under the eyes.
• Use the back camera. It's usually sharper than the front, selfie one. Ask a friend or grandchild to take a few.
• Hold it at eye level or slightly above. Pictures taken from below are rarely kind to anyone.
• Step back and zoom a little. Phones held very close make noses look bigger. A friend standing a few steps away gives a more natural look.
• Take lots. Twenty shots to get one good one is normal. Chat while your friend snaps; real smiles come between the posed ones.
• No friend handy? Most phones have a timer. Prop the phone on a shelf at eye level, set the timer and take a series.

Light at different times of day

What to wear

Wear what you'd wear to a nice lunch with friends. Solid colors usually photograph better than busy patterns, and a color that suits you near your face makes a real difference. If you always wear a particular hat, scarf or pair of glasses, include it in one photo. That's how people will recognize you.

What to leave out

• Sunglasses and hats in your main photo.
• Group photos. People shouldn't have to guess which one is you.
• Old photos. If it's more than a couple of years old, retire it.
• Heavy filters or smoothing. People want to meet the person in the photo.
• Your ex, cropped out. A stray arm on your shoulder says more than you'd like.
• Children and grandchildren. Keep them off a dating site for their privacy.
• Anything revealing. Photos showing nudity or lingerie aren't allowed, and every photo on Just Senior Singles is reviewed before it appears.

If you hate having your photo taken

Plenty of people do, and it shows in stiff, unsmiling pictures. A few tricks help:

• Do something. Pour a cup of tea, pick up the dog, lean on a gate. Hands with a job look natural.
• Talk to the person taking it. Ask them to tell you a story or a bad joke, and have them snap while you laugh.
• Look away, then back. Glance off to the side and turn back to the camera just before the shot.
• Try outdoors first. Most people relax more in a garden or park than in a living room.
• Breathe out. A slow breath before each shot drops your shoulders and softens your face.

How often to update your photos

Look at your photos every few months. Replace any that no longer look like you, and add one from something new you've done, such as a trip, a new hobby or a family celebration (without the family). Fresh photos also give people a new reason to say hello.

Keeping your photos private and safe

Photos can give away more than you think. Before you upload, check the background for your house number, license plate, street sign, mail or workplace logo.

It's also wise to use photos that aren't already on your public social media accounts. Anyone can search the internet with a picture, so a photo from a public profile could lead a stranger to your full name and family. Fresh photos taken for dating keep the two worlds apart.

Checking other people's photos

The same search works in your favor. The FTC suggests doing a reverse image search of a match's profile pictures: if the photos turn up under a different name, or with details that don't match, it's a scam. Most phone browsers and search engines let you search with an image, usually by pressing and holding the picture or tapping a camera icon in the search bar.

Romance scammers often use stolen photos, sometimes of real people who have no idea. Our guide to how to spot a fake dating profile covers the other warning signs, and a short video call before you meet is one of the simplest checks of all.

Proving you're you

Some members add an optional ID badge to their profile. On Just Senior Singles this is done through LEM Verify, which checks a photo ID against a selfie. It shows that someone's ID matched their face when they checked. It doesn't tell you anything about their character, so it's a nice extra, not a guarantee. It's a paid extra listed on our prices page.

Uploading your photos

You add photos from your profile in the members area, on a phone or a computer. If you took them on your phone, it's usually easiest to upload from the phone too. Our guide to using a dating site on your phone walks through it. Choose your best face photo as the main one, because it's the picture people see first.

Next steps

With your photos ready, our guide to writing a dating profile over 50 will help with the words. How it works explains what you can do for free on Just Senior Singles.