You’ve found a great dating site. You’ve written up your profile. Now, the hard part… uploading a picture.

Don’t panic — you might not be the most photogenic person alive (who is?), but there are ways to make your mug look marvelous. Here are five suggestions:

1. Dress in comfortable clothes that fit well and express your personality. (If you want to really stand out, try high-contrast colors.)

2. Make use of soft, diffused, natural light (like afternoon sunlight through a curtain).

3. Posture! Straighten your spine, chest out, tummy in, and roll your shoulders back.

4. Look directly into the camera (even if you’re facing slightly away), and never obscure your eyes.

5. Keep digital tweaking to a minimum, and never go so far as to make yourself unrecognizable.

(adapted from Margot Carmichael Lester’s article “Have a terrific profile photo”)

Nancy wrote this on April 10th, 2006 and filed it under Internet Dating, Single Life |