Profile Picture Tips

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If you are one of the women signed up for myshallowgal.com, the first thing people will notice is your profile picture. What does that picture say about you? Why would someone want to get to know you, or better yet, why would they want to donate to you?                                                

You might be surprised to find out that for many donors to the site the answer to those questions isn’t nudity or cleavage-only shots. While the girls with those pictures may have short term success, in the long run the ability to intrigue a donor and keep their attention has more to do with personality and style. One great picture is better than fifty bad ones, and the pictures are very important.

So how do you take better pictures? Here are some tips:

1. Relax. The wonder of digital photography is that you can simply delete the pictures you don’t like. Taking pictures of yourself means that no one sees the rejects.
2. One of the best tips I can give you…make up a sign that says MyShallowGal.com and use it in at least one of the pictures. This way sponsors will know the pictures on the profile are really you and not someone you shopped off the internet.
3. Take pictures when you are comfortable and happy. If you are comfortable in jeans and tee-shirts, and hate dressing up…guess what? The pictures will be better if you are in jeans and a tee-shirt. These are profile pictures, not special pictures for sponsors, so dress how you like and the fact that you are comfortable with yourself will come through the camera. Take the same care with your appearance that you would if you were going somewhere special. If you would wear makeup, put it on. Spend a little time on your hair. Don’t do something to your hair that you’ve never done before as the uncertainty may show through. On the other hand, if you take pictures on a low self-esteem day, no matter what you do, you won’t like them.
4. If at all possible you shouldn’t use your phone to take the pictures if the quality is low. There are several reasons for this. The most important one is that the quality of the pictures may reduce after uploading them to the site. Use the same settings you would if you were printing the picture.
5. Play with the settings. Flash will wash you out, but that may be a good thing if you have blemish problems. Set the camera to different tints depending on the light. Look for the setting that is usually indicated by a little light bulb. This will generally tint everything blue if you don’t use the flash. Go through the settings and see what options you like the best.
6. Take lots of pictures. That way you’ll have a variety of shots to choose from.
7. Never take the photo from underneath your face if you have even a slight double chin. One of the most universally flattering poses is the one taken from an angle slightly above your head with your face turned either toward or away from the camera at an angle.
8. Emphasize the positive. If you like your lips, tip your head upward so the camera is just slightly under your lips. This will make them look fuller. If you lips aren’t full, you can put on lots of lip-gloss with a little dab of white shimmering gloss in the center of your mouth.
9. Deemphasize the parts you don’t like. For instance if you’d like to hide your stomach, take pictures by lying on the bed and hold the camera slightly above your face with one arm. This position doesn’t show a lot of your body and what it does show is flattering from this angle.
10. Use Photoshop or some other photo program to hide flaws. General directions for this are: Open Photoshop, Open IMAGE option, Open ADJUSTMENTS, Click on AUTO LEVELS. Now save picture. Isn’t that better. You can also play with the brightness/contrast option. Just remember that less is usually more when it comes to this editing feature.
11. Still in Photoshop: try the photo in black and white. This option can be flattering as it will cover unbalanced skin tones. Now try the burn tool which looks like a little hand], the dodge tool that looks like a little black lollipop, and the saturation tool that looks like a mini sponge. These options are all located in the menu bar. Don’t forget to take out red eye.
12. Here’s a professional tip. Lighting is key, try shining a lamp or flash light on the wall behind you or a umbrella above you instead of having light right on your face through flash or room lighting.
13. Push your tongue against the back of your teeth before you smile.
14. Don’t say cheese, it makes your smile stilted. Instead think of something that always makes you smile.
15. Don’t look bored or disinterested in life. Unless you turn this into a total I hate the world and you too joke, no one wants to spend the effort trying to have a conversation with some one who can’t be bothered to care about anything. The point is to be approachable.
16. Which brings me to another point—the sponsors want to get to know you—not your five best friends, your boyfriend, and the entire family at the last reunion. If the pictures are all about other people, it may be a sign that you don’t like yourself very much. And if you don’t like you…how can anyone else. Contrary to popular belief, most people don’t want to fix someone else or share all your baggage. If you want to get donations, you have to be approachable, at least in the picture. LOL!

Okay. That’s should do to get you started. Remember the delete key is your friend and you don’t have to post any pictures you don’t like. Just take your time, have some fun with it and you’ll get some great profile shots.

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