Not smiling often ends up looking like a mugshot.

@Wildflower i prefer a picture of someone who looks comfortable not smiling than someone with an awkward, strained expression

@basher a happy person has no problem being comfortable with a smile. To each his own.

@Wildflower lol wow. cool for you that you’re totally comfortable in pictures.

I don't smile well for pictures either. Very forced. I have a low opinion of to much smiling anyway. It could be from working too much customer service but to me it comes off as dishonest like they are trying to sell me something or not taking me seriously.
Smiling is good in its place. It's not nice to be around someone who is not happy to see you. Just not all the time, or in pictures if it comes off as fake.

As long as the man keeps his shirt on for the dang picture, I wouldn't mind seeing a dead fish.

With sunglasses probably wrinkles or eye-bags!

@Merseyman1 In mine, I was wearing shade s because I was outside in the sun. I've worn contacts and/or glasses since I was 3, so it just never phased me before. This is only the 2nd online site I've ever built a profile for, so I guess this post is providing me with tips for better photos?

Change your statement to over 50 and you just wrote what I was thinking.

@Storm1752 I agree with the bad job interview statement.

You get what you expect in life, generally...just sayin'

Well stated and correct.

I’m overweight, does that mean I don’t deserve to date?

@Marcie1974 No, of course not.
I'm an abnormal person and talk funny. How about me? Fixed income, asocial, reclusive...any takers?
Once you get past the horribly bad first impression, my true magnificence becomes apparent, but by then she's gone, baby, gone!
(Did I mention my hilarious but all-but-impenetrable sense of humor?)

@Storm1752 I was specifically referring to you saying:

“ The "ladies" were for the most part the biggest collection of losers I ever saw: ugly, overweight, ignorant, you name it. ”

Makes it sound like you think overweight women are losers.

@Marcie1974 I was ranting, reacting angrily.
I've been thinking a lot about this today, and my considered opinion we ALL have our "ideal" in mind; unfortunately our ideal is probably also everybody else's in our "subculture," AS WELL AS in the dominant culture.
In the culture at large, why do the rich men always have the most beautiful women? Because women want rich men, and men want beautiful women? It would certainly seem so!
In OUR group, it may be incrementally different. I believe it is.
Our overall opinions on the fundamentally BASIC issues of life take a more central role. It's not as blatant a sell-out with us, as it is on meat-market sites like POF, where the quid pro quo is nakedly obvious.
BUT, things such as physical attractiveness, intelligence, financial stability, etc., etc., are still important.
I'd say that's fair.
I'd have thought our choices are more enlightened, but the basic, nuts-and-bolts realities are the same.
To the original question, maybe that's why a lot of men don't CARE about their physical appearance? Maybe they know it's irrelevant; they've always been successful looking like slobs, why change? Maybe the well-groomed guys are just telegraphing their shortcomings!

Exactly how I feel, especially after my last partner looking for co dependence. I work full time I don’t have time for caring for a grown man too!

You're Bob? I thought I was BOB?

@PondartIncbendog LMAO ridiculous isn't i

C'mon Annne, hes just a with it, hip, happening kind of guy who's got the 4-1-1.

@RonWilliam53 can't help noticing you ain't wearing silly headgear..........

@AnneWimsey You missed me at the Rocky Horror shadow-cast I was in... But no, I like to keep my way-cool persona under wraps.Except when its time to do the Time Warp.

@RonWilliam53 I sing "Sweet Transvestite" at karaoke all the time, complete with English accent, and gusto, confusing the Heck out of those who do not know me!

@AnneWimsey I carried all the songs as earworms for a good two weeks after and during the entire rehearsal period. Every so often, one crawls out of the pits of my brain and explodes in my ears-right now it's in just seven days...

My first wife was/is also Bi-polar and also refused any help. She said all the doctors wanted was to get into her pants (we were part of a military community in Europe). 5 years into the marriage she had her first affair and had 2 more. Once her clearance got taken away because of one of her episodes. She went to a regular medical doctor and he said she was OK so she got her clearance back (crazy). At onetime I thought why not a doctor getting into her pants seems like others (they were all high ranking officers) were. Mental illness is harder to deal with than physical.

@JackPedigo I'd readily agree. Mental illness is, at least for my temperment, more difficult. Particularly if personality characteristics vary dramatically, or impede healthy communication.

@LisaFultonave Absolutely, and communication is the key to any healthy relationship.

I would personally love a doggy photo... it's a cat or bug/insect photo (ie if someone owns a tarantula) that would skeeve me out... blegh

The pose with the car. Generally arms crossed, even legs crossed, leaning against some compensation machine with multi horsepower.

@linxminx that is an automatic left swipe!

And whats wrong with my dog?

@PondartIncbendog

It's not YOU.

@maturin1919

A photo with the dog is better. "You must be in every photo" is a rule of thumb with online dating.

@LiterateHiker He's better looking!

@PondartIncbendog honestly... there have been times in the distant past where I would message a guy I was uninterested in just to tell him he had a cute doggy... I had to start blocking any guy I did that to cuz they figured me messaging them meant I wanted to date... Oops!

@demifeministgal Yeah. I just like to remain anonymous. I don't show pictures on the internet of myself or anything that could identify. I don't like stalkers. I met an old friend from HS. She had the picture of the bar that she hangs at, the front of her house and her work schedule. From facebook, I could figure her address, the type of car she drives, her work schedule and her vacations away. Bad security.

@PondartIncbendog you take your online anonymity much further than I ever had! And people say that I am too private online... I need to start referencing you and people like you to complainers gosh darn whiny millenials

@demifeministgal Holdover from my security training in the AF. Am I paranoid?

@PondartIncbendog

Yes, you are paranoid.

@PondartIncbendog AF?

@demifeministgal BTW, if you have to know what I look like? I'm four foot one, have a limp, back hump on one side, (moves sometimes) I have all four teeth, and several patches of hair.

@demifeministgal Air Force.

@demifeministgal, @LiterateHiker NO, I'm NOT! Are you watching me?

@PondartIncbendog

I was joking.

@LiterateHiker I know.

@PondartIncbendog oh my... be sure to wear a hoodie and sunglasses when running errands or all the ladies will chase you down like a celebrity... looking like that you must be quite the ladies man!

@PondartIncbendog aah.... Americans and their abbreviations.... y'all LOVE abbreviating words/terms... I've learned many over my years interacting with Americans online

@demifeministgal Yeah. All the cougars are after me in this town. Its scary.

@PondartIncbendog you may be joking.... but in case you are not, I know what that feels like... senior men IRL are into me as well. :/

@demifeministgal Y'all: A small rodent commonly found in the southern part of the USA. Identified by its beer like smell and proximity to old cars on cement blocks. Also Y'all's commonly have bad teeth and have been known to chew off their own feet. Y'all's have been known to weigh as much as six hundred pounds and eat as much as thirty hambargers an hour.

Or the sports car, boat, motorcycle... give me a break!

Pretty hot if bellybuttons are your thing

It’s not a competition really, there are so many variables. Not many people go for purely looks...well not many women

@girlwithsmiles (whiny 2 year old voice) But I want to wiiiiiinnnn!

@MrBeelzeebubbles well good luck...

I'm surprised that isn't a profile question, actually...

@LisaFultonave some sites have it in their criteria but answering is optional. I've seen lots of guys say they're nonsmokers, but they have a cigar hanging out of their faces in a pic.

They’re all yours

If men could fish from their cars they would be in heaven.

May be a good temp studio!

IKR?! Even videos are done in cars. What is up with that?
I don't think I've ever gotten into my car, checked the rearview and thought, "Ooh! I'm lookin' fine! Gotta take me a pic!"

I tend to wonder if they’re not really single if they post a car selfie. At this stage I don’t care if I get it wrong, I’d rather err on the side of caution. Plus if you were serious surely you’d make the time to take a nice picture somewhere else?

Christians make a big deal of appearing happy, especially in photos . . . it is their sales pitch! It is certainly not a guarantee of sanity or congeniality!

You have a good photo on here...

I agree with that!

@Ellen-SoCal I got lucky. Took me several tries and some cropping of the photo.