Putting Your Best Face Forward

	Writer Christina Bryza's original headshot for her online dating profile (right) and her favorite from the professional shots by a Lookbetteronline.com photographer Melody Reed (left).

With a look of unmistakable satisfaction, Melody pressed her thumb against my cheekbone one last time, blending the touch of rouge she'd just applied. "What about my eyes?" I asked, peering at my face in the mirror. It looked the same to me as when we'd entered the cosmetics store, but she'd helped me apply some light foundation, lip gloss, and rouge. "No eye makeup," she said. "You look natural. Let's go."

I was ready for my close-up.

I was about to have professional portraits made specifically to spruce up my online dating profiles. (Yes, that's "profiles," plural. I like to cover my bases.) I once believed that online matches review a person's profile based on content, but that simply isn't true. I realized this by examining my own behavior: I dismiss any "wink" or e-mail that comes my way if the sender's picture doesn't immediately attract (or at least fail to repulse) me. No pictures at all? Forget about it. You're not even included in my search parameters. So I figured, if I am willing to abandon a possible love connection based on a single jpg, I'd better be sure my own primary picture is appealing enough to garner attention.

Online dating portraiture is an increasingly popular specialization for photographers, especially because it has relatively low barriers for entry. Since most online dating websites have very strict-but-simple specifications for photo submissions -- images must be low res and small -- anyone with a D-SLR could potentially set up shop as an online portrait photographer. But the market is looking for pros: Datingheadshots.com and Lookbetteronline.com, two websites founded in the last five years, both hire experienced photographers to shoot portraits solely for use on online dating sites.

"I think that my photo brothers are starting to realize that this is a brand-new emerging market, and as they watch other markets contracting, like stock photography, they need to find new markets that are going to maintain their revenue stream," says Gordon Gooch, president and founder of Datingheadshots.com.

Given the advent of crowdsourcing and the diminishing pay scales for stock photos, Gooch is keen to carve a viable niche -- and he's not alone. He says anywhere from 3,800 to 4,500 photographers apply each quarter to join his Datingheadshots network, which extends across the United States and Canada and is preparing to expand into Europe.

"It's a way to help photographers tap a new market, control their time, and get introduced in their communities to a whole new level of client," Gooch says.

Gooch, who also maintains a commercial photography business, says he became aware of the demand for online portraiture several years ago after speaking with Match.com representatives who attended one of his gallery events. Shortly after he created Datingheadshots, an online system that allows customers to search by ZIP code for studios near them where sponsored photographers are working. For liability purposes and quality control, his photographers do not shoot on location.

"Using commercial studios guarantees us a certain level of quality that we're really looking for," says Gooch. And as studios become more expensive to maintain, their owners are increasingly eager to fill in their downtime. If a Datingheadshots photographer doesn't have a studio, Gooch will put them in touch with studio owners who may agree to work long-term with several Datingheadshots photographers, giving them a kind of mini franchise. Photographers sign service provider contracts with Datingheadshots, usually for the span of a year, but retain complete control over their schedules. An average shoot for Datingheadshots lasts 30-40 minutes and costs the customer $125-$160, depending on the package. The photographer's cut can be as high as 75 percent. "Let's just say there's a huge potential out there," Gooch says. "If you're making 60-75 percent of every shoot that goes through, it adds up."