Relationships take both commitment and communication along with trust

To find this kind of love seems to be a rare thing these days. I for one have struggled to find my soulmate, if indeed this actually exists. I like to think it does even if my belief in true love has diminished from the hopeless romantic I once was to someone who finds it difficult to trust other people.

I am not alone in this mistrust, the world of the internet has made it much easier for people to meet through chat rooms and dating websites. It is a battlefield of the sexes where having the sexiest picture often outdoes a well-written profile. This also makes it easier for people to lie, cheat and deceive others through fake profiles.

For many people, the world of online dating can be as daunting and scary as dating in the “real” world and in some ways it can be dangerous and is often frowned upon compared to meeting someone in a club or a coffee shop.

Swiping left or right in the search for love is becoming a normal activity with many dating websites also having their own phone apps, ¿so how do you tell who is genuine and who isn’t in the world of internet dating?

It is easy to lose yourself in the plethora of dating websites and the charges a lot of these make are a little off putting. Some will advertise their services as free only to have you sign up and when you receive a message you’re informed that you have to pay to read it or to send a message to a person.

Others such as Plenty Of Fish, freedating. Co. Uk and OkCupid are relatively free to send and receive messages although there are paid options which will allow you to view who has liked you feature as on Plenty Of Fish which is locked out to free users.

As a photographer I have spent many years learning the craft and understanding the business of photography. I know what it takes to create a professional image, how the lighting is used, when airbrushing or other image editing software has been utilized and the positioning used with models. I have also done a lot of research on models and as such recognise faces I have seen in images on the internet.

¿But what is the relevance here?

When you know what to look for in a photograph it is often very easy to identify a fake user profile on any dating site. This isn’t always the case and sometimes people will have visited a professional photography studio for a shoot and use an image from that. I have found several people using the same photographer and makeup artist for a photo shoot they have paid for easily recognisable by the backdrop and style of hair and makeup.

It is possibly easier for me to recognise these things than someone who has never taken a photograph or studied photography, but do not despair as there are other ways to weed out the fake profiles.

Below is an example of a professional portrait shot which could be easily used by anyone who has Google search facilities. This came from a royalty free photograph website and it was as easy as right click and download to get the image.

The backdrop is plain white, the lighting soft and appealing, showing that the photographer was using light boxes and possibly reflectors to highlight the woman’s cheek bones. Air brushing is visible beneath her eyes which were possibly much darker when the original photograph was taken.