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Digital Cameras in the FSU
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Posted by: matt235

OK, I don't know where this belongs, so it is going here for now.

As some of you know, I have been searching for "the one" just like virtually everyone else here. During my search, I find some really poor pictures of ladies on the various sites. Now granted there are pictures that are obviously professionally done, but I am talking about the ones that the ladies seem to have of themselves outside of a studio environment. These pictures show the ladies in the distance to the point you can't really see the lady, just the landscape. I appreciate these pictures because it shows that her in a more realistic light, but you just can't really tell what she looks like.

I know that in the states, the average AW will have 10 to 100 times or more pictures than the average AM will have. It is just the nature of the female mind. They like pictures of themselves, their friends, their cats, dogs, whatever. But they are almost always in a picture somewhere. I assume that this holds true in most countries. So this just begs the question--why are the photos that I am seeing not a very good representation of the lady for her profile?

Is the digital camera not that common in the FSU? Pictures are relatively easy to come by these days, at least they are here in the states. Or are the ladies scared of a good picture, maybe trying to hide something? I don't know. I had heard that a lady that does not upload a decent head shot for her profile is either trying to hide something, is ashamed of how she looks, or is a bit paranoid.

I guess I have to go on faith for a while until I get a chance to actually ask her for another picture of her. Therein lies another question, is it rude to ask for other pictures of the lady? And if it is OK, when is it appropriate? I'm asking because, obviously my timing has not been appropriate in the past.

I am not one that necessarily focuses on the physical beauty of the lady as I prefer the inner beauty more (I really do), but I would like to know that I am writing to a lady that I find physically attractive. It is quite the shocker to find someone completely different later on.

OK, my focus is becoming fuzzy.

Thanks everyone,

p.s. Also, what is the deal with just one picture in their profile? Maybe a stupid question, but it is something that has always bugged me. I've got 4 or 5 in mine, might not be the most photogenic person in the world, but at least I try to represent who I am honestly.

Posted by: Buckeye5704

Something I wondered about when I first started my search too Matt. I can only speak from my very limited experience, but...

I think it depends on a number of factors. We know that most of our ladies there don't earn much money and a digi cam is a luxury item for many of them. It may also depend on the agency they use. Some offer pro-quality pics as part of their service and others don't so we're stuck with whatever pix she has and many of those are scans of pics and very grainy. If she has a friend with a cam (my friend in Zapo did) she can post some good pix and she will also send you pix if she's interested in you.

A lady I was writing to in Sumy sent me some pix of her bundled up in a parka beside some old tanks when I asked for more, because they were all she had and she really liked me too.

My Zap lady was always sending me pix that a friend of hers would take for her. She got all dolled for me in those too and as we got closer the pix got a little more spicey just to let me know what to expect when I arrived

(saddly for her though Irina sprang into my life before I went). I even asked for some of her son and she promptly sent some to me, one of which was a studio shot of them both.

In both cases, this was after we had been writing for a few weeks or more first though. The key is, does she like you? If yes you will probably not have to ask especially if you are sending some to her.

So;
The agency - Do they offer photography as part of the service?
The Lady - can she afford a cam? - does a friend have one?
Does she like you?

Just my 2 kopeks worth,

Posted by: matt235

Unfortunately, this is what I thought was happening, just hoping for something else though. It seems that in St. Pete and especially Moscow, there are more of the studio style shots, where as outside those two specific cities, it becomes a little more hit and miss. I prefer the non studio photos as to me it seems that the lady is a bit more realistic, but I know that is just in my head.

I guess perserverance here is the key. My march to insanity continues!

Thanks,

Posted by: mistermopar

Hey Matt,

Diga cameras are about the same price in Russia as they are in the US.
Maybe a touch ceaper.
One of my friends in Volzhski got a loan so she could buy a good diga camera,I think it was about $600 to $700.
Now if she is making a good money here,she might almost make $400 a month.

But I see many people in Russia with good cameras.

What sites are you using that there are so many bad photos.
I don't see many on the sites I use.

Randy

Posted by: matt235

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistermopar

What sites are you using that there are so many bad photos.
I don't see many on the sites I use.

Randy

Hey thanks for the input. I am currently on freepersonals*ru and doing a search for 24 to 32 in Ukraine. I would say that about 30-40% (maybe more) are of this nature. I would say that it is by far the worst that I have found, but then again, it is a free site...so no studio pictures from an agency. I would say that on other sites the number drops depending upon the agency that is supporting the site. I.E. Both Anastasia and HRB are making a buttload of money, therefore glamor shots prevail on those sites, but the local agencies gives you more of a realistic view of the lady. On freepersonals*ru, I am finding that the ladies will have maybe one good closeup shot and then the other photos might fall into the category of "distant" shots.

I have looked at bride*ru as well and found their pics are usually better, however, it is quite common for the lady to have just one picture. I have this stigma in my head that one pic is a bad sign, but that could just be me. I like to see at least two different pictures, not a second picture cropped from the first, to do a comparison to verify in my mind that the lady is actually who she says she is. (Sorry, I spent way too much time dealing with Anastasia, HRB and a few others in the past. I am a bit skeptical now with a lot less money).

On the subject of sites, I just stumbled upon one that I just had to laugh. It was called Brides in Bikinis.

I had thought that the digital cams were going to be expensive in the FSU as well, just not sure. I have noticed a few pictures taken from cell phones (pretty grainy and/or pixilated), but I find those to be some of the ones I like the best. As least I feel as if the are real!

Thanks again,

Posted by: GentleGiant

A mobile phone seems to be an essential accessory for everyone in Russia, and as many of them now have a (cheap and nasty!!) camera included, I suspect a lot of the dodgier photos I see on FRP and Bride.ru are taken with these, rather than a 35mm film camera. There are very few phones that I have seen where to camera can be described as anything better than a toy.

Posted by: Chrismc

You can get mobile phones now with 6 and 7 megapixel camera's and as we all know, in the FSU they tend to have the very latest phones, they are more up to date than we are.

With regards pictures on sites, some women purposley put poorer quality pics up, to get rid of all the guys who just want them, for their looks/body, but when you get to know them a bit and they trust you, they sometimes dumfound you with their true pictures.

So don't trust all that you see, sometimes in real life the women are worse than their pics and sometimes they are much better

of course by the time you meet in person you should know them a lot better and have already seen both qualities of pictures anyway.

Posted by: matt235

Quote:

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

A mobile phone seems to be an essential accessory for everyone in Russia, and as many of them now have a (cheap and nasty!!) camera included, I suspect a lot of the dodgier photos I see on FRP and Bride.ru are taken with these, rather than a 35mm film camera. There are very few phones that I have seen where to camera can be described as anything better than a toy.

Even if the picture is a bad one from a cell phone, I know that the lady didn't just cut a picture out of a magazine and put it up there for the world to look at. That is my initial gut check when looking at the umpteen thousand different profiles out there.

Posted by: matt235

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrismc

With regards pictures on sites, some women purposley put poorer quality pics up, to get rid of all the guys who just want them, for their looks/body, but when you get to know them a bit and they trust you, they sometimes dumfound you with their true pictures.

I never thought about it that way. I guess I have trained my mind to look out for a female scammer and I guess they are looking to keep the male trophy hunter away. And you are right, I should know much more long before I meet her in person (unless of course my company would just give me a 2 or 3 year international assignment...!)

Thanks again,

Posted by: blucatz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrismc

You can get mobile phones now with 6 and 7 megapixel camera's and as we all know, in the FSU they tend to have the very latest phones, they are more up to date than we are.

With regards pictures on sites, some women purposley put poorer quality pics up, to get rid of all the guys who just want them, for their looks/body, but when you get to know them a bit and they trust you, they sometimes dumfound you with their true pictures.

So don't trust all that you see, sometimes in real life the women are worse than their pics and sometimes they are much better

of course by the time you meet in person you should know them a lot better and have already seen both qualities of pictures anyway.

And only take those studio photo's with a grain of salt. Most of the women, at least the ones I have dealt with, in real life barely resemble the studio pics. My lady had studio shots done, and in 2 of them she was a dead ringer for Heather Lochlear. Now, most of you have seen my pics on my "Cairo" thread, she does not look like Heather Lochlear. To me, I was very pleasantly surprised the first time I seen her on cam. I thought she looked much better than those made up photos.

Posted by: GentleGiant

@Chrismc
I take it then, that you have fallen for the "more is better" con. A camera is only as good as it's lens and electronics. The lens on a camera-phone is shyte and there is not the room for the same level of electronics in a dedicated camera.

I currently have a new 7.1 mega pixel Kodak camera and the picture quality is worse than my ancient (2001 model) 2.1 mega pixel Olympus camera, why ?? the Olympus has a high quality lens and better electronics; I thought that a newer model would give me the same quality at a lower price, but I was wrong. I would never even have bought a new camera if I could still get memory cards for the old one.

I thought I should also mention this, so I am editing my post.

I have a 2.1 mega pixel camera on my current phone,, the "twat in a hat" photo in my gallery was taken using it; that photo was at close range and outside in BRIGHT sunlight. Indoors, under ordinary lighting, or with even a slow moving object it is useless, the quality is similar to a 1/3rd mega pixel "toy" camera I bought for my son many years ago. I have taken dozens of photos using this phone and only 2 or 3 were actually usable, the rest were blurred, fuzzy or too dark.

Posted by: Raspberry

Digital cameras in Ukraine are about the same price as the USA...and definitely cheaper than Germany and other EU countries.

Posted by: Raspberry

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt235

I am not one that necessarily focuses on the physical beauty of the lady as I prefer the inner beauty more (I really do), but I would like to know that I am writing to a lady that I find physically attractive. It is quite the shocker to find someone completely different later on.

Matt, there is a quality that I call "vibe". There are many women that are absolutely gorgeous, but you can sense something about them that they would be a real pain to deal with. And likewise, some girls not nearly as attractive, but you can tell by their photos that you can feel comfortable around them. It's a hard thing to pinpoint, but I hope you can understand.

Posted by: Stirlitz

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt235

During my search, I find some really poor pictures of ladies on the various sites� These pictures show the ladies in the distance to the point you can't really see the lady, just the landscape. I appreciate these pictures because it shows that her in a more realistic light, but you just can't really tell what she looks like� why are the photos that I am seeing not a very good representation of the lady for her profile?
p.s. Also, what is the deal with just one picture in their profile? Maybe a stupid question, but it is something that has always bugged me.

Your question is not stupid, yet stupidity is out there

I mean it is just STUPID to post poor amateur shots showing a lot of scenery and a tiny figure there which you can only make out is a woman at best. And, when there is only one picture like this in the profile� I have no explanation other than stupidity.

Posted by: Chrismc

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raspberry

I totally agree with that Raspberry and did wonder if others thought the same, during my searching times, I would look at a picture and could feel whether the lady would be of good standing just by doing that and how she worded her profile. Some I knew immediately from their photo the 'vibes' were wrong, even if they were very attractive. Its hard to explain, but I agree with you it is true.

Posted by: deccie

Quote:

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

There are very few phones that I have seen where to camera can be described as anything better than a toy.

I'm not sure about that. My Nokia N95 and before that N73 both take respectable photos. I find them very usefull.

Posted by: matt235

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stirlitz

Your question is not stupid, yet stupidity is out there

I actually ran into one yesterday while searching around that show the lady in her travels and where she had been (Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, The colleseum in Italy, a few others that I can't remember now), but you couldn't really see the lady. I couldn't tell what kind of person she was other than the fact that she had either brown or black hair shoulder length, was wearing blue jeans and wasn't overweight. I guess that could be a start, but it looked like she was applying for a travel agent position and displaying her knowledge of where she had been versus looking for a mate.

As some of my friends would call it, a boneheaded move. I have learned to deal with it and I may or may not read the profile after seeing that, but there lies the next 2 problems.

First, I have noticed on freepersonals*ru that ladies will select an age range of 18 to 99. I guess you could say that they are open to considering anyone, but my thoughts are that if a lady doesn't know what she wants regarding a man's age, does she know what she wants with everything else too? I can easily deal with this, but it is somewhat concerning for me.

Second, and much more important, is when the lady puts nothing, zero, zilch, nada in the "Self Description" and "Partner Description" areas. I have run across "n/a" so many times that it is really annoying. Like I said above, if they can't put forth the extra 2 minutes to fill this out, then their heart just is not into this in my opinion.

I guess as you had said, this is just stupidity. I would add another term to it...lazy. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right.

Thanks again,

Posted by: matt235

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raspberry

I think that "vibe" is the beginning or first stage to the all important "chemistry" that we all search for in a mate. I definately understand the vibe and I sometimes call it my gut instinct when I am searching. If I see a profile with a beautiful lady, there are times when I just click next because that vibe/gut instinct just isn't there. Her beauty could be such that she could easily be Miss Ukraine or Miss Russia, but if the connection isn't there for me, it just isn't going to happen. I have learned to focus on what I am looking for in a mate versus what a modeling agency might be looking for. What is great for them is not always great for me.

The search contineus...

Thanks,

Posted by: Stirlitz

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt235

First, I have noticed on freepersonals*ru that ladies will select an age range of 18 to 99.

This may be because they do not want to set a specific age gap. If her desirable age is 35 to 40 she may still consider others but does not want to specify and prefers that luck would have it instead.

Posted by: matt235

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stirlitz

I think this is once again where the agencies/sites fall short of understanding who they are dealing with. If it was set up right with the database that the agencies/sites use, each person (male and female) would be able to set a "desired age range" and an "acceptable age range".

For instance. My desirable age range would be 26 to 29, however, my acceptable age range is 22 to 34. I guess if you haven't noticed about me yet, I like to reinvent the wheel sometimes.

Thanks again,