Do photos reflect what you really look like?

[Anonymous]

No filters, no special lighting, just a plain old pic of you (taken from an iPhone or digital camera).

I've never considered myself to be photogenic, just laying that out there. I think I do a good job of maintaining myself - I get my hair/roots done every 3 weeks. I wear tasteful clothing and jewelry. I have a little botox touch up here and there. But I just saw a recent pic of myself taken by DH, and I look like holy hell. I hate my smile, my eyes look weird, my face has a strange shape. DH disagrees and thinks I look great in pics, but oh boy do I disagree and I think he's just being kind.

Perhaps I have a distorted view of myself, I don't know. Anyone else feel this way? It's to the point where I avoid having my picture taken

[Anonymous]

i don't think i photograph well. fortunately a couple of people have confirmed this for me. my sister photographs really well and it makes me jealous!

[Anonymous]

A photo is a frozen moment. In real life no one stares at you in a frozen moment, same when looking in a mirror. I find that I look different (better/worse) depending on the moment that is caught, which has to do with lighting, angle, and a whole host of other things.

This is also true in real life. I look different (better/worse) depending on the lighting I am in. I lived in a house where I looked terrible always. Moved to a different house and looked amazing always. It's all about how much natural light, the angles of the light, and even the light bulbs.

[Anonymous]

^^^
And agreed, that some people just have better features for a frozen moment. I take decent photos. My best friend who is beautiful in real life, looks terrible in most photos.

[Anonymous]

I hope not. I look horrid in pictures and even though I’m no striking beauty I know I look better in real life.

[Anonymous]

Pretty much. Maybe you're being overly critical of yourself, OP.

[Anonymous]

I think there’s more variation in how one looks from picture to picture than how one actually looks IRL day to day. Probably related to what PP said about frozen moments.

[Anonymous]

Of course. What the camera sees is a middle-aged person with several chins and crow's feet, when IN REALITY (mine, to be exact), I am a svelte ageless woman with dewy youthful skin.

[Anonymous]

I personally don’t care how I look in photos, because that’s how I look walking around everyday. I used to get annoyed at people who never ever wanting their pic taken -I guess because they didn’t want to see it. “But I’m looking at you. That’s what the pic would capture”. Change yourself if you hate it that much. I’m over it now. I sort of get it, but not really

Even what you think you look like in a mirror is “off” because it’s your reflection; and most people are not 100% symmetrical.

[Anonymous]

Really depends on the photo. Some photos are taken with horrible lighting that can distort features or change how your coloring looks in a very unflattering way. Also camera angles can be deceptive. I have an angular face that photographs very well BUT if I take a selfie I have to stretch my arms very far away and angle my down and away from the camera because otherwise I get a fish eye effect that makes my nose look huge and the rest of my face look small. My face never looks like that in a photo taken by someone else, even from just a few feet away, but if the lens is too close to my face, it really skews the dimensions of my face.

Also, most photos wash me out at least a little because I'm pale with light hair. It's better than it used to be because cameras are smarter, but for instance if I don't wear brow pencil in a photograph, I sometimes look like I have no eyebrows. IRL, I go without brow pencil most days (I'm not a big makeup person) and you can see my eyebrows. But they disappear in photos because of light reflection and also there is not enough contrast between my brows and skin to show on camera.

Teeth are another thing that sometimes don't photograph very accurately. One reason people have become obsessive about whitening teeth is because cameras distort whites, which can lead to natural teeth looking dingy or yellow next to a white fabric. Even if IRL, your teeth look about the same shade of white as your shirt, on camera the fabric will be more reflective because it's all one shade, whereas your teeth usually have some gradation to them that will make them look either more gray or more yellow. For this reason I try to avoid wearing white in photos unless I have recently whitened my teeth a lot. Also, sometimes excess saliva in your mouth can make your teeth look bad -- it's another thing for light to reflect off of causing weird shadows and emphasizing any lack of symmetry. A person talking to you would be unlikely to notice those things, but in a photo the light will exaggerate them.

Cameras often catch flesh in unpleasant states because it's a still photo. I sometimes get photos of myself that make my neck look wrinkly simply because I'm turning my head too far in one direction and it creates a fold. Posed photographs often catch weird muscle straining or awkward positions because people are working to hold a position. On the other hand, photos that catch you mid-speaking or blinking are often really unflattering, but IRL those are micro expressions that most people can't really even see.

[Anonymous]

I really hope not!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally don’t care how I look in photos, because that’s how I look walking around everyday. I used to get annoyed at people who never ever wanting their pic taken -I guess because they didn’t want to see it. “But I’m looking at you. That’s what the pic would capture”. Change yourself if you hate it that much. I’m over it now. I sort of get it, but not really

Even what you think you look like in a mirror is “off” because it’s your reflection; and most people are not 100% symmetrical.

Wow, I disagree. I think people take photos too often now, and due to social media and the internet, a bad photo won't just live in a box or tucked into an album somewhere. It can be reproduced infinite times, become part of google results of you, be seen by hundreds or thousands of people.

I don't hate having my photo taken but I sometimes ask not to have it taken when I am not feeling well or I know I don't look good. It's not not about not wanting you to have that one photo of me looking bad, it's the fact that I have zero control over where that photo goes and I don't want to accidentally have to live with some awful photo of me living on the internet until I die.

[Anonymous]

I hope not. My mirror reflection looks so much better than my photos. I'm really frustrated right now because my eyebrows look fine in the mirror and wildly uneven in photos. Argh.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the photo and the subject. I have met beautiful people who look awful in photos. And average people who look amazing in them. One person I know is a model.
She is very pretty IRL, but she is STUNNING in photos. Something about her bone structure, I think. The light just hits her face perfectly.

[Anonymous]

I look much better in photos than I do in 'real' life.

People have always told me I'm photogenic, which to my ears means- you look way better in your pictures than you do when I look at you.