Looking fatter in pictures.

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Need2Exerc1se
Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
As the old saying goes, "the camera adds 10 lbs." Why is that? Why do we look bigger in pictures than in real life?
«1

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  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    Mostly because of the nature of lenses, unflattering poses, and self-criticism.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Part of it is due to camera angle I am sure. And maybe our bodies being flipped from the way we see them in the mirror? I'm not entirely sure other than I will look in the mirror and think I look good and then the vast majority of the time I delete my progress shots because I think I look terrible.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
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    I don't know. I chalk it up to self criticism. I think I look so ugh in pictures face-wise, i'm always like "I look like that?!?!" so I avoid taking lots of pictures. Whether it's true or not it's my own inner voice that says otherwise kwim?
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    I have no doubt that self-criticism is part of it, but why are we more critical of ourselves in pictures than the mirror? Maybe because we can turn quickly to a more flattering pose in the mirror? But I usually think others look fatter in pics too. When I see a pic of a really thin person I always think "How skinny is that person in real life to look like that in a picture?".
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    I guess I'm odd. Since I've lost weight, I feel like I look better in pictures than in the mirror. I have a really distorted image of myself though and I'm able to be more objective with photos, I think.
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    I have no doubt that self-criticism is part of it, but why are we more critical of ourselves in pictures than the mirror? Maybe because we can turn quickly to a more flattering pose in the mirror? But I usually think others look fatter in pics too. When I see a pic of a really thin person I always think "How skinny is that person in real life to look like that in a picture?".

    A mirror is not a still image, either. Most people look better in videos too than still images. Go to youtube, pick any video of some beautiful vlogger at random, and pause it at random. Probably won't be 1/2 as attractive as it was in motion.

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    I have no doubt that self-criticism is part of it, but why are we more critical of ourselves in pictures than the mirror? Maybe because we can turn quickly to a more flattering pose in the mirror? But I usually think others look fatter in pics too. When I see a pic of a really thin person I always think "How skinny is that person in real life to look like that in a picture?".

    We went to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame once and I remember being fascinated with how small many of the singers must have been (or still are) to fit in their stage costumes. I'm not just talking about Christina Aguilera either. It seemed like the vast majority of them, men and women, had to be way tinier in person than they appear on camera.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    Unfortunately I think the camera catches us as we are. It may take the picture from an unflattering angle, but that's how we look from that angle.
  • DuckReconMajor
    DuckReconMajor Posts: 434 Member
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    Also if you google "camera distortion lens face" and look at the images you can see just how distorted your face can be in a picture, especially when you are closer to the lens.

    Another thing, I read once that it's a vicious cycle of "i'm not photogenic" > very few pictures get taken > very few, if any, "good pictures" get taken since person won't allow pictures > "i'm not photogenic".

    If you can feel not weird creepin on someone's Facebook, find someone you think is attractive and look at all their photos. Chances are you'll find at least a few where they don't look nearly as good as you picture them being.
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,771 Member
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    TheVirgoddess wrote: »
    I guess I'm odd. Since I've lost weight, I feel like I look better in pictures than in the mirror. I have a really distorted image of myself though and I'm able to be more objective with photos, I think.

    +1

    It's the only way I'm able to be objective. I look in the mirror and see no change in 65 pounds, except in my breasts.

    But pics? I'm able to say my body looks good. People tell me I look good. Unfortunately, I see myself in the mirror way more than I see myself in pics or hear compliments.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    vinegar_husbands wrote: »
    It takes off anywhere from 20-100lbs if you take a misleading selfie. So not really.

    Ha. Yeah. I feel like the fattest person on Facebook, until I see my "Facebook friends" in person and realize they all look just like me. Why don't they just take pictures of what they look like?
  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    There is this camera at a gas station that makes me look WONDERFULLLLLLLLLL so I go there all the time to look at myself hahaha! Not really, it's just on my way home.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    I'm going to go with poor lens optics.
  • WeddedBliss1992
    WeddedBliss1992 Posts: 414 Member
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    i don't think the camera adds 10 lbs. when i saw myself in a photo, i was upset b/c i thought i looked really much bigger than i thought i looked. i asked my husband "do i look like this photo?" and he said yes. he didn't think the photo made me look bigger. i think that is a myth.
  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
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    http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/why-selfies-sometimes-look-weird-to-their-subjects/359567/

    Fascinating writeup about mirror vs. selfies.
    I never thought I'd use "fascinating" and "selfie" in the same sentence ever.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    As the old saying goes, "the camera adds 10 lbs." Why is that? Why do we look bigger in pictures than in real life?

    That's in your perception only.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    http://thehautegirl.com/2014/05/14/4-big-reasons-you-look-fat-in-photographs/

    Camera Distortion. Often cameras add ten pounds because of the structure of the lens. Each lens has at least a little bit of distortion within in. As anyone knows, the lens on any camera is usually what? ROUND. So an object you see with your own eyes, in a picture is normally Barrel distorted. Yes, in fact it makes your perfect beautiful body look more like a barrel . Here is the technical look at it.
    Also camera angles, direction of the camera, height of the camera, lighting, and body angles

  • zaxx1953
    zaxx1953 Posts: 389 Member
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    Never understood the needs to constantly take selfies; seems to set people up for obsessing about their looks a bit too much.

    How about everyone posts the books they are reading constantly and stops twerking for likes....

    Not going to lie; my respect for women has dropped a lot in the FB/Instagram yrs.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    TheVirgoddess wrote: »
    I guess I'm odd. Since I've lost weight, I feel like I look better in pictures than in the mirror. I have a really distorted image of myself though and I'm able to be more objective with photos, I think.

    I'm the same. The me I see in a photo doesn't match up with what I see in the mirror. When I look in the mirror I pick faults, but then I see a photo and I think, oh I actually look ok. Obviously there are some photos taken at a bad angle where I think I look terrible.

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