Looking fatter in pictures.

Need2Exerc1se

As the old saying goes, "the camera adds 10 lbs." Why is that? Why do we look bigger in pictures than in real life?

Unknown

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DeguelloTex

Mostly because of the nature of lenses, unflattering poses, and self-criticism.

jemhh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm going to go with poor lens optics.

WeddedBliss1992

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Farahworld

I Don't know. I look in the mirror I look fine, I take a selfie... I look weird and horrible.....(example :my profile picture) That's why I avoid selfies ...
As for regular pictures, sometimes I look slim if I stood in the middle, but if I stood at the edges I look larger!!!!! Annoying!

Need2Exerc1se

SLLRunner wrote: »

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.

Yeah, I'm sure it is partly, but I think everyone looks fatter in pics, not just me, though certainly I'm more critical of myself. But, even my husband agrees that I am not very photogenic. Not just weight, I always seem to have a weird look on my face, especially if it's a posed pic. Candid pics are better.

azulvioleta6

zaxx1953 wrote: »

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.

Hey, twerking burns calories!

Queenmunchy

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.

Same here. I've always thought I look much heavier, but when I see myself in pics, I'm not really that big of a person.

Need2Exerc1se

zaxx1953 wrote: »

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.

Yeah, because men never post selfies. ::laugh::

But I wasn't talking about selfies, I was talking pictures in general.

gramarye

zaxx1953 wrote: »

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.

Oh no. How will we live without your respect? With this new and devastating information, I've decided to stop taking selfies with the books I'm reading, and will now live a life austere and self-effacing.

Thank you so much for your intervention. God knows where my life would have gone if I'd continued taking pictures to celebrate my self and my body on my own terms.

gramarye

In seriousness and on-topic, I was talking about it with a friend recently and she'd told me that mirrors have a slight outward curve, making you look slightly thinner than in real life. No idea how common that is, etc, but it would make sense.

That said, I tend to be in agreement with the posters who think they look better in pictures than in the mirror these days. I think it's because I tend to zero-in on the things that I don't like about myself, whereas in pictures I can take myself in at a whole, both the things I like and the things I don't like.

Need2Exerc1se

gramarye wrote: »

In seriousness and on-topic, I was talking about it with a friend recently and she'd told me that mirrors have a slight outward curve, making you look slightly thinner than in real life. No idea how common that is, etc, but it would make sense.

Interesting. I have one of those cheap hang-on-a-door mirrors that definitely makes me look thinner (I love that mirror ), but I'm going to get the level out and check the bathroom mirrors this evening.

VeryKatie

People say that because you lose depth perception when looking at a photo or screen. 3D becomes 2D, so the image looks a little wider.

jemhh

zaxx1953 wrote: »

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.

God forbid people trying to lose weight take progress pictures of themselves. Or refrain from discussing their literary choices in the losing weight section of mfp.