The mirror, or photos.

kaybelieve
kaybelieve Posts: 118
in Chit-Chat
I know I'm not the only one with this problem (it may be the other way around for some people but we all know what I mean!)

Do you ever get ready and think “wow I look really nice” or “have I lost weight? I look thin!” and then you go out, bold as brass, confident as hell, in every photo possible.
Then you wake up in the morning excited to see the outcome, you see the photos and your heart drops. “Did I really look like that?” “God, where did that stomach come from?!” So the question is.

What do we believe, the mirror or the photos?
«1

Replies

  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    The camera ads a few (hundred) pounds...
  • jbutterflye
    jbutterflye Posts: 1,914 Member
    I can't recall ever experiencing that, actually. Usually the mirror & photos are in sync. And I know when I don't feel good I don't look my best. Opposite is also true.
  • Cindy873
    Cindy873 Posts: 1,165
    My image in mirrors and photos never looks the same. I tend to avoid both. :tongue:
  • ZHawk1123
    ZHawk1123 Posts: 215
    Photoooooooos
  • jamers3111
    jamers3111 Posts: 495 Member
    Been there. I like to think that I have no idea how to pose so I just accentuate my "bad" areas in photos. I feel most confident naked, so that could be why, too!

    <-- This is a bad example. We were on our Honeymoon so my body was siiiiick ;)
  • perfectionisntme
    perfectionisntme Posts: 205 Member
    Photos. Mirrors have a slight bend to them, so they make you look larger.
  • MizTerry
    MizTerry Posts: 3,763 Member
    To me, photos always scream the truth. Facebook has become my nemesis.
  • apg2302
    apg2302 Posts: 667
    I always look like I'm drunk or stoned off my face in most photos, let alone packing a few more pounds than I thought!
  • MyProgressISYour1Proof
    MyProgressISYour1Proof Posts: 376 Member
    i hate both :(
  • MommaChocoLatte
    MommaChocoLatte Posts: 389 Member
    I get that ALL the time. My mirror and the camera have two totally different ideas of what I look like. Sometimes I get a really good photo but those are rarely the ones that are taken by friends and are ALWAYS the ones that end up on facebook the next day.
  • ddeleonm09
    ddeleonm09 Posts: 93 Member
    Lol yes! Omg that has happened to me several times and it is depressing, but we have to keep our eyes on the prize and keep going.
  • peachfigs
    peachfigs Posts: 831 Member
    I like how I look in the mirror, but I hate photos, I usually avoid them!

    My theory is that neither of them are more accurate that the other, but that you get used to how you look in the mirror as this is how you're used to seeing yourself. A camera takes a photo of you as you actually are, it doesn't reflect the image, so that's why you look so different in a photo than in a mirror.

    My photographer uncle used to do model portraits and they'd always HATE the proofs of their photos because they "looked so different", and he'd just mirror them back round in Photoshop and they'd like them again. :laugh:
  • BioMechHeretic
    BioMechHeretic Posts: 128 Member
    Nightclub Photos end up HARSH. The photographer and the lighting that happns to be going on at the moment the photo was taken make all the difference in the world. You can make someone look great or like crap based off photo settings. I've seen pics from one photographer from a club night and been like "UGH is that what I looked like?!?" and then from another at the same night like "wow I look great". Photography is trickery.

    Trust the mirror. Standard lighting, looking straight on. Nothing to fool there.
  • CupcakesAndRazorblades
    CupcakesAndRazorblades Posts: 227 Member
    I guess I would trust photos more because the reflection that I see in the mirror is often a reflection of how I feel about myself at the moment. I still hate having my picture taken though...
  • RandiLandCHANGED
    RandiLandCHANGED Posts: 630 Member
    The mirror in good lighting!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Before I lost weight, I thought I looked better in the mirror than I did in most photos. It was always a case of, "Ew, what a terrible photo!" or "That's just a bad angle."

    Now, I think I look better in photos than I look in the mirror most of the time. I think my self-image is about 10-15 pounds heavier than I am now, or 10-15 pounds lighter than I was then. Which makes sense, in a way, because that's the size I was for most of the last 10 years.
  • peachfigs
    peachfigs Posts: 831 Member
    On a side note... does anybody ever feel horrible after trying things on in a shop? The changing room lighting and mirrors always make me look really awful, a lot of the time it discourages me from buying the outfit!
  • iAMsmiling
    iAMsmiling Posts: 2,394 Member
    I tend to think I'm looking pretty good, till I see photos.

    I've decided to only look with my glasses off from now on. Fuzzy is better.
  • kunibob
    kunibob Posts: 608 Member
    Photos compress 3 dimensions into 2, and unless the photographer is skilled and the lighting conditions are good, depth doesn't get captured very well -- that's why they say the camera adds 10 lb. It's also why movie stars pose in very specific ways/angles to try to accentuate the narrower planes of their bodies.

    The mirror technically does the same thing, but movement helps our brains remember that there's depth there!

    I am happier with what I see in the mirror, since that's what everyone around me will see.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Then you wake up in the morning excited to see the outcome, you see the photos and your heart drops. “Did I really look like that?”

    Not really, but I have had a few drunk nights I so some pics I took and said, "Ooooooooh shizzle! who did I send those to!?"
  • 19kat55
    19kat55 Posts: 336 Member
    http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2905/does-the-camera-really-add-ten-pounds-plus
  • LastMinuteMama
    LastMinuteMama Posts: 590 Member
    I have had that exact experience!!! That's what got me here...leaving the house feeling all pretty & fabulous :drinker: and then seeing photos of me looking all pudgy!!! :sad:

    I am happy to say that the photos are improving!!!
  • linxus
    linxus Posts: 87
    I like how I look in the mirror, but I hate photos, I usually avoid them!

    My theory is that neither of them are more accurate that the other, but that you get used to how you look in the mirror as this is how you're used to seeing yourself. A camera takes a photo of you as you actually are, it doesn't reflect the image, so that's why you look so different in a photo than in a mirror.

    My photographer uncle used to do model portraits and they'd always HATE the proofs of their photos because they "looked so different", and he'd just mirror them back round in Photoshop and they'd like them again. :laugh:

    This is random. But I absolutely love the cat in your profile pic.

    And, I totally agree with the fact that we just get used to seeing ourselves in mirrors. Also, the fact, that in a mirror we are moving. I feel like we subconsciously ''pose'' in ways that make us look attractive to ourselves in mirrors. Say, if I don't like my belly. I take my attention off that and put more attention on my legs. In a picture, you are not able to move or be able to change anything.
  • cryswest57
    cryswest57 Posts: 141 Member
    I think I look smaller in a full-sized mirror. I think I look bigger in photos depending on how I am angled. I need to learn how to pose better I guess.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    I prefer the mirror over photos. I tend to get awkward the minute someone says "cheese."

    It's as if I hear the word and start thinking about cheese or something.
  • bioniccheese
    bioniccheese Posts: 43
    Unfortunately I am far from being photogenic, infact I generally look horrific. Mirrors are usually kinder but not by much! That said, even the best looking, slim people on the planet will have bad photos.
  • WhitneyAnnabelle
    WhitneyAnnabelle Posts: 724 Member
    I'm the exact opposite. I look in the mirror and think, "Holy crap, where did I go?" and then I see photos and realize that I don't actually look the way I see in the mirror. That may be a bigger problem, I suppose.
  • sarahwilson12
    sarahwilson12 Posts: 70 Member
    It often depends on how I'm feeling :smile:

    I try to avoid photos at all costs. But, there are certain times they just can't be avoided - like Christmas. This past Christmas, my family took our typical family photos. Over the last few years, I've been noticing a difference... but, this Christmas it was the most noticeable.

    Guess I just need to keep working on it. I would probably depend on the mirror more than the photos. As other people have said, photos change depending on lighting & even the angle. Once I get to a point where I'm confident with my body, then it hopefully won't matter whether it's the mirror or a photo that I'm looking at.
  • CaffeinatedGlitter
    CaffeinatedGlitter Posts: 201 Member
    On a side note... does anybody ever feel horrible after trying things on in a shop? The changing room lighting and mirrors always make me look really awful, a lot of the time it discourages me from buying the outfit!

    I get this a lot... like really this could have come straight from my mouth.... I've lost over 20lbs and STILL didn't like how the bikini looked on me :/
  • Linli_Anne
    Linli_Anne Posts: 1,360 Member
    I am not photogenic. .. I end up making all sorts of weird faces and crazy eyes and yikes it's not good.

Categories