Still looking big in pictures...

I totally know how you feel. Camera angles matter SO much and being caught at the wrong angle can be quite unflattering. Check out the two photos below...taken within seconds of each other. I think one is much more flattering than the other.

I've lost 90 pounds and I still think I look big in pictures. I'm 38-25-35, and I feel you. The body dysmorphia is real.

I remember reading somewhere that it takes a while to start seeing yourself at your new weight. Sometimes years.

Camera angles, your posture, if you were bloated thanks to monthly issues... anything could be playing a part.

Another factor I personally struggle with is the fact that most pictures of me are taken by my husband. He must have taken a course in unflattering photography at one point in his life! I've known that man almost 30 years and he does not know how to stage a picture.

As a Film Producer, I'd like to weigh in on the discussion of weight and pictures. (Lol..see that?!) In all seriousness. I despise getting my pix taken and omg Red Carpet photo's..gag me....but the weird thing is that those pictures tend to turn out best. Why? Lighting for one. It is so bright on the Red Carpet...lotsa lighting. Secondly, I watch how the actresses pose...ALWAYS at an angle with a leg thrust out, creating a narrow line of their body ..cause it is a slimming look. They also tuck their chin..to create shadows under their cheeks..they have a best side and use it ruthlessly. I copy them and guess what? Pictures don't suck at all. It is the POSE and the LIGHTING that have the greatest affect. The camera does REALLY ADD 10lbs. Most actors/actresses in real life..are..well a bit bony with Biggish heads. Their faces fill out in the camera lens but in person..chins and nose tips are sharp as glass. So if YOU take a pix, in poor lighting, crappy pose, and the pix seems , emphasis on "SEEMS" bad, it has nothing to do with your weight, shape, form. It is a matter of angles, lighting and image translation thru a lens. This doesn't even cover wide angle lens distortion (Making what is closer seem bigger and what is SLIGHTLY further away very TINY which creates impression that what is close is HUGE) You also "see" yourself in a mirror differently as well. No lie. The mirror is a "reverse" image and you perceive yourself differently than you actually are. So..it's not you..literally. Advice? Take pix..take selfies..learn how to pose so as to make the best picture of yourself. Check out actresses poses and you'll see that most of them have a particular pose that they have worked out to be the most flattering and they use that POSE for every single shot. Check out photo's...the dresses and outfits change but that tilt of the head, or arm on the outthrust hip stays in each and every one of those photos. Learn YOUR pose. That way, when photo's come up you can make "your Pose"..the one you have seen in photo's not the one you do in front of the mirror...make your pose which may have NOTHING to do with how you actually are..remember the word is "POSE" and Smile and have a fairly decent photo..make sure light is IN YOUR FACE if you can..not underneath or above it...and voila. Image and Self Image are fascinating things..especially as we are trying to become more healthy. The thing is..that to wait for THE PHOTO...the perfect selfie..or holiday pix where we are seen as we actually are...is a waste of our time and reality Humans move too quickly..emotions sliding across faces, moving from foot to foot, twisting to sit down, bending down..in an average day you have moments where you look fit, large, small, curvy, flat etc..depending on what you are doing. We are not mannequins. So in my own life, I try very hard to offer a sincere smile, a warm hug, a mischievous grin..things that show "ME" not a size. My whole thing is just to get healthy, not to look thin in a picture or even real life, because that alone does not tell the story of me. It is a distortion. To me ..being Healthy means looking at my mirror, seeing myself, liking my outfit, my grin, my makeup and being physically fit enough to go out and join the other people in the world living life. Peace..lovely peeps!

STEVE142142 wrote: »

marissafit06 wrote: »

Maybe it is a disconnect between how you look in the photos and your mental image of an ideal body.

I agree with your post. It takes a long while for the brain to catch up with how you actually look. Also we are Our Own Worst Enemy as far as judging ourselves.

Also the other Factor you have to consider is that when you look at magazines or videos all those pictures are either Photoshop or the camera angles are set up a certain way that actuate the better look.

There's a YouTube video out there and it starts with a super hot blonde and they showed how they photoshoped her. The video runs backwards and the hot blonde started as a slice of pizza.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j656_RiO0k