ok ..so whose lying the camera or the mirror...???..!!

[Jessicajane]

Not sure if I have a mental block when it comes to looking at myself dressed in the mirror...but....

I had some Jess time the other evening, and I spent a while applying my make up and generally pampering myself....when I had finished adjusting my wig I looked in the mirrror and was really happy with the look...OK ...so I was not going to get any modelling offers or win a beauty contest but the chick lookig back at me was ...hmmm...cute...to me anyway...

Feeling oh so happy with myself I positioned myself in the study in front of the computer camera and took a few shots eagerly awaiting the results.....errrmmm...not at all what I expected...the make up I had put on was heavier than normal as I had some sunburn and wanted to cover it...(Derma blend etc etc) but the camera appeared to strip off the makeup other than the lippy and eyeliner...and I was left looking at me in a wig !!...puzzled I went back into the bathroom sort myself out...looking into the mirror the girly chick was back..??!!....so what is going on...am I imagining things...is my mind playing tricks and showing me what I want to see in the mirror or do I dump the computer camera..??!!!!!

Picture 41.jpgPicture 44.jpgPicture 31.jpgPicture 43.jpg

[Shelly Preston]

Hi Jessica

Your imagination is playing tricks on you.

You look fantastic.

[Jeanna]

Dump the camera. You look good!

[Ashley S]

Blame the camera, it's totally the camera.

I completely understand where you're coming from, I think the mirror is relatively impartial, and the camera can just be a real jerk some days.

I find my camera will maybe let me look good in about 5% of the pictures I take.

Regardless, I think your pictures look great. A little sun makes your cheeks glow

Ashley

[jillleanne]

Nope, not you. It's the camera. They love to pick up makeup in particular, blush and eye liner will look like you are getting ready for Halloween or a drag show, particularly if you are indoors. Outdoor pics seem just fine. Oh btw, I want that blue top so just mail it to me, ok?

[jillleanne]

Nope, not you. It's the camera. They love to pick up makeup in particular, blush and eye liner will look like you are getting ready for Halloween or a drag show, particularly if you are indoors. Outdoor pics seem just fine. Oh btw, I want that blue top so just mail it to me, ok? I hope you are not talking about the pics you posted because they look fine.

[Karren H]

My mirror never lies.... My camera always lies! Sigh...

[Cynthia Anne]

Either my eyes have gone bad or you are beautiful! TESTING----------------! Nope! There aint nothin' wrong with my eyes! Hugs!

[April_Ligeia]

My camera always lies so I just take lots of photos and only keep the ones that make me look prettier than I really am.

[tracigirl_tv]

Jessica, ditto what April said just above.

My ration of camera-keepers to camera-deleters is approximately 1 : 5,029 (I exaggerate only slightly *lol*)

IMHO, you look quite pretty.

*suppressing jealous thoughts*

xoxo

Traci

[Stephenie S]

Yeah. The camera.

You look fine. Remember, even pros take hundreds of photos to get just one dynamite shot.

S

[Sally24]

Computer cameras are made for chatting, not photographs. You are in poor lighting, looking down at the camera, which is not a good camera. Try even an inexpensive or older digital camera with good difuse lighting and you should see what your mirror shows.

[Marleena]

It's the stupid camera! I hate mine! It finds the smallest things and amplifies them or adds things that aren't there. We all need a professional photographer.

You look great Jessica!

Mirror, mirror on the wall.. I like you best of all!!

[Babette]

First off Jessica, you look just fine to me. I like your presentation.

Now for the bad news. Nobody can look "normal" using the same sources of light as you did. A strong back light, as with your hall lighting, will only enhance your silhouette. Here is the scary part. People with European facial features tend to look like Boris Karloff whenever their faces are illuminated from below their chins. If you don't believe me, then take a flash light into a dark room with a mirror. Then put the flashlight below your chin and point it straight up. Now that you have scared yourself half to death, pick yourself off the floor and notice how your computer screen is doing the same thing with your web cam. As a bonus point of horror, you need to realize that computer screens do not emit a full spectrum of light. Did you notice how some of your pictures had blue tones and your makeup was the same?

So what should you do? Try experimenting with different sources and types of lighting. You don't always need a professional photography setup. Some incandescent lights can produce a nice warm glow to your pictures. If green or jaundice is your color, then go for the Martian look with CFL bulbs. Finally, IMHO, there is no substitute for natural daylight but try to avoid taking pictures with a strongly lit window in the background unless you like the silhouette look.

Hope this helps.

Babette

[Joanna41]

My mirror and camera are bff's...they both hate me...sigh...

Joanna

[patti1569]

My ration of camera-keepers to camera-deleters is approximately 1 : 5,029 (I exaggerate only slightly *lol*)

Haha! This is sooo true! Its the camera. I take so many pics just to get one I like. BTW, your pics look great!

[RenneB]

I am so there with you on this one girl. My camera works best when it is out of focus and fuzzy.... What I see isn't ever what the camera captures... boo hoo. So with a little photoshop and .... oh what the heck, dump the camera, you look great.

Be happy with what you have as there are so many of us in the human race that don't have nearly what you have. So enjoy and stop being so picky... really, just go with it. Get to where you are comfortable and enjoy the world....

Renne.....

[Diana Bain]

My camera works fine...Jessica you look great

[Lorileah]

Looking in the mirror you see what you will see in real life. A quick ever changing glimpse. You may think you are studying deeply but there are slight changes all the time. The camera gives you a frozen time. If you twitch wrong or turn just slightly, things change. This is especially true when you are using computer cameras or timers. It is less so when you have someone shooting the picture for you so that they can see the light the shadows the angle.

Add that to the fact that you expect something and it isn't what you expect (being your own worse critic). Your pictures look good. Go with what you see in the mirror

[helena.gcd]

i think that what lies is the mirror. Different cameras configurations take different pics of the same scene, due to differences in perspective.

The human eye can be compared with a camera. You just have to know two parameters, "f" and focal length. The human eye is the equivalent of a camera with and objective of 22mm and a f-range from 3.3 to 15, approximately.

So in order to take pics with the same appearance of what you see in the mirror you will need to have an objective that covers that focal length of 22 mm or something similar (a 28 or a 21 would do the trick) and shot at twice the distance you look at your self in the mirror. it should do the trick. (actually, for portrait photography, longer focal lengths are used, something between 60 and 90 mm)

with a "point and shot" camera this could be a bit more difficult, but not impossible if it has an optical zoom(digital zoom is useless in this case). You have to point to and object and put the camera in front of you. Play with the zoom till the object in the screen of the camera is the same size from your point of view that the real object.

i dont think that you can do anything if you use a webcam.


After all this technical speech, all i wanted to say is that you shouldn't worry, the camera lies and the mirror is right.

By the way, you look beautiful in those pics.

[DanaR]

I seem to never like pictures that are taken of me. One thing to remember, we are always going to be our own worst critics.

[NicoleScott]

You can look good in the mirror and bad in the camera, and vice versa. It's all about lighting.

[Stephanie47]

I think you look fine, especially the lighter picture with you in the floral top. I find my mirror reveals the woman I feel at the time. I always leave the door to the powder room open so I can see myself laboring away in the kitchen and dining area. At a distance I look great, so the mirror tells me. I have never taken a recent picture (last twenty-five years) of me en femme. So I don't know how my presentation comes through. However, I do see myself in en homme pictures, and, well, er....I look my age. I cannot hide my male facial features, even if I shave really close. The en homme pictures really re-enforce the fact that I will never pass. Going back to pictures of myself as a teenager and young adult, except for the height, I think I would pass as a woman. The en homme pictures really brought home the necessity to lose weight. I've kept some of the more form fitting dresses I wore twenty-five years ago as a goal to get back into.

[Mikaela]

The human eye can be compared with a camera. You just have to know two parameters, "f" and focal length. The human eye is the equivalent of a camera with and objective of 22mm and a f-range from 3.3 to 15, approximately.of view that the real object.

Actually, the focal length of the eye is closer to 50mm on a full frame sensor (or about 35mm on a crop sensor). Below that (wide), then you get some strange distortion to the face which will affect the apparent proportions.

Also, cameras pick up infrared light and have to have filters in place. Cheaper cameras/webcams are going to have poorer filters and infrared will go right through makeup.

And if you are bouncing a flash, then anything with SPF might bounce back white or brighter, which is common with concealers. It's why under eyes and beardlines bounce back white in a flash if heavily concealed.

If you've taken these into considerations, cameras will be better since they do not flip your image. They also give you an opportunity to be 'outside of yourself' to view it. That can mean you can be more critical or it can mean that you've separated yourself enough from the moment to be more open to interpreting what you see.

[Beverley Sims]

I have some wonderful soft focus shots of myself taken when I was 18 20.
Camera wise it is lighting, correct pose, makeup, and at the end there is your over critical eye.
It is familiar with you and imagination lets it all go wild. Mirror images are different as well.
I think a lot of walking and posing in front of a video camera is helpful. First shots are usually awful, but as you practice walks poses etc you will improve.
If you have someone to follow you with the camera you get their perspective of what you look like.
The acid test is go out and see if you are reckognised by your friends and family.
That is not necessarily a good idea!
If all else fails, Photoshop it.