Does your camera lie?

[Diana Bain]

Last night I wore a nice black cowl top, long black faux-leather skirt, black stockings and black heels. I thought my makeup was pretty good. I looked in the mirror and felt really great about my look. My wife (who is partial) said I looked great too. She took about 30 pics...and we went on to have a wonderful evening together. I download the pics during breakfast and we both looked at them...she commented that they didn't do justice to they way I looked last night and I agreed.
Did my camera lie? (lol) I've attached 1 pic. Anybody else had their camera lie?:straightface:

[Lorileah]

I think you look good maybe a little more light would help :)

Sometimes my camera is my best friend, my lover, elevating me to places I never thought I could go. Other times and most recently, it is a b!ch. It makes me look old and masculine. I hate it, but I just can't quit it

[Stephanie47]

I find my mirror lies. I haven't taken pictures of myself en femme. However, when I see pictures of myself en homme it shows the true body and face. I've taken that view into consideration when buying my dresses. Because I do not have the hour glass of a woman I stay with sheaths and empire waist dresses.

[Barbra P]

Hi Diana

I’m not at all photogenic and I’m always disappointed with my pictures. I’ve looked in the mirror while enfemme and been very pleased with the image I see and subsequently been told how good I look and all the while being terribly disappointed with the photos. I’ve done a fair amount of photography and I know how much the right lighting can affect the picture as well as the pose and the also the photographer taking the photo. Setting up the camera on a tripod and trying to take your own photos is extremely difficult and rarely results in a decent picture. I’ve also learned that while the makeup may look good in the ambient light it seldom works for photography – I’ve been in TV studios and have noticed how different people look on the screen from how they look in person when viewed with my eyes.

[sara.s]

I look good in mirror, but photos don't come out so well. I think it might have to do with the light reflected off the makeup. Have you tried without flash?

[Danielle_cder]

it lies constantly! sometimes in my favor, sometimes not. That is why i take tonnnns eventually it will tell the truth!

[RADER]

You look great; A digital camera is on my wish list. I just have a 35 MM Canon Rebel, I do not think they
make film for anymore. I have to stop buying outfits and save up for a good cameras. LOL
Rader

[thechic]

My camra dosent lie,its ok,i dont take meny pics,most of the pics i do take are family shots and my kids look great apart from the guy in the photo so despritly wanting to look 100% woman.

[Robynts]

My camera lies, but not only that, it hates me. It takes pictures from the worst angle and emphasizes the worst parts!

[sara.s]

My camera lies, but not only that, it hates me. It takes pictures from the worst angle and emphasizes the worst parts!

Lets swap cameras when we meet next time.. I think our cameras would start behaving well then.. :p

[Alberta_Pat]

Lighting is the biggest part of photography.

But, a trick that many pro photographers use is to reverse the image, left to right.

That way, when you look at the picture, it is the same image you would see in the mirror. Try it out. Take a picture, reverse it and put the two side by side. Which one do you like better?

[Alice B]

You have to remember that the camera lens sees all within its focal range. The human eye has the ability to be selective in what it sees and can focus in on any small aspect within its field of view. That means we can select what we like about ourself and ignore the rest. But the camera lens never lies.

[Rachel Morley]

I have to agree, I often think I look better when looking at myself in the mirror than when I see myself in pictures. In my case, that's partly due to the fact that I am a little near sighted and so I get a little "natural soft focus" when i see myself in the mirror LOL .. plus I also think there is a little mind play going on too. We feel great when dressed and so I believe it influences how we perceive ourselves so looking in the mirror sometimes seems better. That said, what others have said about lighting is so true, especially with flash, it can make your foundation look like crap sometimes plus you can look all shiny too yet in "real life" there's no shine. Also, IMO if your camera is of a too higher quality (lots of mega pixels) it shows all your wrinkles and flaws and every line :(

[Sam-antha]

The camera can indeed lie, but not nearly as often as the mirror.
Try the next photo with your head up a bit and abit more frontal.

[StarrOfDelite]

Sometimes I hate my digital cameras. Film cameras are much better for fashion shots. The film has a depth which makes people look more three dimensional, and it softens blemishes. New digital cameras with super resolution will make anyone look terrible if the camera is set on anything much higher than 480 x 640 image size. Once you start getting into 760 KB plus images you're starting to get TMI, and if you go up to two megapixel or above every pore, wrinkle, unplucked eyebrow, untrimmed nose hair, and zit scar from when you were 13 y.o. with acne is going to show, no matter how good your makeup skills are. People don't look at other people with magnifying glasses in real life, and you shouldn't encourage them to do it with high-res jpegs. Caveat: It is much more difficult to set up a film camera for a remote shot than a digital, if the digital is equipped for remote (cheaper models usually aren't). Film cameras usually require a mechanical wire remote shutter control, but the results are much more reassuring and flattering and, ultimately, more akin to what the eye sees in real time.

[Audreyanne]

It is very difficult to get a good picture with a flash mounted on the camera. It causes all sorts of unnatural shadows and glares. Therefore, turn off the flash and use more lights. Also, keep in mind that most photos that you see in magazines and on the net have been enhanced along the way.

[Acastina]

Setting up the camera on a tripod and trying to take your own photos is extremely difficult and rarely results in a decent picture.

I disagree. The physical connections take a minute or so, and any modern digital camera can accommodate tele and wide-angle views effortlessly. Built-in flash works for most settings, but strong natural light can be nice too. The flash can make you shiny, but natural light can show shadows that make you look droopy and stark. Experiment at length. The best technique tip I can offer is to take lots and lots of shots using a remote control. The best posing tip I can offer is to smile a lot of different ways until you find one that's just right. I have lots of older pics with too big a smile, all toothy and forced. Then I found one that was kind of Mona Lisa-ish, a pleasant, understated happy face. Watch your body language closely and critically. I've seen sooooooo many CD pics with the subject just standing there like a linebacker, arms hanging from the shoulders, and a mugshot facial expression.

You're taking girly pics, so act girly. Toss your head, tilt your head, roll your eyes, turn left and right, look up and down, flirt with the camera. Some will be so bad you'll risk falling off your heels onto the floor laughing at yourself, but then you'll catch that just-right moment that makes it all worthwhile...

Learn to use Photoshop or similar tools, not to phony your images up, but maybe to unshiny that nose, blur a background, or change the perceived lighting of the shot. It's also fun to experiment with extremes of contrast and other attributes to create artsy shots.

Oh, yes, one more thing. Those of you too young to remember when film was the only medium, with the inherent delays and privacy risks of developing film, cannot begin to understand how wonderful it is to have the number of exposures limited only by the capacity of a chip the size of your fingernail that can be reloaded in minutes at the computer. Take lots, delete the duds, and treasure the good ones.

[Staci G]

LIE!!?? Heck yeah it does, like an old rug on a dirty floor. I hate that thing (sometimes), there are others that it lies in a good way. That's not often though.

[Acastina]

Oops! I forgot to add another tech tip: connect your camera to a TV or other monitor so you can see yourself as the camera does while composing your poses.

[TGMarla]

Mine lies to me sometimes, and the result is a pic that actually looks like a pretty woman. But I wish it would lie to me a little more often. And couldn't it tell me I had a 28" waist a little more often? Is that asking too much?

[andrea69j]

What did the camera lie about? I see a beautiful, mature woman. Did you expect a gorgeous, young model? You were happy, your wife was happy, you had a great time, and I think most of us would agree you look fabulous. Personally, I'd kill to look that good and have a wife willing to take pictures, much less spend time with me in femme.

[JenniferR771]

Good suggestions from Acastina. Myself I try to get rid of to much light color or too much bright light in the backgroud--it makes the face look dark. I say avoid the "Hot background". Outdoors on a cloudy day in the shade with bushes and trees(no sunlight) in the background is my favorite.
If indoors block part of the flash with your finger to avoid "whiteface". Use a tiny piece of aluminum foil to bounce the flash off the ceiling.

[MargaretJ]

I tend to find the mirror is rose tinted, and the camera just tells the truth. But there is always photoshop to iron out those pesky wrinkles, and minor make up faults.

[sherib]

doesn't look like the camera lied too me. Are you wearing glasses, if you are you'd better clean them.

[Lori B]

Mine lies to me sometimes, and the result is a pic that actually looks like a pretty woman. But I wish it would lie to me a little more often. And couldn't it tell me I had a 28" waist a little more often? Is that asking too much?
.................................... lmao!:lol:

[pernille d]

the camera never lies , remember a photo is moment of time that is caught at that split second , so thats how you looked then, but saying that there are also many there factors that determin how the photo looks so there are varients that can alter then end result

[Sherry Lynn]

My camera dosn't lie, but the program used to edit the pictures does!

[Diane Smith]

The camera doesn't lie, but it also doesn't tell the whole truth. The eye and mind can invent light and shadows where none exist, and the impression one gets of a person has as much to do with movement, sound, smell and general "vibrations" as it does with the visual image alone. I've been a professional photographer, audio and video producer for over 30 years now, and have never yet made an image that could capture the whole reality of a person or setting. It is an incomplete record of some aspects of a moment in time, at best. (I have some nice equipment, and good cameras, lenses and lighting make things better, of course -- but only indirectly more "real.")

- Diane

[Maria 60]

WOW! I thought it was only my camera that was broken. Just kidding, i can't believe how sometimes i look in the mirror and think i look great . Then i take some pictures and wow i look really bad. I thought it was the flash but then i second look at myself and i believe what the camera saw.

[Karren H]

My camera has always lied!!! And so does everyone else!! No way I look as good people say I do.. I can't see it myself and I don't feel it at all.. I look like a guy in a dress... Lies!! All lies!!

[Kate Simmons]

Nope, but then again I'm a heavy tipper to both my camera and my mirror.:)

[Carol A]

I take a lot of pictures of myself dress and most of them I will delete as the mirrow and my mine tell me one thing and the camera another

[Cheryl T]

Personally I think it's not the camera, but it's we who lie. It's so easy to look in the mirror and believe we look fabulous, but I find tht the pics tell the real tale. I see myself more critically in the pics and I think that helps me refine my appearance and mannerisms to make me blend more easily into society.
There are times when I feel so good in an outfit and then see a pic and go, what was I thinking. Then there are other times when I don't care for an outfit that much and yet it seems to be so nice in the pics (and when my wife criticizes it too). Go figure....

[kristinacd55]

LOL, my camera lies ALL the time! I think I look really great and then phewy....I look like hell!

[linda allen]

My camera tells the truth. It tells me that I'm older than I would like to be. It tells me that I should work on losing my belly. It tells me that my hip pads are too short and need to be tapered (I can work on that). It tells me that my boobs are big enough to attract unwanted attention (OK, I fixed that). And, it tells me that I don't naturally smile, I look too serious.

The camera shows me how other people see me. It's a good learning tool.

As for lighting, outdoors but out of direct sun is about as good as you're going to get without a lot of equipment and talent.

[Sophie86]

I'm sometimes able to manipulate it into telling me what I want to hear. :)

[Chickhe]

The camera does not lie, however their is a filter called the brain which does... Try this, take a picture of yourself when you are dressed and feel really ugly. Save the picture and view it sometime, weeks or days later when you are in a happy mood and see if your opinion is different. Pictures don't lie, except perspective and lighting might mislead you also, ever shine a flashlight under your chin in the dark to scare someone? Not too flattereing.

[Miss Maxine]

What if the camera tells the truth and it's our eyes that deceive us? Ooooo... "The time has come, to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing-wax. Of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot. And whether pigs have wings." ^_~

You look great, btw.

[docrobbysherry]

My camera lies like a RUG! If it told the truth, I wouldn't believe it! I'd STILL think Sherry's pretty!

[lingerieLiz]

No the camera does not lie. It shows what was before it. Your brain lies. Watch the show on NG about the brain. The problem is many cameras record at 8 bits per pixel and your eyes at about 14 bits/pixel plus other factors and your brain also fills in a bunch of information. The other problem is the amount of light. If you look at any magazine those pictures are retouched. Most of them overly done. A typical magazine face shot can require 6 hours or more of concentrated retouching. A photo from a portrait shoot can easily take 20 to 120 minutes to do.

The other problem is you know who you are and look for you not her. The brain looks for features that it recognizes in you. Anyone who knows who it is will always look for you.

[t-girlxsophie]

My Camera is a habitual liar (well in my mind) but im afraid in reality its telling me the honest truth sadly

Sophie

[Loveday]

My camera likes to add back all the weight I just lost, I guess it has a memory.

[Phylis Nicole Schuyler]

My Camera just magnifies the worst of the trainwreck I call my face. I wish it would lie and tell me I'm better looking . Thank God for photoshop but it still doesn't look good.

[NicoleScott]

Sometimes it lies. I delete those pics, and keep only the ones where the camera is telling the truth. Sometimes editing software must intervene to force the truth.

[dilane]

Since several people have told me that I look better in person, there's two possibilities:

The camera lies or my friends lie!

[*Vanessa*]

Does it lie? yup all the time... :/

[Kaz]

My camera doesn't necessarily lie... but it does play games with me! Just when I think I should give up and accept that I am a wrinky old ugly guy in a wig it delivers a picture I like and am even prepared to post! And so it pulls me in again... playing its little games... flattering me and even flirting and then showing my ugly side again. Love hate relationship I think!

Digital with full on flash from the camera will always exaggerate beard shadow. The flash picks it up when in normal light the human eye won't. Flash on the camera will make a less expensive wig look shiny and artificial.

The camera does lie as it is a function of the light and what it sees is not what we see. This is why most good internal shots have lots of attention applied to lighting. there is an added dimension in that we never see a still picture in real life... our expressions are always changing. The camera will pick up an expression we never see in real life... this is also one of the beauties about camera as an art form... it captures a moment in time that no-one ever really sees.

In the good old analogue days, fashion/beauty shots always used soft focus... programmes like Photoshop allow us to use similar effects, if we wish to.

[Sophie86]

Digital with full on flash from the camera will always exaggerate beard shadow. The flash picks it up when in normal light the human eye won't. Flash on the camera will make a less expensive wig look shiny and artificial.

Yes! Very true. I learned never to use the flash for my pics. We have floor lamps that I use to provide additional lighting. My camera also has a way to set the white balance for the available light. When I figured out how to use that, my pics greatly improved. Just using the automatic settings wasn't working well. I would end up looking either blue, or orange.

Getting the right pose is also important. I have trouble with that one. My biggest problem is smiling. I hate showing my teeth when I smile--I have such a cheesy grin. So I keep my lips together, and think I'm smiling, but in the picture I'll look dead serious. Also, I never know what to do with my arms. :/

Something else to consider is that many people are just more attractive than a static picture can show. I was talking to a GG friend of mine yesterday about this. She recently got into online dating, and says she has a problem with trying to judge the attractiveness of men from their pictures. She said that the sexiest guy in the office where she works would not seem like all that much if one just took a picture of him, because his sexiness is in the way he carries himself--his self-confidence, humor, etc. I've seen that in women too. So if your mirror says you're attractive, and your camera tells you something else, believe the mirror. :)

[Ellisia_Lynch]

I gave up using a camera long ago. My iPad is my friend now - it enables me to take as much video as I like that I can then edit and take stills from the frames where I look good. I think video has really helped my look, mannerisms and confidence. However I went out with friends on Saturday night and was snapped by someone's camera and I look horrendous. I don't know what happened - I have video of me before and after going out and I think I looked pretty good.

Somebody's camera was lying, either mone or hers, I'm not sure which.

[linda allen]

I gave up using a camera long ago. My iPad is my friend now -.

Isn't it still a camera?

I thought it was pretty strange the other day when I saw a woman holding up what looked to be a book but was actually an ipad to take a picture. Personally, I miss the viewfinder on the new digital cameras, especially in bright sunlight.

[*Vanessa*]

Isn't it still a camera?

I thought it was pretty strange the other day when I saw a woman holding up what looked to be a book but was actually an ipad to take a picture. Personally, I miss the viewfinder on the new digital cameras, especially in bright sunlight.
Check out the more expensive DSLR camera. I use a nikon D7000, it has a wealth of features including hi-quality video. You can even process your image right in the camera.

Lighting: Yes off camera defused lighting is best, and selecting the correct White Balance. Use RAW format so you can change anything on computer while processing that image.

It takes me dozens of shot just to get one that is that best of lies.. lol