Sometimes I wonder if its worth the effort

[Joan58]

Shaved legs,Chest,underarms,smooth face.Tried my best at makeup,dressed in heels, stockings,bra,boosters,pretty little pink dress,dangly hoopy earrings.

All I wanted to do is get some nice pics to share,and every pic was horrible.Certainly not anything I want to show anyone. Definitely not what I see in the mirror.

Oh well,practice practice practice.

It is true that you can not make a silk purse out of a pigs ear.

[docrobbysherry]

I can't see how all that extra shaving would help your photos, Joan? So, I'll assume u enjoyed the experience?:battingeyelashes:

I agree with your "practice" statement. But, not you're "pigs ear" comment. It took me many years but I found a way to turn a 75 y/o, homely man into a pretty woman. In my photos at least!:D

[CarlaWestin]

I certainly understand that dynamic. I've commented before about the money shot seems to always happen by accident. I have thousands of horrible images that only show miscues.
And then there's plenty of great shots with the edge of a breast for showing or a tag sticking up out of a blouse. And then there's that shot where, even though you've completely missed some important detail,
it's the winner. And Sherry is right. The enjoyment is largely in the anticipation and the process. So just enjoy it all and have a good time.

[jacques]

hi,
adverts for gambling websites state the following warning "when the fun stops, stop!"
that advice can be applied to many f my hobbies - including cross-dressing.
enjoy it for what it is - when it becomes a chore it perhaps is time to take a break.
luv J

[Joan58]

Certainly I enjoyed my time,so there is that. Just the disappointment with the photos left me feeling very frustrated. I really felt that I had done a bang up job of getting ready , only to see the sad result.

[Amelie]

As well as learning make up and dress techniques. One should also learn how to use a camera. Think of the camera as a tool, it's not just for pressing a button and bam, photo is done. There are ways of using the camera that professionals do, they have tricks too.

[Tracii G]

Did you try taking a pic in the mirror?
The camera sees you one way and you see the exact opposite in the mirror so its all about proper lighting usually.
Outside in the daylight are my best pics so walk outside and take a few pics and see how they look.
For every 200 pics I take maybe 10 look good enough to keep.
Of course if your make up is the wrong skin tone or if too much make up is used it shows all the flaws we have.
Your pose has a lot to do with it too so standing like a guy ruins a pic quickly as does trying to look sexy usually doesn't help either because we are guys and we don't know how to pose like a sexy female.
Its all about practice and thousands of pics to have a group decent "keeper" pics.
My point is you will have good days and bad pic days so just keep at it and eventually you will have a day where the magic happens.

[Sallee]

Well said if you're not having fun don't do it. I enjoy dressing and get a heck of a buzz from it. But I do often wonder is it worth the effort. I guess it is If I am having fun.
After a while it does stop being fun and I am back to being a dude

[Traci H]

When you dress to take pictures, you have two jobs. One to make yourself as presentable as possible, and two to realize your second job is as a photographer. As a wedding and portrait photographer, I always say "My job is to make people look good." Sometimes that task is easy with a beautiful and photogenic subject, and other times you really have to work at it. I suspect many of us fall into that second category. It ends up being all about lighting, pose and composition. If you are not a professional, you will still get a good shot once in a while, it will just be fewer of them. So practice with the makeup and practice with the camera. Eventually I suspect you will get some decent shots, and don't beat up on yourself too badly. It's just the way it is.

[CynthiaD]

Remember that the image you see in the mirror is three-dimensional and moving. A photograph is two-dimensional and frozen. What you see in the mirror is probably more accurate. Taking a good picture isn't easy. That's why professional photographers make money. They have the talent, training, and experience to make flat frozen images look good.

Personally, I have no camera. The only thing I have is a cellphone for taking selfies, most of which look pretty bad. Once in a while I get a good one, but hardly ever. I took me years to get a good enough picture to use as an avatar on this site. Keep at it.

My objectives are different from yours. I want to look female. Old, and ugly is fine as long as it's old ugly and female. I think I manage that most of the time, and the time and effort I put into it are definitely worth it.

[ShyLibrarian]

"Remember that the image you see in the mirror is three-dimensional and moving"

Cynthia . . . that's so aptly perceived. When I hear people moaning about how awful they think they look I often mention that - people see and hear other people in motion and even smell them (in a good way, if they're wearing scent).

If that weren't the case I would sometimes despair at my aging visage in the mirror. Well said, Cynthia

Cheers/Carole Edwina

[Jenny22]

Joan, here's a link that helped me...

https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/7-posing-techniques-for-non-models--photo-15608

[Tracii G]

Great tips Jenny thank you

[Angie G]

I can't come close to looking good as a woman I don't even try. I just love dressing. I don't go out as a woman so it don't matter. I'm happy where I'm at and that's all that matters to me.:hugs:
Angie

[Beverley Sims]

Keep practicing, you would be amazed what can happen over a period of time.

Like taking hormones the changes are gradual.

With a gaining of skill you can make that silk purse.

Think of it as a challenge.

[Jaylyn]

Joan I take hundreds of pictures I have a small camera that you can set it to two flashes and the time between each one is about five seconds. When I dress and feeling like I nailed the makeup and maybe the outfit I take a few in a mirror that is elongated on the wall. I then set the camera on my dresser and pose over and over then reset the camera and pose again. I surprise myself some times. Out of 80 to 100 shots in a couple different outfits I might get one or two that I like. The rest are deleted or saved to a flash drive where I keep thinking I can cut off the picture at my waist and just show the pants n heels or from the waist up because I looked good in the face on one or the other. I don't put my face on here so I really usually cut off the top anyway. ( but I can see what needs improvement. I have also wondered if I'd ever get one decent to use on here and why bother then I usually dress and do it again just for enjoyment and snap a picture and it turns out better than eighty. Don't give up just practice and you'll find the spot that makes everything come together that's a masterpiece. ( don't use my pictures as examples I'm not there yet either)

[Maria 60]

Sometimes depending on lighting or shadows picture don't tell the real story or do use any justice. When I believe I'm dressed perfect and I look in the mirror and see a beauty queen, my wife will comment if I'm living in a delusional world and starts pointing out what she believes need tweaking.
Sometimes changing where your taking the picture can make a difference.

[Taylor186]

A crossdresser's truism: "mirrors lie and cameras don't [mostly]."

Sometimes I think my pure crossdressing days were more fun before the digital camera was invented. No worries about wigs, makeup, camera angles, focal lengths, lighting and "passing." Just the clothing, hosiery, heels and accessories, and the joy of wearing them.


(for the record: a mirror reflection is 2D just like a photo.)

[Stephanie47]

My experience with photography is the picture does not lie. When I look into a mirror I see what my mind wants to see, whether in male or female mode. I would not even attempt to fool anyone. I dress for my personal needs. To me this is not a hobby. I have chosen to be en femme within my home. That is my comfort zone. I forego makeup because it is a pain, time wise and clean up wise. Makeup is not going to fool anyone, either. I am comfortable doing my domestic chores attired in a pretty dress, heels and hosiery, and, all the proper undergarments with my wig on. Mirrors in our home are in the bathroom or part of my wife's triple dresser. In the bathroom there is a full length mirror. If I leave the door open I can view myself afar. I'm content with that full length image.

[Patience]

I felt the same frustration the first (and last) time I tried to put on makeup on my own last year.

As I've only just come out, I've accepted the fact that this is an ongoing process and rewards will come over time as things improve. In the meantime, I focus on the bits that are working (see avatar) and build up from there.

Since your stated goal is to share photos, you can pick and choose which settings work best for you, like lighting, backgrounds, etc. That can be fun in itself. Good luck.

[Joan58]

Thanks for the encouragement and tips everyone who replied. I do appreciate your help and suggestions

[Asew]

A few times I have tried to take pictures to replace my avatar picture and I never like them. It is hard to be the model and photographer at the same time :)

[Pumped]

One thing to consider, even professional photographers don't always get good shots. I have a friend that is a professional photographer. I asked him what the trick was to get a good picture. His answer, take a lot of pics and throw most of them away.

Years back he did a wilderness shoot for National Geographic. He took 4,000 pictures and the magazine printed two of them. With those ratios I am pretty sure you gurls need to take mores pics!

[Tracii G]

Pumped thats exactly right In the last few days I have taken over 400 pics and only kept 2.
That right there is a bad average but it won't stop me from taking them.
Some people expect too much or are just too lazy and don't want to put in any effort. They expect everything to be perfect and when its not they give up and complain about it.

[Lydianne]

I have a couple of questions about the camera versus mirror . . more related to how some of us perceive which one is true. I have read a lot here about how the mirror lies, but the camera is supposedly the truth. I have read that a mirror is what one wants to see, but a photo is real . .

- I wonder why one can't see what they want to see in a photo just like they supposedly can in a mirror (?)

- I also wonder how a plain mirror, which reflects true to depth and size, [-]can[/-] can't be truer than a wide angle camera lens that distorts if you get too close (?).

- I also ask how camera results that are so variable with light quality can be true in both good and bad light when the results are so different and so much detail gets lost so quickly with diminishing light (?).

- I also ask how the camera's results can all be true when they differ at different distances from the focal length.

I started photographing myself with a 720p camera, and I thought I was making progress. When I upgraded to 15MP, it was a rude awakening - it reset me to zero. If the results at 720p and 15MP are so different --and they are both cameras--, how can they be true?

A plain mirror is a plain mirror, reflecting true to size and depth. I really am interested because I honestly can't see it :strugglin.

- Lydianne.

[DIANEF]

I have an Olympus bridge camera, and a good multi mega-pixle camera on my phone. The pictures of me on the phone seem to match closely what I see in the mirror, but in the Olympus I sometimes look like a different person. Yet if I take a picture of my wife on both they look identical! I really can't figure out why.

[Lydianne]

Diane: I think photos work better for some and than others, and they can hurt some more than others. Then there are also camera settings..

When I smile, I have smile lines, as I have pointed out in my threads plenty of times. Same deal with my beard rash when it flares up, as I have also pointed out ( "unprettifyable" ). With a camera, I could ramp up the exposure, gain and softening, and shoot a photo with little to no smile lines and zero beard rash if I wanted to. In the mirror, there is nothing I can do about the smile lines or beard rash.

However, I'm still willing to listen to alternative viewpoints on this.

- Lydianne.

[Traci H]

Just remember, a good photographer never shows you his/her bad photos.