Mirrors & Cameras

[Donna Marie]

Aaaaarghhh. Has it happened to you? This morning I got all dressed up. I thought I did a pretty good job with the makeup and I was reasonably pleased with the feminine face that looked back at me from the mirror. After a while I thought I would just snap a pic, so I set up the tripod, double-checked myself in the mirror, and snapped away. Then I uploaded the pic to my computer so I could edit it if needed. As I said above - Aaaaaarghhh! It was sooo bad I just deleted it. Somehow, what I think I see in the mirror is just not reality. Evidently portraits / face shots are not in the cards for me.:(

[Tracy_Victoria]

A mistake many make. remember you reflextion in a mirror, is not what people see, it is a reverse of your image that is very different, hence a camera picture taken in front of a mirror, and a camera picture of you posing, will be very different.

ie postive and negative images.

[Roberta Lynn]

Donna, I have the same exact problem.
It is obviously a plot by camera makers to keep us buying cameras until we find one that is capable of taking a correct picture :D

[JessieB]

Don't leap to conclusions. You might not look as bad as you think. Camera flash can be very unflattering for CDs -- for one thing, it has a tendency to cut through the makeup and accentuate the underlying beard. And if your camera/lens isn't good quality, it can make you look grainier, more contrasty, etc than you actually look in person.

[NatieBe]

Raberta...I'm sitting here in tears LMAO...that is SOooo true!!!

[CaptLex]

Aaaaaarghhh! It was sooo bad I just deleted it. Somehow, what I think I see in the mirror is just not reality. Evidently portraits / face shots are not in the cards for me.:(
Don't be so hard on yourself, Donna. I usually have to take about a dozen pics and delete all but one before I find one that I'm not too disgusted with. :p

Some of the more practiced amongst us have learned little tricks to make the most of their poses - maybe some will share theirs. It's all trial and error till you figure out what works best for you. :happy:

[Kathleen Ann Trees]

I have the same problem. For some reason, about one in 20 pictures actually looks pretty good. (Sometimes, more, sometimes, less...)

Does your camera have a multi-picture option when on auto? Mine will take 3 pictures with about 2 or 3 seconds of time between them. I've found this feature to be very helpful. It allows me to relax a little, take the first PICTURE, relax and move a little, PICTURE, relax and move, PICTURE.

I also set up a mirror behind the camera, so I can see my pose as the camera is doing it's thing.

In addition to trying to relax, try different poses. Pick your chin up, put it down. Turn your head a little to each side. Kind of use the instructions that a photographer would tell you. Many quick pics with subtle changes can give some good results.

Good luck. And don't forget to share if you can!

Kathleen Ann

[Kate Simmons]

It's all in the "wrist" Hon. Just kidding.:heehee:Actually, I have no problem with posing as I'm a natural born ham to begin with. My second son is even worse than me in that respect but he does take a damn good picture. It just takes practice my friend. I usually pretend I'm with a friend as I'm pretty outgoing to begin with in either mode, so it comes sorta natural for me.:happy:

[Tracy_Victoria]

I also set up a mirror behind the camera, so I can see my pose as the camera is doing it's thing.

Kathleen Ann

But what you see in the mirror is not what the camera takes. in a mirror, the left side of your face is the left side, to the camera it is the right? a reflexion is a negative image (reversed) whilst a picture take with a camera is a positive. ie to get the same result with a camera, you would need to use slide film and reverse ie.

ie 9 o clock in a mirror, is actually 3 o clock.

also the left side of the face, is rarely a mirror image of the left, hence why you can look very different in the mirror, and say thats not me is it, when you see yourself in pictures!

[Mitzi]

In a way, I have the opposite problem...

"Say what?" you ask...Of course a lot of my pics are unflattering, but I'm not about to post those, silly... On the other hand, a lot of the pictures surprise me, they're soo flattering...am I being deceptive in posting these? Oh well, if that's what the camera sees, who am I to argue:happy:.

BTW, my camera's (a Canon Powershot) self timer allows for delays of up to 30 seconds, (and multiple shots like Kathleen Ann's) which gives more time to run around in front and rearrange yourself.

Mitzi

[Carol A]

OK count me in as I purchased a new camera just to take pictures so I could upload them on my PC. Oh my gosh was I shocked by my first batch of photos, Heck I figured I looked great until I seem the pictures. Aaa they say the camera doesn't lie but I don't believe it. So as said before I take a lot of photos and learn from my mistakes. :hugs:

[TxKimberly]

For most if us, it's a good idea to stay away from close ups. I'm sure there are some that look great up close and personal, but I'm inclined to think they are the lucky exception. Most of my pics turn out reasonably well, but not the close ups - I HATE them!

When you take pictures, take a LOT - take 5 or so for each picture you want. This increases your odds that one of them will turn out well enough to make you happy. I probably throw away 50% of the pics I take.

Don't forget that often we are our own worst crittic. Perhaps you are being TOO critical?

[Alice B]

Mirrors and cameras are funny things. First of all the camera sees all. It is not like our eyes that can be selective in what they focus on. Thus we see ourself as one thing and the camera as another. But, there are techniques when shooting into mirrors that help greatly. First, always shoot at a 45 degree angle. That way your flash will not show in the image. Second, if you can use manual focus because with auto focus the camera may focus on the image in the mirror, something else showing in the mirror, but not you if you are in front of the mirror. But the bottom line is that you like yourself and how you feel once dressed. Forget what the mirror says, just enjoy being you:hugs:

[Tasha T]

Has it happened to you?(

Yes it has. The other night I got all dressed up and was going to go out in public for the first time in over ten years. I snapped a few pictures of myself just to make sure I looked okay, but when I looked at them I was disgusted at what I saw. I thought I was the ugliest woman in the world and had no business stepping foot out the door. I mean, who was I trying to fool that I actually looked good as a woman? My makeup seemed wrong, my wig seemed wrong and my face seemed way too male. Now that's not what I see when I'm looking into the mirror. In the mirror I see a beautiful woman. However, reality does not match the fantasy in this case, and I'm going to have to accept the fact that no matter what I do, I will never look as good as I want.

[ElleCD]

Donna

Don't give up. Different lighting makes a hell of a difference. Take loads of pics from different distances and angles and with different lighting levels - also with lighting predominating from back, front or side. If you experiment you will find what suits you best. We all hate about 95% of our pics but its worth it for the 5%.

Elle
xx

[Shadeauxmarie]

I just watched Tootsie the other night. When Dustin Hoffman was reading for the part, the producer told the camerman to "Pull back a little, I want to make her a little more feminine." He replied "How do you feel about Cleveland?"

For me, it would be at least 1000 miles away.

[waspookie6]

still lmao from Roberta's comment :heehee:

It is about lighting and angles. Not being naturally photogenic, a good friend who is a well known photographer finally took me to his loft (the uber secret room where his work would be shipped all over the world for exhibitions) and spent about 5 hours working with me on posing and light.

Natual light vs flash. Shaded back flash. Delayed flash. Backdrops. Black and white vs color (same camera, taken seconds apart). The gammut. Of course he had tens of thousands of equipment right there but it taught me a lot about getting a good picture - one that I could accept as me. Which is why he is well known of course...

The biggest for everyone is the chin. Drop the chin just slightly and at a slight tilt. It makes a HUGE difference! My eyes looked like I thought they should (larger, pretty), my cheekbones looked natural (not sharp, none at all), no huge smile since that makes me feel uncomfortable - just a very soft smile, lighting was from the side opposite the camera.
Camera in front, lighting from the side the camera couldn't catch brings out all the things we see ourselves as, not what the camera gets and we don't like.

Try to set up a room with a light off to the side or sunlight against your back then drop the chin, tilt head ever so little and snap away! You may get a bit closer to what you feel you look like. Dump the mirrors. They sharpen parts a camera will pick up, just practice with the Lens ("I want you to feel like the lens is your friend, not foe"), you'll get a picture out of a dozen that is a "hey! that is me!" out of it :happy:

[mikecd999]

I agree with Kimberly, take a lot of pictures to get a few good ones. Isn't that what digital cameras were made for. I usually keep 1 out of eery 10 that I take.
Mike

[christid66]

For most if us, it's a good idea to stay away from close ups.

I'm one of the 'most' and will not post a portrait - especially as I haven't got he beard cover right.....plus I don't want to scare more people than I do already :eek:

....and don't get me started on my hands.....I have no idea where to put them which is why they're either buried in my lap or hidden by having my arms folded!

[Julie York]

I've found that if I give my camera 6 pints of strong lager I look beautiful.






:D

[christid66]

I've found that if I give my camera 6 pints of strong lager I look beautiful.:D

Brilliant :lol2:

[JessieB]

I also set up a mirror behind the camera, so I can see my pose as the camera is doing it's thing.That is a great idea!!!


in a mirror, the left side of your face is the left side, to the camera it is the right? In the context of this discussion, I can't see that this makes much difference.


to get the same result with a camera, you would need to use slide film and reverse ie.Or just flip the digital image in any photo editor.


also the left side of the face, is rarely a mirror image of the left?????

[Nicole Erin]

Cameras do lie. They always have, from the first one ever made to the latest digital.

The thing is, some people look better in real life than in photos.
The ones who look better in a picture are called "photogenic".

As far as the mirror reversing the image, I don't think that would make a lot of difference as far as how it made pics looks. It might be inverted but that doesn't matter.

And yes a flash has a way of bringing out a beard that may not even be there.

I know most of the photos I take I don't like. I think in my 10 years of CD'ing, I probably have taken a couple hundred pics but only ONE have I ever been truely happy with. Even tho my friend wasn't trying or anything, somehow everything came together perfect and I looked perfect. I no longer have it unfortunately. Some were "ok" but most made me gag.

[waspookie6]

I've found that if I give my camera 6 pints of strong lager I look beautiful.






:D
Leave it to Julie to make me have to clean my monitor for splatting tea on it. :heehee:

Is there an option for someone to take a picture of you? Sometimes they 'see' what you do, eventually the evil camera will cooperate after being beat into submission.

[Jilmac]

Donna, don't feel too bad girl, I'm the original ugly duckling, it would take a lot more than makeup to make me look even half feminine. Hang in there girl, and keep trying. Luv and :hugs: Jill

[Lilith Moon]

Don't be so hard on yourself, Donna. I usually have to take about a dozen pics and delete all but one before I find one that I'm not too disgusted with. :p

Some of the more practiced amongst us have learned little tricks to make the most of their poses - maybe some will share theirs. It's all trial and error till you figure out what works best for you. :happy:

Yeah, my "acceptability rate" is about 10:1 meaning that for every 10 I throw 9 away. I'm no expert and can't supply clever tips but this is what I have learned so far from my many mistakes:

1) Don't use ordinary flash. It cuts through any makeup and shows every wrinkle and blemish. Daylight is best. As a second best I use ordinary room lighting supplemented with some extra work lights. Then I photo shop to remove the yellow cast of artificial lighting. Exposure times are longer using this method, so you need to keep as still as possible to avoid motion blur.

2) Take dozens of pics...no, take hundreds. Then sift through them to catch that fleeting femme moment. Delete the rest. Taking lots of pics while trying different poses will also help you relax more and find out what works for you.

3) When I bought a better camera I was dismayed to see how the super optics caught every detail in sharp focus...the crows feet, the enlarged pores, the nostril hairs. I soon learned to use a photo editing program to soften the focus slightly.

4) Use a mirror together with the camera. If you can, place the mirror next to the camera so it shows you approximately what the camera is seeing.

5) The important one....SMILE Keep smiling, or trying to smile. This one tip transformed my pics and got my success rate up from virtually zero to a point where I often get a handful of good ones from a shoot of several hundred.

Hope this helps.

[paulaN]

Many years ago when I got my first SLR camera. A real good, but not professional Photographer to me that when I load a roll of film into the camera shoot the hole roll. He was right. I spent a lot of money on developing film and I took a lot of pics that were not worth a damn. But I shot some fantastic pictures too. Today it is even easier with that there digital stuff out there. So the trick is to take lots and lots of pics and some will come out ok,some will really suck, and some will be good enough to post on the web. Good luck. P.S. lighting is where I am having all kinds of fits of rage right now. Again good luck.

[cindybarnes]

I see this is a common issue with us girls LOL and I can relate to Julie's thought process too :drink:
I worked in a little Cindy time last night myself and for the first time in a while I decided to get a few pics. Its like my need for photos out lived the Pink fog but eventually has died down to a less important part of getting dressed .
I think I took 30 shots and kept 2 ! What really botherd me was how much my added weight shows,, the twins have a little more bounce but I got depressed,,,, may have been the beers LOL
You have some good lighting tips here, and I may have missed this one but my biggest thing to remember is with my flash, either the built in one on my Nikon, or the external one I have,, keep the batteries charged as best you can. Low battery voltage will screw up a lot of manual settings and on auto settings a great shot may end up dark. Natural sunlight is best but hard to find at 11PM :)
Cindy

[TGMarla]

Julie is right. I also find that if I share in the pints, that I get better immediate results. For some reason, they don't quite look the same later, though.

They say the camera doesn't lie.

Damn camera! :mad:

[scherylnmke]

I agree with Tx Kim, close ups are BAD!! Also other comments posted that I agree with, such as the mirror behind the camera, taking ALOT of pictures each session to find the few good ones, lighting, background, timer, clothes, makeup. I thought this was supposed to be fun? IT is for me, I really like to try different tecniques to achieve a great picture of how I look and feel. And as hard as it is to get natural light in Wisconsin in winter(sunlight that is), I did last summer and my pictures turned out great IMHO. And jus recently I took over 100 and pulled out about a dozen to post on Flickr.

www.flickr.com/photos/scheryl

[jennifer41356]

for me it can be shadows on my face or maybe the room isnt light enough and I hate the pic...I am also sometimes too hard on myself with my pics...just like any lady:love:

[Celeste]

You know some one posted a while back that they used a monitor with their camera,so I plugged my camera into my cable box auxiliary input and it made a great monitor of my big screen.So now rather than all those extra shots,I just practice in the t.v. screen,when I get the look I want, hit the delayed timer,then step back and try to match it while watching it on the screen.I also was really hurting my efforts with the flash(really made me look like a criminal in a dress)so I put the flash in disable mode and worked the lighting up in increments.With those tips it made weekend photos fun for me again.

[Jocelyn Quivers]

This happens all the time with me. It usually takes me close to an hour after being dressed in which I have to change outfits, hairstyles, facial expressions, and distance from the camera before I finally get my picture taking mojo correct.

[Bexles]

One thing you need to remember is the light where you stand for the picture and the light by the mirror will most likely be different... that can give dramatically different effects. Also as others have said you need to remember that the mirror image is flipped which is why I tend to use a web camera to check as that shows me what others see.

Also if you're using a timer to take photos it can be difficult and I find that setting up a camera to take video and then selecting key frames as photos can be better (of course that's hard unless you're using a digital camera).

[Donna Marie]

Many thanks to all who replied - there are some good tips here. The best one may be Tootsie's request to back the camera out to Cleveland. But I perservered and wound up with at least something. I posted it in the Pictures section.

[Littlej10]

I've found that if I give my camera 6 pints of strong lager I look beautiful.





:D

Tried it last night but got it sligjtly wrong, the lagers went in me and I have no idea where the camera went ... ooooer!

[Tracy_Victoria]

In the context of this discussion, I can't see that this makes much differenc



Of course it does, the image you see of yourself in a mirror is totally different to the view everyone else see (or you see in a picture of youself) ie you always see a reflexion in a mirror, the only way you can see what you really look like in a mirror is to use two, ie you need to view the reflexion in a reflexion. (which is why we tend to fell we look so different.

[Tracy_Victoria]

Originally Posted by Tracy_Victoria
also the left side of the face, is rarely a mirror image of the left




?????

Whoops Typo!

it's a proven fact no face is the same on the left hand side, as it is on the right. you can prove this with a mirror, if you look at the right side and reflex that image by holding it on the centre line of your face, the right side, will look very different from your left. hence why we look different in pictures.

http://www.wpunj.edu/cohss/philosophy/courses/hegel/MIRRORS.HTM

[amber 07]

Girls, Please don't look at it as I once did. The terminology is not "rate of failure", its a learning curve. If you, like I, have a VERY strong need to document the "life" and times of our alternate persona, get a good book on photography and read it ALL. The tips you come away with will be invaluable in your endeavor, and your results are guaranteed to improve.

I have been into recreational photography for many years and I'm still learning but now I have the burden, ooops, bad choice of words, the obligation to teach my SO everything I know, or wish I knew, and she's a complete novice. Granted, I'm on the other side of the lens this time, but the more I teach her, the better the shots are. We usually take 20 or thirty pictures on a given night, and through diligent cropping, color correcting and soft focus my failure rate has gone from 99% down to about 85%. The more you take the more of a chance you'll get that 1 inna million shot.

I've found that there are many "full length" body shots that are unacceptable as a whole, but its a wonderful portrait of the face. Don't let the forest hide the fact that there are single trees there also, you just have to pick and choose the one you want, and crop out the rest.

For you that don't know it, there is a WONDERFUL!!!...FREE...!!! program out there called PICASA from Google. That FREE download and a digital camera of at least 5 megapixels, and ideally more, and you can be the photographer you've always wanted to go to, and its virtually free, after the camera purchase. You can do virtually everything with this program, and its an album with a nifty "hide" feature that lets you hide albums and also files. The original picture is always kept intact if you ever want to "undo" any of your options.

Don't be discouraged, as there are many ways to make the adventure both fun and easy. Good luck and have fun. Hugs Amber

[victoriamwilliams1]

It happens that for me that I think I do not look right and when I look at the photos I find the mirror lied and I looked better than I thought. On a good day I take abot 80 photos and 30 of them are good the rest I file in the folder I never delete them.

[Suzy Harrison]

Digital cameras are brillant for showing detail - every imperfection.

...and the flash can leave shadows which can make features, like your nose, look huge

I get better results when I face a window and use the light from outside. The bright light fades out any lines on my face!.

But even then - MOST photos I take go in the bin, you'll ever only see the best, maybe I should be honest and show some bad ones too - that might be a good thread for the future

[Margot]

I agree with a lot that has been said. Digi cameras are the way to go. You can takes tons of oics and only keep the ones you like. I have found too that the flash does not help the pic. I try to use ambient light. If you have a tripod use it.
Margot