Photography makes you look 15 lbs heavier...

[KateSpade83]

Photography makes you look 15 lbs heavier, or worse, fat! I was on the lookout for a cheap club dress, because there was a real nice one at the BEBE store but $179 now is too expensive. Finally got a close enough one for $3.50 at Salvation Army. It's a size 9, and when I look at myself in the mirror I think I'm a sexy chick! Then I look at my photos of me in it and say, "What Happened?" No Figure! Why I look fat? Photography is soo depressing! No wonder why real models are soo stick thin - they look better in photos!

[Nicole Erin]

Well kate, you are right.
We look in the mirror and think "How pretty!" but we take photos and like you said...

Look it is like this - cameras lie. Not just the latest digitals, but ALL cameras thru history lie...

I have asked a few of the better looking CDs how they do it and why they look so good and the response is usually "I throw out all the bad photos".

I have taken maybe 200 photos over the years and liked maybe 5. There was but ONE that I was 100% happy with. Unfortunately I do not have it..

[Eve_WA]

A a digital artist, classically trained... its not the camera, its how you use it! First of all, lighting is MUCHO important! Do not EVER use the flach on the camera if you want something to look good. Its job is to flatten out the surroundings and make things look even... not what you want if you want to show a figure. Look at professional lighting setups. They use a 2-3 light setup with a strong Key light, a less strong fill to even out the shadows, and perhapps a back light. This helps separate you from the background, give you shape and form. I always turn off my flash and if Im not using real lights, control the lights in the environment to get a similar look.

Mixed lighting is also a big problem. Always have the same kinds of lights for all. What I mean is dont use a florescent, and incandescent and light coming through a window al together. To our eye, the light looks like similar hue, but to the camera it is not! Flors look blue, incandescent looks red, and sunlight yellow... depending on the other lights around them. Always use the same light type for all lights in the scene.

Next is the camera and its' lens. Most digital cameras are a compromise. They do close ups OK, and distance OK, nothing very well. (unless you have one with a removable lens). The problem with the camera lenses on most point and shoots are, they are primarily made for med to long distance. So close ups look distorted. What I find works best for me, is to get the camera as far back as I can, and zoom in. That will reduce the perspective distortion and make you look less... Hobbit. I try to get the camera across the room, and zoom in to flatten out the background, reduce distortions, and even out the lighting.

Also, I ALWAYS take my pics into Photoshop for re-work. Now... nothing like some do here... I dont manipulate the photo any... except as a whole. I will crop things down to where they look better, and run a Adjust levels filter to make the color s and contract more appealing. Those two steps make a great deal of difference in pictures. Crop them in an interesting way, and then adjust color and contrast. Digital cameras make great tools, but arent as capable as a photographer with knowledge of light and color.

Composition is another key element. This is more of an appeal and feel thing. I tend to take my pics a little loose, and then crop then after the fact. I find that easier, and often I find a shot that I didnt count on, but is awesum!

Best advice is, take lots, toss the ones you dont like... but experiment! It costs nothing to point and click... not like it used to back with chemical photography. But most of all, have fun!

Eve

[Kate Simmons]

It helps if you have a magic mirror like I do that sucks up to you Kate.:heehee:

[trannie T]

Our vision is selective, we only see what we wish. Cameras are objective they capture everything in view. One of the most difficult skills in photography is to see like a camera.
I would be overjoyed if my photos showed me only fifteen pounds heavier than I am in my minds eye.

[Nicole Erin]

Well I believe Eva WA, but if one has to go thru all THAT crap just to take good photos, I guess I will just live with my crappy lights and camera...

The thing about "seeing what one wants to see", well wouldn't that happen in photos too? I mean we can look at anything and filter right?

[Melinda G]

The camera doesn't lie! :D:D

[Edyta_C]

Well the lighting really helps in a photograph. The digital cameras are sometimes more fussy over the color balance of the light. My Canon's both have a white balance. Still this can't fix mixed light (sunlight, flash, fluoresent, and tungsten). Your makeup will look different due to the funny lighting and the camera chip. The multi dimensional light that Eve refers to in her post, will change the way the camera sees you clothes fit. Hence the idea that the camera adds pounds.

Most of the time its our eye that sees what we want to see. The camera may be closer to what others see. I nearly always need to color adjust (my foundation is always different and reddish). Many times I need to soften the face focus. Photoshop can also be used to subtract and emphasize curves. By adding or emphasizing dark and light areas you can create bigger boobs and a smaller (somewhat) waist.

It is amazing! Perfect makeup and perfect touchups are why models look so good (of course most have a better starting point than me)

Hugs Edyta

[KateSpade83]

You know, I just don't take the time to do 10 photos of the same shot and pick the best one. I do at most 3, but even rarely do this. So yeah, sometimes you see ugly mugs of me. I'm really happy when I take a rare 1 shot photo and it turns out so good - like my avatar!

One of you post a very impressive pic of you taken by a professional phographer. Looked so womanly passable, and beautiful. But later when you did your own self photography I said, "what happened / is that you?" - and was dissappointed.

I photoshop all my pics for crop, brightness / contrast, hue saturation, and resizing to max allowable pic size - only that!

Well, we can't compete with professional models / magazine photos because I heard they're heavily airbrushed and photoshopped!

[VeronicaMoonlit]

Photography makes you look 15 lbs heavier, or worse, fat!Then I look at my photos of me in it and say, "What Happened?" No Figure! Why I look fat? Photography is soo depressing! No wonder why real models are soo stick thin - they look better in photos!

Heels. The right shoes can make the outfit look much much better. And camera angles...and luck


Well I believe Eva WA, but if one has to go thru all THAT crap just to take good photos, I guess I will just live with my crappy lights and camera...

Just choosing the right white balance helps a lot. I always look at the LCD and flip through the white balance settings to see which one makes the image on the screen colored like in RL. My camera has a manual setting too, but you have to carry around a white card to effectively use it. And I almost always leave flash disabled and try to have enough light to not need it. My camera's a cheap old Minolta DiMage Z10 got on clearance at wal-mart a few years back.

Veronica
Rondelle (Ron) Rogers Jr.

[mykhelee]

Living in a truck for seven months eating truck stop food makes you 15 pounds heavier.:brolleyes:

[Eve_WA]

The camera doesn't lie! :D:D

Actually, cameras DO lie! You just have to learn to have them lie in your favor! Its all about light, lens angles, composition, and such. It doesnt take that much effort, once you get used to what to look for. Theres TONS of tutorials and help files on the web, also beginning photography books are a wonderful resource. Best thing is to experiment and have fun!

Eve

[tamarav]

Yup, you're right! Cameras do seem to add 15 plus pounds... gotta lose some weight.

74820
74821

[June Campbell]

I must say that having had a professional makeover and photographs taken, you don't necessarily look fatter if the pictures are done properly. The again I took some myself the other day after getting a new top and couldn't believe how fat my stomach looked. Part of the problem is how you stand I think.

[Alice B]

That is not totally true. Yes video makes you look larger than you are, but still photography, with the right lens and angle can make you look smaller. Play around with different shooting angles and lenses and you will be pleased with the results.

[victoriamwilliams1]

A a digital artist, classically trained... its not the camera, its how you use it! First of all, lighting is MUCHO important! Do not EVER use the flach on the camera if you want something to look good. Its job is to flatten out the surroundings and make things look even... not what you want if you want to show a figure. Look at professional lighting setups. They use a 2-3 light setup with a strong Key light, a less strong fill to even out the shadows, and perhapps a back light. This helps separate you from the background, give you shape and form. I always turn off my flash and if Im not using real lights, control the lights in the environment to get a similar look.

Mixed lighting is also a big problem. Always have the same kinds of lights for all. What I mean is dont use a florescent, and incandescent and light coming through a window al together. To our eye, the light looks like similar hue, but to the camera it is not! Flors look blue, incandescent looks red, and sunlight yellow... depending on the other lights around them. Always use the same light type for all lights in the scene.

Next is the camera and its' lens. Most digital cameras are a compromise. They do close ups OK, and distance OK, nothing very well. (unless you have one with a removable lens). The problem with the camera lenses on most point and shoots are, they are primarily made for med to long distance. So close ups look distorted. What I find works best for me, is to get the camera as far back as I can, and zoom in. That will reduce the perspective distortion and make you look less... Hobbit. I try to get the camera across the room, and zoom in to flatten out the background, reduce distortions, and even out the lighting.




I have to cosign on this with a few added items:

about 99% of all my photos are taken portrait style as opposed to landscape. For a test I took a picture when I first received my camera in both modes and found that landscape was distorted.

I also find that my best photos are taken outside with a tripod and on a sunny day offsetting myself about 30 degrees from the direct sun. On a cloudy day taking test photos and reviewing for the best position based on the time of day.

Most of my cameras best photos have been taken during the morning sunrise. I also suggest check the ISO settings of your camera in most cases the default settings will work unless it is a very cheap camera.

I suggest sites like flickr and read the EXIF settings if they are present for that photo.


Practice and you cam get the perfect shot.

[Rachel M]

I disagree. The camera doesnt always do that. I feel it is the cut of the clothes and the style that will play up those unwanted looks. Grab a Marie Claire magazine some time and look for the articles when they show case five different body types with a similar outfit or look. Womens clothes have so many cuts and styles. Just because an outfit is Deal at $179 dollars doesnt mean its gonna look good on everybody. You need to find outfits that draw attention to you assets and away from less desirable areas.

Look at my latest pics, I normally wont wear a mini skirt, because my legs seem too muscular as well as my arms in sleeveless tops. I have a little cleavage so i choose the deep v-neck. I have a muffin top of a belly so I used the flowing black tunic to hide the midsection. The colorful top with the mini is busy and flowing to again take you eyes away from my stomach and see the cleavage or better my eyes.

Rachel

[Eve_WA]

I couldnt agree with Rachel more, that the wrong clothes, no matter how nice they may be, wont look as nice as they could on the right body type. And that wearing the proper attire can hide amazing things. GGs do this every day!

But that still doesnt mean that it will look as good as it could when photographed in bad lighting, or from the improper angle. Its all part of the presentation. Part of the whole... Doing the best with what you have!

What Kate was referring to, I believe, was how an outfit looks one way in the mirror, and another in a photograph. And a lot of that comes down to the way a camera lens works, vs the human eye. But can be compensated for, with a few simple techniques.

Ill have to put something together, and try to make a tutorial. You can do it with a camera with a remote, two lamps and a tripod. It helps if your camera has a viewer that rotates around so you can see it while being the subject. Take a lot less pictures that way... But still, as photographer and subject, its still a hit and miss adventure for me. Now if I had that cloning machine... >:)

The biggest thing I see that many could do to help their pictures, is to find a background that doesnt match, but compliments/contrasts their skin tone, and back off of the camera and zoom in a smidge. I know holding the camera makes it so much easier, but it actually makes taking a great shot harder. A $30 tripod will do, and is a godsend for portraits and landscapes.

Again, first and foremost, have fun! Its all about enjoying ourselves!

Eve

[Deborah Jane]

Again, first and foremost, have fun! Its all about enjoying ourselves!

Eve

That is my phylosophy exactly!!
Stop fretting, this is meant to be fun.
Theres no point getting stressed about the photos we take.
Lets just enjoy ourselves :)

[Lisa Golightly]

Shoot from above... You can shed up to 28lbs instantly... I should know *cough* ;)

[Raquel June]

By far the biggest problem with home pictures is that the point-and-shoot cameras most people use are terrible indoors. Their ISO 400+ performance is a joke, and a built-in flash just makes things look worse.

The really sad part is that the quality of small cameras has been going downhill for the past couple years. The CCD sensor gathers less light the smaller it is, and a lot of cameras have really tiny sensors.

1/2.5" sensor = 20 sq. mm active area
1/2.3" sensor = 23 sq. mm active area
1/2.0" sensor = 31 sq. mm active area
1/1.7" sensor = 43 sq. mm active area
small DSLR sensor = 200 - 400 sq. mm active area
35mm full frame DSLR = 864 sq. mm active area

Even $100 cameras from around 2001 had 1/2.0" CCDs. I have a Fuji F30 which is almost 3 years old with a 1/1.7" CCD, and it was under $300. Now there are only a few $400 cameras out there with sensors that big. Most of the really nice 10X zoom cameras you see with tons of features have a 1/2.3" sensor. Many new cameras have a tiny 1/2.5" sensor.

Sure, everything is 10 MP now, and has big zooms, and has huge LCDs, and has optical image stabilization. But with everything else being equal, a 3 MP camera with a bigger sensor and none of the other features is going to look better unless you're in direct sunlight or have studio lighting.

It's ridiculous how bad small cameras are seeing as you can get a DSLR like a Digital Rebel for $500.

Another problem is that packing more pixels on a sensor makes it gather less light. There are a lot of variables, but all other things being equal, a 5 MP camera will look better than a 10 MP camera with the same sensor area unless lighting conditions are perfect.

And flashes make everybody look so terrible. If you didn't use enough face powder, a flash will light up your face as if you rubbed cooking oil all over it. Even if you did, flashes seem to bring out scary facial features. I've seen people that I know are great looking, then later I see a picture someone took of them and they look so different -- eyes are different, face is bigger, and the flash brings out weird contours and causes dramatic shadows.

[Raychel]

That is a huge relief to me, If it is just the camera, then I don't have to worry about that cheeseburger all that much. :devil:

[Jess_cd32]

............ No wonder why real models are soo stick thin - they look better in photos!

As a stick thin cd I'll have to disagree, I just took pics today and wasn't to happy with really any this time, just a bad pic day overall.
In my pics I'm seeing the opposite, I'm looking thinner than the look in the mirror, maybe its a full moon out and screwing with us all.

[Eve_WA]

Raquels comments about CCD size and their ability to capture light energy is mostly correct. Yes, as the CCD gets smaller, the light energy falling on each individual pixel is less. But, the sensitivity of CCDs have increased markedly, and now CCDs are hardly ever used. CMOS sensors have taken over, as they are far more sensitive to light, and give much richer color than an equivalent CCD.

The primary reason that CCDs and CMOS sensors have been getting smaller is two fold. One, smaller size makes for a smaller camera. But the primary reason is whats known as capacitive leakage (noise). Larger sensors are more prone to leakage, which introduces more noise into the image. Smaller sensors dont get as warm and therefor dont have nearly the trouble of image noise of their older, larger predecessors.

The way to tell how much light a camera can produce a good image in, is to look at the minimum lux levels. Another factor that limits the cameras ability to gather light is the size of the lens. That is determined by F stop. The smaller the number, the less light is lost in the lens, and therefore makes it to your sensor. So always try to get a camera with the largest lens possible for your use.

A solution to the flash issue of making everything too shiny, is to put a small piece of tissue paper over the flash to reduce and diffuse the light, making it less harsh.

Hope that helps everyone.

Eve

[KandisTX]

I solved this problem with a very easy fix. I DO NOT TAKE PICTURES! LOL..

Seriously, the photo used in my avatar was done at night, with very little lighting (natural), and was done by someone who is quite skilled at taking pictures. I have a number of friends who are almost professional grade photographers, and they have offered to do a full photo shoot for Kandis (which I want to have a full portfolio done for her), but in doing so, you must choose the right outfits. You are most likely not going to see me in club wear (unless we are going to a special party), because that's not my style, what you will see is something that accentuates my best features (Legs, buttocks, and breast(form)s), but takes the focus away from other features such as my chin and nose (both of which are very masculine).

Kandis:love::rose2:

[Violet]

Also, don't forget to stand up straight and turn a little bit to the side. Straight-on photos are rarely flattering. Lean your weight on the leg that is further away from the camera, and hold your arms a little away from your body so they aren't smooshed against it. If you are sitting, cross your legs at your ankles and keep your knees together. This will help eliminate Calf Muscle Spread. :)

And, if you know your size, get thee to eBay! You can oftentimes find brand name dresses for way, way less than retail there. A friend of mine found a $400 BCBG dress on eBay for $90.

[Raquel June]

the sensitivity of CCDs have increased markedly

Sure, over the past 20 years CCDs have become more sensitive, but not much over the last two or three. Current cameras with with small sensors are worse than the older bigger ones, and these days the $500 "Prosumer" cameras like the Canon G9 or Nikon P6000 are about the only thing with bigger 1/1.7" CCDs.



... now CCDs are hardly ever used. CMOS sensors have taken over, as they are far more sensitive to light, and give much richer color than an equivalent CCD.

Nononononononono.

CMOS sensors have worse low-light sensitivity and the only good cameras that use them have huge sensors to compensate. Every consumer camera uses a CCD sensor. Even in SLRs, Fuji/Sony/Pentax and some Nikons use CCDs. The reason Canon and Nikon use CMOS in their pro cameras is because they've pretty much perfected it, not because CMOS technology itself is superior.

CMOS sensors are used in cell phone cameras because they require fewer parts and use less power, not because their quality is better.


http://www.dalsa.com/shared/content/Photonics_Spectra_CCDvsCMOS_Litwiller.pdf

Dalsa makes both CCD and CMOS sensors, and they have no reason to lie about the benefits of one vs. the other, and they're also pretty credible since they made the cameras for the Mars rovers and they make the best digital cinema camera in the world (a CCD with 48-bit color).



The primary reason that CCDs and CMOS sensors have been getting smaller is two fold. One, smaller size makes for a smaller camera. But the primary reason is whats known as capacitive leakage (noise).


The reason CCDs are getting smaller is strictly because it saves money. If smaller sensors are better, why do the most expensive cameras have the biggest sensors? Shouldn't those $3,000 pro cameras look terrible because of all the "capacitive leakage noise" coming from their sensors being 40 times bigger?

[docrobbysherry]

You know, I just don't take the time to do 10 photos of the same shot and pick the best one. I do at most 3, but even rarely do this. So yeah, sometimes you see ugly mugs of me. I'm really happy when I take a rare 1 shot photo and it turns out so good - like my avatar!

One of you post a very impressive pic of you taken by a professional phographer. Looked so womanly passable, and beautiful. But later when you did your own self photography I said, "what happened / is that you?" - and was dissappointed.


1. Spend 5 years, and spend $10,000, becoming a camera expert. Like Eve apparently is! ( Eve, your advice is excellent, if a bit over my head!)

2. Do nothing and keep taking bad pictures of yourself.

3. Cheat! Like I do! I know nothing about cameras, but I use a camcorder. I take 1000 frames in a one minute relaxed, non-posing photo session. I always think I look good in the mirror. When I'm wearing my full figure, most of the frames look fat. But there r always some that look trim! When I'm sporting my slim figure, most of my pics will look trim. But some will look fat!:doh:

Final proof that this works: I wear a mask! From different angles, the same face has different expressions! Don't believe me? Check out my photo posts!:eek:

ANYONE CAN BUY A NEW $225 CAMCORDER AND GET AMAZING PICS TOMORROW!:D