Yes I have noticed this. If I look great in a mirror the photos come out bad, if I look bad or so-so in the mirror the photos come out good. So I usually go with what looks better that particular day. Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all, me of course!!
Spieglein, Spieglein an der Wand, wer ist die schoenste im ganzen Land?
Mirror, mirror on the wall...
Judith,
Yes that's about right for an old 35mm film camera, I usually used about twice the focal length, so on 35mm format about 100-105mm lens. All my stuff was taken on Bronica SQai which was the old 120 ( 6cm x 6cm ) film size so a standard lens was 80mm and I used a 150mm for all my portraits. Compared with film cameras , digital needs far less light so try and find a room with lots of ambient light but not direct sunlight , outside again avoid direct sunlight unless you use reflectors or fill in flash , I preferred film to digital because the contrast was lower.
Closet,
The way to stand a bride was tun her partly side view and ask her to place her weight on the back leg and point the front foot towards the camera , it's surprising how slimmer they look.
Ellie,
If you want all the gear I still have it, brollies soft boxes and dozens of electronic flash units ( strobelights in the US !)
As for smearing Vaseline on lenses, no way ! I found by accident that anti-newton slide mounts ( 120 size ) mounted in card to slot into a pro lens shade gave the best soft lens effect. Candle lit shots of wedding couples looked amazing .
My Mirror seems to be pretty honest, but I don't trust that Camera one bit, she's one lying #$........ For every picture I have of me about one in twenty make it into the keep and perhaps show folder, the rest get filed in trash.
My mirror has a sense of humor; the first time it saw me dressed as a girl, it cracked up.
My pictures are never exposed properly; or, you simply could say that in pictures as well as life, I don't come out.
I mount a 35 -200 zoom lens on my Nikon D5300 DSLR camera and put my camera on a tripod and flip the fold-able digital display so I can see it while I'm standing in front of the camera. I use a 2 Second delay shutter release. I take a about six photos then make a major pose change. Then I will change outfit/wig/make-up and repeat. Typically I take anywhere between 50 and 150 photos in a shoot session. (I have been know to shoot 400 in one session, but normally that is with a model.)
Maybe if I am lucky, I might get 6 good photos. A photographer's worst critique is them-self.
Lately, I have been hanging a black towel (without lint) over the tub/shower curtain rod, and place my camera in the hall. This gives me a longer focal length and also ensures there are no mirrors to give me unwanted flash backs, and glares.
Unfortunately, even though those few technically good are good, they just can't make me look great, just good.
occasionally I will Photoshop out a few blemishes. It is very tempting to loose 40 to 60 pounds with the editor, but I am a realist. I am what you see. Now the backdrop does occasionally get changed.
Yes, that's exactly what I try to do - big north-facing windows are great, lots of well diffused light. What I do notice, certainly with my Lumix G5, is that as you push the ISO rating up (I prefer to set the 'film speed' manually rather than use auto-ISO) the camera's ability to automatically correct the colour balance goes to pieces. Still, being able to set the camera to ISO 1600 and snap away indoors without flash is very convenient. Great for candid shots!Quote:
Originally Posted by Teresa
I also find the built-in flash to be at least two stops too powerful and very harsh. So, for some family photos over Christmas, I resurrected my Canon TL300 and bounced it off the ceiling. No auto of course so I had to footer with guide nos and aperture!
Agreed - dunno who started that old wives tale but it's a good way of destroying a perfectly good lens. If I want soft focus, I take the photo properly focused and post process with Photoshop.Quote:
Originally Posted by Teresa
Thanks for the comments. But I kind of agree with Taylor:
The mirror tells a favorable lie and the camera tells the inconvenient truth.
I really appreciate the comments about my avatar.
I believe it is the most flattering photo of me I have, too bad it is not the most
accurate. I'm not sure what makes it so good:
Poor lighting so you can't see my wrinkles?
An angle makes my eyes large and my chin smaller?
The only makeup I'm wearing is mascara and lipstick, so it's not the makeup.
I assure you, I have 99 more photos that are not near as flattering.
@CostaRicaRachel.
Regarding the inconvenient truth vs the favourable lie: You could investigate that, I think. Look at yourself in the mirror at a slight angle and take a mental note of how you look. Then take the camera and aim it from the side of you into the mirror so that it gets a somewhat similar profile of you after reflection to what you had just been looking at. Take the picture, court adjourned :) .
Ellestreet and Tracii G both mentioned the reflected image vs the plain image that we are not used to. I would hazard a guess that another contributor might be that when we focus on something, the left eye and the right eye each see a slightly different image due to their positions relative to the target, and the composite gets processed in the brain. It allows us to have a better perception of depth. I am not sure whether a non-3D camera emulates that. I haven't heard that it does, but I am neither an expert nor an enthusiast. I use a webcam, for crying out loud!!! :eek: .
If you are good at seeing stereograms ( some people get them straight away, while others can't ), then I guess you could close one eye and look deadly straight into the mirror with the other and, with peripheral vision, consider the image. Then change back and forth with the other eye, doing the same. You will notice a difference. This is actually very difficult to do because we are so trained to want to look towards the image rather than straight ahead perpendicular to the mirror. Those that can resist that inclination ( those that are good at stereograms ) will be able to see it.
But you and Taylor make a good point. The camera could be considered the 'truth' because of this, and the way we see what we see in the mirror could be the 'lie' because of how images are processed with two eyes. But on the other hand, if other people are also using two eyes . . . .
:2c:
My camera makes Sherry look like a pretty woman! (Plus, I can easily remove the small blemishes). No one has every mistaken her for one in real life up close except on Halloween!:sad:
Sherry also looks great in my mirrors.:daydreaming: Until I put my glasses on. (I'm near sited). Which I've learned not to do!:battingeyelashes:
Many or most photo editing software allows you to flip (horizontally) the image, allowing a better comparison with the image in the mirror.
I did a good makeup job and good photo session, only to see later that one eye (fake lashes and eye makeup) was not as good as the other eye. So I cheated. To one of the photos, I did a cut, flip, and paste of my good eye to replace the bad eye. Much better, and I CAN sleep at night.
That works if you shoot in RAW and are a photoshop expert, but not quite as useful for those who don't shoot RAW and aren't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Judith96a
And there's more grain.Quote:
(I prefer to set the 'film speed' manually rather than use auto-ISO) the camera's ability to automatically correct the colour balance goes to pieces.
All of the various advice above works best with a point and shoot with some manual features. Cell phones aren't good cameras.
As above, manually set the ISO and you should probably manually set the color balance to what looks best of your camera's choices.
Use a Tripod, with the camera as high as you can get it.
Remote shutter or timer...NO selfie sticks.
Long lens, wide aperture. Meaning if you camera has a zoom, Extend it also If your camera has a portrait mode try that or use aperture mode or a programmable semi-automatic mode.
Pantyhose filter with a rubber band.
Soften the flash with tissue/cellophane, bounce it with an index card. sticky tack and tape will help.
Use more indirect light.
Veronica
Mirrors are just not what they used to be! I had one 30 years ago with a much better image quality than the ones I have seen lately ;)
Actually, Focus or Soft Focus is not one of the camera settings shooting in RAW allows you to change after the fact. You can add this effect in most image processing applications, it is usually implemented as "Blur". For advanced users there are a lot of ways to add this effect to get that soft dreamy image effect but you can also simply Blur the image to help hide some of the brutal truths of reality.Quote:
That works if you shoot in RAW and are a photoshop expert, but not quite as useful for those who don't shoot RAW and aren't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Judith96a
If I want soft focus, I take the photo properly focused and post process with Photoshop.
Bottom line is this: Taking good pictures does not come free. If you want more that a snapshot, you have to invest some time in learning how to take a good picture and also how to process the digital image file. If you are still using actual film, you are likely a photography enthusiast and already know all of this :)
With the right knowledge and experience, you can take and make good pictures with even a simple camera and setup, but even the best camera is not going to help you if you dont know how to use it right.
- Suzie
if nothing else, I take some consolation in knowing that so many girls have the same problem with photos that I do. Usually when I take photos it puts me off crossdressing for weeks...It'd be fun to have a real professional take some pics
I bought a possessed mirror from a passing gypsy troupe one day specifically to lie to me.
It's just different lighting and contrast. My iPhone heavily enhances any blemishes on my skin, for example. Ones you can barely see with your eyes. Pro photographers have all sorts of lighting equipment and fret over it a lot.
As I posted before I like to take self photos but not phone selfies. I started with film cameras back in the late 50s. I now use remote releases (have two different types)
I have been using Paint Shop Pro since the 80s. I have tried Photo Shop. in the end it is what you prefer. I rarely use a soft focus. I use either a camera mounted tilt head flash of my studio strobes.
I love some of my self photos and several CD girls that I have taken.
Maybe I will plan a road trip and take photos of CD girls along the route.
Also works perfectly well if you don't shoot in RAW. There are any number of apps out there which will allow you to add soft focus. You don't need to be an expert of any description to use Photoshop to add soft focus. You just have to be willing to try several times before you get it right (the first time)!Quote:
Originally Posted by VeronicaMoonlitThat works if you shoot in RAW and are a photoshop expert, but not quite as useful for those who don't shoot RAW and aren't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Judith96a
Yes, there's really no substitute for having adequate, reasonable quality, light. How you achieve that is another matter!Quote:
Originally Posted by VeronicaMoonlitAnd there's more grain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Judith96a
Depends what you mean by 'good'. In terms of image quality for casual snaps in reasonable lighting they vary between meh and surprisingly good. However, they're not very capable, compared to a 'real' camera, especially dealing with low light and/or crossdressers who want decent quality portraiture!Quote:
Originally Posted by VeronicaMoonlit
Ironically, they're not fantastic as out-and-out phones either!
Here's my take...Quote:
Originally Posted by VeronicaMoonlit
If you want really good photos, get someone else to take them! Much easier than messing around with self-timers, remote releases etc.
If you can't do that then two things - figure out how to get decent light and ditch the smartphone.
Almost any point & shoot digital camera will give you more control than the smartphone (and the lens will probably be a lot better too)
Longish lens, smallish aperture (for decent depth of field unless you really enjoy manual focus), plenty of nice soft light
If you must use the flash then find some way of softening it - any form of clear, translucent material over it will help. Bounce it off a white ceiling or card.
If you want to use the effects that are built in to the camera then fine, but take a few shots without the effects too (just in case the effect turns out to be not quite what you wanted)
Relax!
And when you're totally frustrated because you can't get a decent photo out of the @£&-£@-#&+ thing - find a friend!
Maybe some day I'll take my own advice!
All of my cameras and mirrors are in cahoots to inspire me to dress like a girl all of the time. I'm firmly convinced they work together. And it's been real interesting lately. I finally bought myself a really nice Canon EOS Rebel. It's a fabulous camera but, I'm starting to think my little $80 Samsung is nearly as good and actually more feature filled. It's Wifi enabled and has multiple flash selections to include fill flash which eliminate those pesky corona shadows.
Attachment 271323
Wow Edie, thanks for the link. Makes a lot of sense!