Does anyone else ever go thru this.
I have a full length mirror in my bedroom.
I pick out a skirt and top, look at myself in the mirror, and think , looks good,
so I decide to take a photo.
In the photo I look completely, unattractive, fat and sloppy.
I don't which is lying, the mirror or the camera?
Although your current visions might be grounded in reality,
there are no shortcuts to get from here to there.
Face the facts and realize that you still may have to manifest this
dream the old-fashioned way: by creating a concrete plan,
putting in the hard work and maintaining an
unwavering determination to make it happen.
Sadly for me I'm never going to look good either in a mirror or a photograph.
Sasha
Spieglein, Spieglein an der Wand, wer ist die schoenste im ganzen Land?
Mirror, mirror on the wall...
Same with my phone selfies. Camera lens point of view can distort. Trust the mirror
Rachel,
The camera is the problem, I was a pro photographer for thirty years and the selfies being taken now aren't flattering because the camera is used too close and with a wide setting on the lens. It distorts the body proportions and produces the effect you describe.
To take decent pictures full length should be taken just above waist height preferably with a long lens on the camera, a close up should be taken at eye level to give the facial features the best appearance , again with a long lens. Cameras can be made to lie when used in the right way !
I've started using a selfie stick or at least the part that holds the phone, you can attach it to a tripod, this is what my recent pics have been taken with. You can then video yourself as well, saves having to run backwards and forwards pressing the shutter button. When watching a video playback you can pause the video, take a screen capture of a suitable image on the phone and post it to this forum
Last edited by Abbey11; 01-10-2017 at 08:31 AM.
OMG!! Owning my femininity .... and I LOVE it!
I was advised, many moons ago, that with a 35mm camera the best lens to use for portraits was the best quality 135mm that you could afford. With a modern digital that probably means that your setting the standard zoom lens to the longest focal length that it has. (Thereas, does that sound about right?) Forgetting to do so and using a micro 4 thirds at 18mm puts on a few pounds! (Been thereOriginally Posted by Teresa
)
And yes, avoid cheap flash at all costs. Bounce it, diffuse it or get some daylight! (My avatar was taken using available light in a hotel room, bounced one reading light off the ceiling, another off the mirror and judiciously placed a standard lamp. Make sure the camera is set to a highish ISO setting and the right colour balance and sit still! Then select the best photo out of the 30 that you take!)
Last edited by Judith96a; 01-10-2017 at 11:22 AM.
Yup. Phone camera makes me look like a troll 97% of the time.
Oh, I Soooo get that. Most of my photos, I think my face looks fat. It is bit of both. Angles can help or hurt you. The mirror doesn't do a lot for seeing your profile or behind you. Plus the lighting can really be off on photos. The other thing is that a photo, does not really show you in action, which may capture just the wrong moment. But there is truth in the camera too.
Rember, you can be the prettiest girl in the room, or the ugliest, when you are alone. It's your choice.
Last edited by Meghan4now; 01-10-2017 at 11:41 AM.
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 .
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!
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.
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.
And there's more grain.(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
If you believe in it, makeup has a magic all it's own -- Sooner or Later (TV movie)
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?- Marianne Williamson
Have I also not said that "This Thing of Ours" makes some of us a bit "Barefoot in the Head"? Well, it does.
Hi Rachel,
I think there is something psychological that goes on here. I experience similar things, but sometimes it is the other way around - unhappy with the view in the mirror, but look better in the photo. Perhaps it has to do with lighting or perhaps that the mirror view provides a better connection and because we want to look good our brain interferes with the objective reflection and gives us the reflection we want to see. There is often a time span involved with the photo or perhaps it is a different medium but I think our brains produce a more objective perception in photos because that is what we expect a photo to do. Truth is, as a semi-pro photographer (landscape and nature), all photos contain lies. As the advertising industry knows very well, perception defines truth more than reality does. That said, I think it is a mistake to assume that because you look bad in the photo (to your perception) that may not be the case with others. With some you will always look goofy, others won't really See you in the first place, and to others you will be a presentable woman even if not passable. Passing, I think, is an illusion to most of us. But if your avatar photo is representative, you really don't have anything to worry about. So, don't get too hard on yourself; we are our own worst critics.
xoxo
Gretchen
To add to Teresa's technical points, lighting has a lot to do with it. When you're looking in a mirror, you're getting soft bounce light from the room around you, but if you photograph yourself with the flash on it will be harsh and unflattering. The main light source should be something besides the onboard flash to take a nice portrait.
If you're lucky enough to be different, don't ever change.
I remember reading something about us not tending to like pictures of ourselves because the image of ourselves that we are used to seeing is inverted (we normally see ourself in mirrors so were used to the invert image) so that when we see a regular pic of ourselves something seems off/uncanny valley-esque.
Not sure if it's true but it's nice to think that everyone thinks we look as good as what we see in the mirror
I defer to the photography experts in the group for this one! I do think your avatar looks good! Hugs Lana Mae
Life is worth living!
"Foxy lady! You look so good!!" Jimi Hendrix
My camera doesn't lie, but I sometimes have to poke it in the shutter a hundred times before it finally reveals the truth.
I often get ready, look in the mirror and think, yes, pretty good, then take a photo and it looks so different. Do I believe my own eyes or the camera lens?
Here today, gone tomorrow....
When you look in the mirror you are seeing a reverse image keep that in mind.
A camera doesn't see you as you see you.
Nice to learn that the mirror is the fairest!
Thanks for the tips Teresa and Ellie.
Even using a tripod, I have had to take many dozens of selfies to try and get a usable pic. OK, so lose the wide angle shots. Take longer pics, then crop if desired.
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.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.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
Trust the photographers - Teresa and Ellie. I am not a professional but have a good camera and tripod and can use Photoshop when needed to fix small errors. I hate phone selfies and even worse when hand held vs using the timer feature and the phone set up resting somewhere. Posing is also important - look at some of the poses of pictures here or in catalogs. The poses here may be better to minimize certain features the GGs don't have to worry about. Stand at 45 degree to camera to minimize broader shoulders. Over the shoulder views give nice angle to face and hide Adam's Apple. Looking down when facing camera can also do this.
Fat-use corset or cincher to help.
Sloppy - take the time to check how your clothes and hair lay before deciding to take the picture - tough when under time constraints.
Unattractive - your avatar looks pretty - nice smile, good skin. Take off glasses to see the difference in picture. Better lighting - are you using flash? Natural light onto your front and not behind you?
Give us more specifics and the professionals can help you capture what you desire.
Hugs, Ellen
Generally, my mirror tell a favorable lie and my unzoomed camera (not a phone) mostly tells the inconvenient truth.
If the professionals want to give advice - I have the Panasonic LUMIX G7 (a micro 4/3) and often use the Vario 14-140 mm lens and external flash unit. I capture RAW and JPEG to give me flexibility if needed. I normally use timer and click it and use the 10 seconds to pose, but could switch to the smartphone app to control it, see my self to check pose and focus, then activate the timer and then just need to put phone out of sight.
Thoughts?
Hugs, Ellen
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