Goddamn, I'm unphotogenic

[GRLMGC]

I look in the mirror and I'm all like "ok, i'm not that bad" but my freaking pictures all come out stupid looking. What gives?

[JohnKleeb]

1. some of us don't photograph well, I always look high and I hear about it

[autorank]

3. So that was you I saw at spectrum over the weekend! Hah! I knew it.

[JohnKleeb]

4. No Ive never been there

:).

[autorank]

7. Actually, I've never seen you, have no idea what you look like, but

there are sure a lot of people walking around looking "high" in this part of VA.

[JohnKleeb]

8. I am sure lol

[Tracyjo]

14. Ha! You over in the valley?? n/t

[Skittles]

2. same with me

I've had one or two good pics but most of them make me go WTF???

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

5. Sorry to hear that Mr. President. we have been discussing

this problem of yours for quite some time on this site.

Maybe if you... well, nevermind, I don't want to meet your detail yet.

[autorank]

6. Me too! I just write it off to bad lighting, problems with the camera.

Sorry, I'd like to write more but I've got CNN on by mistake and I'm watching Iraqi men holding hands and dancing. I was looking for the Cockettes movie on Sundance. Strange world.

[autorank]

9. Ok, I've got my Kodak digital. I'm going to take a picture of myself.

[autorank]

10. I took six, five sucked; the sixth was of my Cheseapeake Bay Retriever.

He looked great!

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. Give it about 20 years and look at those pictures again.

You will be amazed at how much you will wish you could look that good again. I'm not kidding.

[Butterflies]

28. Boy, is that the truth!

Some people say that youth is wasted on the young.

[Maple]

12. I've been unphotogenic

all my life, and I'm close to 60.

I just gave up worrying about it.

[American Tragedy]

13. Same here.

People have told me that I'm very photogenic, but I don't buy it for a second. I have extremely pale skin and dark auburn hair, which looks okay in person. But man, when I'm photographed with a flash, especially under high-contrast setting, I swear I look like Vampira.

[6000eliot]

15. I don't think I've ever taken a decent picture

I look back at photos of me taken 20 years ago and say, "Man, I was an ugly fucker!"

[Pert_UK]

16. Are your pictures as bad as this?

No? Didn't think so!

[billyskank]

17. Are you about to cast a thunderbolt at someone?

Remind me not to piss you off, Pert. Especially as there isn't an Atlantic Ocean separating us..... :scared: :)

[tjwmason]

18. I'm guessing that painting anybody's face

with the S. George Cross would make them look unphotogenic.

[blueknight]

19. i looked at a pic of me

my sis took on christmas. jesus! my face looked fat! im on a diet

[Anarcho-Socialist]

20. I am quite unphotogenic, although I looked cute in photos up until age 11

[Samurai_Writer]

21. As a professional model....

I used to think I took HORRID photographs. I always preferred runway better than photo sessions. There actually are things you can do to make your photos come out better, both on your side and the photographer's side. Here's a few tips:

Photographers:

Always shoot with the light behind YOU, not your subjects. ALWAYS USE A FLASH, even outdoors.

Shoot from ABOVE your subjects, having them look up. This thins the face out and gets rid of shadows beneath the eyes, etc.

Models:

Don't ever face yourself straight into the camera. Tilt the head, it slims out your face.

SMILE! Practice smiling in front of a mirror to see what type of smile looks best on you.

Wear colors that compliment your skin tone. For example, I'm brown, so I can wear just about any color except yellow. People with rosy complexions should stay away from orange, lime greens, etc. People with pale skins should stay away from pastels and whites.

There's my tips for the day. Hope next time you take some GREAT photos!

Peace,
Bella

[SarahB]

22. I'm the opposite.

I take excellent pictures, but me in real life is a scary, scary thing. Go figure. :shrug:

[Longgrain]

29. Ditto here

My self portraits always come out good for some reason, while my true image is kind of awkward looking.

[Lerkfish]

23. HERE'S THE REAL REASON: it will surprise you.

most faces are asymmetrical...some more than others. What you see in the mirror is actually a flipflop of what others always see. Here's how you can prove this to yourself:

take the offending photo (the best would be a full front face on photo) and hold it up to a mirror. Does it look better to you now?

this is why many people don't like pictures of themselves..it doesn't match up with the image in mirror...yet the photos "look like you" to others. Its because you're used to the reverse image of your face, and when you see it as it actually looks, the asymmetry makes it look "wrong" to you.

I have drawn many portraits of people that they were unhappy with, but their friends would disagree and say "nope, he nailed you, that's exactly how you look"

[SarahB]

24. I saw a documentary once about this.

They were studies of 'attractiveness' and what seemed to run consistently across all cultures to define attractiveness was the level of symmetry of a person's face.

Other stuff included waist to hip ratios (for women) in which the preference didn't vary at all across cultures either. Size itself varied, but the ratio remained unchanged. So much seemed to be hard-wired into our brains as some of the studies were done analyzing behavior in terms of preferences in young infants. Interesting stuff.

[underpants]

25. Me too

I HATE having my picture taken

[flaminbats]

26. join mee...mates

without cloths, we can all be photogenic

[Arkana]

27. I don't photograph well either

In the mirror, I look almost handsome, but in pictures I'm like a gargoyle.

[RagingInMiami]

30. I might come out decent in one out of every six or seven shots

Which is why I prefer to be behind the camera.
Unless a picture is taking of me completely by surpise, I usually come out with my eyes closed or mouth open or hair out of place.