SweetGirl55

1.Why does pictures sometimes make people look bigger
than they are???
2.Why does mirrors sometimes make people bigger than
than they are???
3.Anyone else notice pictures & mirrors making them
look bigget than they are???
4.What ALL should I do/everyone do about it???

PlEASE Reply Someone!!!
Especially if u have noticed!!!

Ragnazidnar

I'm not certain the pictures make me look bigger than I am, but they definitely make me look bigger than I feel. In my mind I am not THAT big, but I see photos of myself and I cringe. Some of this may be because I started my PCOS journey at 120 lbs and am now over double that weight, but I still can't help but feel that the photos I see of myself are simply unflattering.
Who knows?

SoSilly

I totally agree and it is a pain in my butt. I will look in the mirror before going somewhere and think 'Huh, ok not half bad' but then if there are photos being taken that night and I see them, I think 'Why on EARTH did people let me out in public?!' Of course no one else agrees with me (them trying to be nice ;-) ) but I know how you feel and it's extremely annoying. If you find a way to fix it, let me know!

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PCOS-2006
Hypothyroid-2007
Hashimoto's-2008
Hyperinsulinemia-2008

ivetastedflight

If a picture makes someone look bigger than they actually are, I'd say that it was an unflattering angle or poor light. Same with a mirror. But I really don't think that that is what we are talking about here.

I used to be thin, then I got big, and I had a hard time reconciling what I thought I looked like (in my mind) and what I really look like (in reality). It's how you perceive your appearance that "changes" the way you look.

Sometimes I have this moment of clarity when I look at pictures like, "This is the way I really look. And EVERYONE ELSE sees me this way. It's not just the picture/camera/lighting/angle/mirror/other-reflective-device."

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Corvidae

Unfortunately, most pocket cameras have a wide angle lens of somewhere between 25mm to 35mm. A wide angle lens makes people look bigger because it magnifies the centre of the photo.

Portrait photographers usually use something between 50mm to 80mm lenses to make people look more 'normal' in their photos. Telephoto lenses like that make a picture look more like what you see with your own eyes.

My favourite pocket camera has a 35mm lens and I try to avoid using it for taking pictures of people. I get out one of my SLRs for people pics and put a 70mm telephoto on it. People are always happier with how they look and I spend less time fixing portraits in photoshop. I've become really good at removing extra chins... particularly my own!

My all time favourite trick is to always bring my camera when I get together with friends or family. It's easy to stay out of the picture when you're the one behind the camera. Works a treat.

Slow-Motion

I feel the EXACT SAME! I know that I'm 5'7", 265lbs, and my jean size is 20(Lane Bryant makes me a 4! HA take that!), but I sure as hell don't feel that way! Now my true problem is that in a mirror I see myself more the way I feel(unless I'm naked ) But in pictures I look horrid! In videos I don't even look like ME! I mean I recognize myself of course but that's ME? Are you joking? How/Why did you doctor this video, to make me look so ugly? I hate those days when I feel really good about how I look, only to see the pictures/videos of that day It kind of brings me down from wanting to make myself look "good."

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Ragnazidnar

Don't you love Layne Bryant's sizing? I know that I still wear a 20, but to see a number in the single digits again at least makes me feel better. haha.
I also will get ready to go out and think I look pretty good in the mirror (even naked, as long as it is a frontal view!) but then I see these really unflattering photos and I wonder why someone would take them if I looked so bad. My usual reaction is something like "I didn't have that many chins when I left the house!" I realize that I am overweight and people probably see me the way I look in photos and they don't care, but the lack of confidence doesn't help the weight loss struggle at all.
I have to think back to art school though, and when I was in life drawing there were tons of young, skinny models and out of all of the nude models my favorite was a 70 year old heavy woman. I named her Grandma Rose. She was so confident and more fun to draw than the other girls. She said to me- "I don't have anything you don't have or won't in the future. Anyone who is uncomfortable in their skin regardless of how they look, just needs to stand in front of the mirror and come to terms with your own body."
It isn't easy, but it helps.

flamenca

I love "Grandma Rose's" advice. Hard to use it though. Coming to terms with your own body is difficult when
a) everybody around you is skinnier than you
b) society's view on what a woman should look like demands a non-Lane-Bryant size 8. It's worse when you're a dancer.
c) you look at yourself and you are sad and embarrassed you ever let it come to this (regardless of the fact that it might not even be your fault!)
d) your doctor tells you that you need to lose weight to fight the insuline resistance

As far as the mirror/video/photo discussion goes: They don't say "the camera adds 10 pounds" for nothing. Trying to picture a 3D object (you) in a 2D medium (picture) usually leads to some unflattering perspective!

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Things are getting worse - send chocolate!
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Tina, 43, dx in 02/2006
DBF Peter, two kitties Fuzzy and Cutie
IR and PCOS: 2500 mg Met, 30 mg Actos, 50 mg Spironolactone and a boatload of supplements...

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hybridtheory45

It's the compression effect of trying to capture a 3 dimentional object on a 2 dimentional medium. It sucks. haha

As a photographer, its my responsibility to look for the most flattering angles and lighting. Which is why I only usually end up letting my fellow photographer friends take pictures of me. lol

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