Do people look fatter in photographs ?

Question

like, will there be an illusion that makes people look fatter .. but in real life they not that fat ?

Answer 1

Maybe a teeny bit fatter but not a lot. I think that we all have a slightly warped idea of what we look like and when we see ourselves in a photo we always seem to look fatter than we think we are. Other people don't look fatter do they just us!!! That means its really our perception. If you are overweight like me you probably don't spend ages looking in the mirror and when you see yourself if you haven't been keeping an eye on your weight it can be a shock!!!

Answer 2

In my opinion, it's bullcrap. A wide angle lens will naturally make one look wider (hence fatter), and since the average happy snap portrait is of someone usually taken with the wide end of Uncle Jack's new IXUS... A theory I've heard here is somewhat plausible. When you look at yourself in the mirror, you look dead on at yourself, and the chance of distortion is very slim (Not intended as a pun) if you have a quality mirror, which most houses are equipped with. However, rarely is a photo taken from a dead on angle, which correlates to my wide-angle rant above. Even the slightest degree "off", and suddenly you look like a hippo (Say it with me; Hyperbole). People will go on about how a photo is squishing something 3-D into a 2-D shape, but that's nonsense. The camera renders in 2-D, and unless it rendered in 3-D and was forced to "squish" it, that theory is wrong. I know some fat people, quite a few chubby people, and a bunch of "average" people, and I've always managed to make them look like what they weigh, or slimmer (Angle work). Want to know how? No, not some fancy editing technique. I used a lens with a focal length anywhere between a 35mm - 55mm. From 42mm onwards, there is minimal magnification by the lens, so it's essentially just like looking through a square and snapping the shot. So, I guess, yeah, it is an optical illusion. Sorry if my tone sounded angry, I just really dislike it when idiots who don't understand the "science" of photography come along and start preaching like those folks you see on the street (I am aware that me saying this is probably ironic, considering the rest of my answer :P )

Answer 3

A picture captures light that is reflected off of objects. What you look like in a picture will be determined by yout bone structure, the type of fabrics you are wearing and how they fit, the position you are in...
It can go either way.

Answer 4

somethimes its the other way round really

but it all depends like if u have a bit of a tummy dont tke the pic from ur side and
if u have big hips and ur taking the pic from front dont take the pic in front of highly contrasitng background colour
some lenses mght also be at work

Answer 5

well it depends.
whether:
1. the model of the cam. if it has a better resolution the more likely you'll look good.

2. it also depends on the angle. like if you take a picture yourself from above or below or in the middle.:-D

Answer 6

may b and vice versa too ,after all all cameras are man made equipments and not god made as our eyes.
If these photos are already in ur computer,u can adjust the tone,shape,focus etc by urself using any quality editing software like photoshop or google picasa too(can download full version free here http://angle-mine.blogspot.com )
But i must add photoshop is a proffessional program with many options and doesnt comes free ,but picasa is sufficient for ur job to b done,but its more latest as far as controls are concerned,just one click editing,so i personally like it.

Answer 7

i look all the time more than 20 pounds in pictures that's a fact. I think is different for anyone it depends on the clothes you wear also in the picture.

Answer 8

god I hope so looking at the pictures I have just got

Answer 9

yes, and in the mirror too!
why is that when we look at ourselves from our own point of view, we find ourselves bigger than one's boyfriend's point of view for instance?