Im average looking but whenever I see a photo of myself it makes me look way below average and ive used different cameras, good and bad and they all make me look bad..whats wrong with me?
2007-02-10 02:11:19 · 6 answers · asked by IC4NDY_ 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Photography
The reason why most consumer level cameras produce unflattering portraits has to do with where the flash is located on the camera which is right next to the lens. Having the flash located right in front of the lens will almost inevitably flatten out your faces feature. See your face has angles, and shadows help define these angles and give your face a dynamic look. However, if you take that flash and point it directly at a persons face guess what, the shadows and angles all disspear and your face looks sort of odd.
Like the light from the sun, natural lighting usually comes and at angle and from above. Natural lighting is not what consumer grade cameras do. On the other hand professional cameras with professional flashes allow you to swivel or bounce the lighting to give your face a more natural appearance.
Another element why your photos may look odd is because you the camera you are using may be utilizing a wide angle lens. Wide angle lenses in particular fisheye lenses are not flattering at all for portraiture. They augment our features and make us look physically deformed.
The solution to your problem is simple, if you want to look good dont use a flash. As much as possible try to use natural outdoor lighting and dont use a wide angle lens.
2007-02-10 09:57:22 · answer #1 · answered by wackywallwalker 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anyone can look worse if they are photographed at an angle that accentuates a bad feature or if they are in an awkward pose or if the lighting casts nasty shadows on the subject.
When professional photographers take photos for publication or wide distribution they take a lot of time and effort to optimize the lighting, the subject's mood, the camera's angle, and the relaxation level to get each model to look better than human. Then someone in a lab or with PhotoShop goes over the pictures and brightens dull teeth, trims stray flyaway hairs, mellows makeup, and gets rid of wrinkles on faces and clothing. Those are the typical images people view and very different from a casual snapshot that people take of their friends.
The other problem with photos is that when you look at a live person, especially a friend, any imperfection in their physical appearance is overwhelmed by the pleasantness of their personality. That means your mind tends to ignore features that are not perfect since they are part of a great package. Cameras are not that forgiving. What a camera sees will be what is in the photo unless the photographer is really lucky or really good at touching up.
2007-02-10 10:58:43 · answer #2 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A good way to get a good picture is set the timer, dance or do something silly as the time is running out and just be random when the timer goes off, or else your trying too hard in front of the camera and it may cause you to feel like you look bad.
2007-02-10 10:55:40 · answer #3 · answered by Urban Kendy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
driver license and passport photos are just plain bad bad bad... the cameras used by those facilities can and do make you look uglier than you are, and it is because of the lighting, play around with your lighting equipment and try to come up with some softer light that doesn't reflect off you so harshly...a professional photographer can give you some guidance in that areal.
2007-02-10 17:05:49 · answer #4 · answered by captsnuf 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ja :) , maybe it's just because you are not photogenic...I had some friends that no matter how ugly is the position they are in, they always come out looking good ..I hate them! :)
Me, I think I'm fine, but somehow, for some reason I always come out closing my eyes, having red eyes, looking away or in a weird position...so there are some things that you cannot control I supposse :/ ,so even if you are good looking you can end up looking uglier.
The good thing , though, is that it can happen the inverse thing also: there are people who actually look pretier than what they are ( I just wonder how you do the switch :/ ) .
2007-02-10 10:25:53 · answer #5 · answered by jueves 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, for two reasons. First, a photograph is just a frozen image, it doesn't show how you move.
Second, a lot of people just don't photograph well. I think it's because they have a forced smile or a strange expression.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. Attractiveness has as much to do with personality as appearance.
2007-02-10 10:19:01 · answer #6 · answered by maxnull 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋