Do cameras or Mirrors lie??

fwan

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Messages
13,279
Purraise
2
Location
Australia
So i wanted to get some updated pictures of my self, and i literally couldnt get it!

I looked at my self in the mirror and then got the camera to take a picture of my self, for some reason in the photo i look extremely different than i do in the mirror!!!

One side of my face looks bigger in the photo with a huge nose and my lips are uneven, yet in the mirror i look perfictly normal and actually pretty!

Im gonna go that the camera lies to me! But what are your opinions?

Mind you i was using a phone camera but still..
 

watchcaddy

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 9, 2006
Messages
805
Purraise
1
The camera lens could be curved, thus makes part of your face look weird. Try another camera. Or try two different mirrors.
 

hilda>^..^<

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
1,755
Purraise
2
Location
Magnolia, Texas
Taking pics of oneself in a mirror is no easy thing to do. You literally could shoot dozens & dozens (or more) before you get one that looks right. Just try different poses & different angles til you find one that suits you...and looks like you!!! LOL! What I do to keep mine from blurring sometimes, is I rest the camera on the towel-bar...its at a good level and keeps my pics clearer.

Good luck!
Hilda>^..^<
 

reesespbc

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 13, 2006
Messages
2,411
Purraise
1
Location
Baldwinville, MA
The mirror could be slightly tilted or something, distorting your image possibly, or there is just something with the camera lense.

Our bedroom mirror makes me lose 20lbs the farther away I get from it
 

bonnie1965

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
3,973
Purraise
3
Location
Portland, Oregon
Well, i think we see what we want to see or expect to see
I had Bell's Palsy last summer. Now my face is just a tad off on one side. Others say they cannot see a difference. I can see a huge difference. Plus, one eye waters more than the other now.

Maybe the camera lens is distored a bit? Does it do this with other objects you photograph?

You could always post the photos here and we could tell you how you look
 

trouts mom

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 4, 2006
Messages
23,949
Purraise
16
Location
Snowy Santa Land
Originally Posted by ReesesPBC

The mirror could be slightly tilted or something, distorting your image possibly, or there is just something with the camera lense.

Our bedroom mirror makes me lose 20lbs the farther away I get from it
That would be a sweet bedroom mirror to have
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

fwan

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Messages
13,279
Purraise
2
Location
Australia
Its like that in nearly all photos with cheap cameras, infact my friends tell me i look totally different in person because the camera makes me look weird but i just dont know why!
 

pekoe & nigel

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
916
Purraise
1
Location
Canada
Cameras are also weird because they catch you in a split second pose, whereas in real life you're in constant motion. So while the camera MAY be accurate in what you look like in that split second, it is most definitely not the overall impression that a person will have of you.
 

hilda>^..^<

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
1,755
Purraise
2
Location
Magnolia, Texas
Originally Posted by Pekoe & Nigel

Cameras are also weird because they catch you in a split second pose, whereas in real life you're in constant motion. So while the camera MAY be accurate in what you look like in that split second, it is most definitely not the overall impression that a person will have of you.
Makes lots of sense...


Hilda>^..^<
 

minxie

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Messages
1,798
Purraise
13
Location
UK
I dont know if camera/mirrors lie...but I sure know that they enjoy playing tricks! I dont understand how, say, when you have 2 photos taken within 5 seconds of each other....in one you can look 'passable' and the other an alien from another planet....or is that just me? lol
 

carolpetunia

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
9,669
Purraise
17
Location
Plano, Texas
Here's what I'll bet happened:

You have to hold the camera off to the side, of course, or it would be in front of your face -- and your natural instinct is to turn the camera slightly to get your face centered in the picture. But because you're taking a picture of a flat surface, not a three-dimensional face, that angle gives you a distorted view.

So the trick is to aim the camera absolutely straight at the mirror, and just let your face be off a little to one side of the frame. That should work for you!
 

theimp98

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
11,427
Purraise
2
Location
elyria, ohio
Originally Posted by fwan

One side of my face looks bigger in the photo with a huge nose and my lips are uneven, yet in the mirror i look perfictly normal and actually pretty!

Im gonna go that the camera lies to me! But what are your opinions?

Mind you i was using a phone camera but still..
You are pretty Fwan,
it also could have been the way you were holding it,and most of the cell phone cameras are not that good.
 

catsallover

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
2,194
Purraise
5
Location
Alabama
I also had this problem trying to take a pic of myself in a post about mineral makeup. I have a very round face and practically a bump of a nose, and I kept looking like I had a very oval face, nose bigger than it actually is, etc. I think that we also don't usually have our pic taken that up close, either, and we get a "fish eye" distortion at that distance from the lens. Taking your pic in the mirror doesn't make it any further away than holding the camera at arms length, if you are only standing about an arm's length away.
Can you stand farther away and crop it later?

Also, when you look in the mirror, it is a reverse image, so if you took that image and moved it next to you, your right and left sides would be reversed, and this is how you are used to looking at yourself. A picture doesn't do this.

For example, if you hold up a sign in the mirror, the writing is backwards, but if you take a picture of it, the writing is the same as when you look at it in real life.


If you want to know how the pic will look, look at your reflection in the first mirror with a second mirror
.

Sounds like you have both the "fish eye" and the reverse image thing happening, so your pics look nothing like you to you!
 

starryeyedtiger

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
22,317
Purraise
20
Location
USA
THEY LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Especially the mirrors that are sooooo unflattering in dressing rooms with horrid lighting
 
Top