Does anyone else just look awful in photos?

[Whenismumhome]

Was out at weekend for dinner with a friend. We got a couple of photos taken together (taken by someone else) she looks amazing in them, I look bloody atrocious!

I just can’t seem to smile properly in pictures, I can’t seem to force a smile on myself for photos and it just makes me look awful, I look like something is wrong with my face because my eyes are all screwed up and my lips look weird.

Does anyone have any tips on how to smile properly for a photo? Some people are good at it but I’m clearly not!

My friend has gone and plastered the photo on Facebook so everyone can see them, I feel so self conscious!

I look terrible in photos. I very much hope this is because I'm unphotogenic as opposed to hideous looking. I think I look ok in virtual online meetings - it's just static photos that are so awful. My DH on the other hand looks consistently marvelous in photos - better than in real life.

These threads are funny :)

While we're here - can i just say ... Face Time.

I try looking up into the camera. I try looking down. I try looking sideways a bit but it's quite amazing; either my chin or my forehead look the size of a small country, my hair disappears and i'm 5 stone fatter

I'll be honest now - when i'm face timing i'm often so distracted by the ugliness of me that i struggle keeping up a nice flow of conversation. These days i flip the camera and just keep it pointed at one of the cats. Much nicer for the person on the other end and i can concentrate on the chat

Yup. I’ve recently noticed I have one eye bigger and higher than the other in photos. Not in the mirror though.

If I have my side profile taken I look like a crescent moon - my nose and chin practically meet.

Face on, I look like a Picasso portrait done on a potato.

I avoid cameras.

Am the same with Zoom/Teams! I was somehow able to hide myself at my Zoom zumba today (thankfully) and will be looking into this function for my next team meeting. It's so distracting and unnatural to have to see oneself during a meeting!

God yes me! I absolutely hate having my photo taken - slitty eyes, crooked smile and many chins. That's why my wedding photos were all informal, non-posed and I look okay in most of those!

I don't take good photos either.....

The only ones I really like were taken at my DDs wedding following a professional make-up and hairdo and taken by a professional photographer.

I do have some ok photos taken with the DGC as I always feel more relaxed when I'm cuddling a little bundle of gorgeousness. I now wear sunglasses if at all possible, stand slightly angled and do a soft smile.

Is being "photogenic" a thing? If so maybe I'm just not photogenic..
I look good on real life.. but it's a very rare photo that makes me look good lately

Me. 3 chins, huge bust and humpback. I think that’s what I look like though!
Taking the photo with the camera held high helps with the chin thing.

I just want to look normal in photos other people manage it !

Me. In photos I look anything ranging from a weird ghostly munchkin on a good day (I am short and pale) to quite startlingly hideous on a bad day. I also do the half closed eye thing in almost all photos. All in all it's an aesthetic omnishambles.

On the other hand the Faceapp filters love my face, they make me into such a flawless goddess it's positively hypnotic. Sometimes in my mind's eye I think I really look like that. Dream on...

I think you do have to make a conscious effort to take a nice photo, eg practicing smiling

If people are using an iPhone (more recent models) ask them to switch to 'portrait mode'. It helps define features and can make a big difference to people's features!

@halfpasteleven Yes, I think being photogenic really is a thing. I've known a few people who look better in photos than in real life. They were not particularly beautiful or handsome but had regular and symmetrical features.

Models are sometimes like this.

I have to have photos taken for work and I've found the only person who can take a reasonable picture of me is DD1. Who looks a bit like me, so I'd guess has a vested interest in stopping me from looking like my usual 'middle aged hamster in a bad wig'.

ME! Somehow I always end up with massive looking arms and a triple chin! Which my photographer husband assures me I do not have in real life!

Honestly, seeing myself in a picture will send me into a self loathing spiral for days!

Me too!!! Went to London the weekend just dh and I, lots of photos....ive made him delete the ones of me as I look bloody awful & im not just saying it.

Me.

Of my wedding photos, the only ones I like are the candid shots. The posed pictures of me are dreadful , I look like I'm in pain! The photographer took 124 pictures and I like 15 of them.

The older I get the more I look like my dad, which as lovely as he is, not really the look I’m going for. I don’t really pose for photos, as I think people doing that selfie face tilt to the side, half smile thing look daft. Mind you, I look like an 80 year old man, so what do I know.

There was a similar thread recently and somebody said, it’s something to do with you only looking at our face in reverse through a mirror rather than straight on like in a photo so you don’t think it looks like you. Or something like that.

I look horrible in photos as well. The last one I saw, I thought my Nan had shown up in some kind of ghost photography. Apart from her chin, I don’t look much like her in real life. That was a shock, I usually avoid cameras

I'm the opposite. It's really quite insulting how shocked people are by photos of me. It always makes me wonder how hideous I am in real life!

Oh god, me too. I completely ruined my friend's wedding photos when I was her bridesmaid. The other three bridesmaids, and the bride herself, are all of the naturally photogenic persuasion, and then there was me on the end... it looked like a suet pudding had been poured into a frock and left to curdle in the sun. I was genuinely horrified when I saw the pictures and I apologised to my friend for being so ugly on film.

@Zaphodsotherhead I can’t stop laughing at your comments. As for me, I modelled in my younger days but now look like an angry fat goblin whenever a camera is pointed at me.

This is me!! I know I'm not bad looking at all but I look minging in photos

I do because of my big fat round head, I swear other peoples face have some definition but mine is just round! I had a photo done with some friends at the weekend and I look fucking awful.

Same. I always look sarcastic. I cannot smile so I have to do a silly face or I look like I'm a serial killer on the loose. Always look tubby as well, despite never being above a size 12 and being quite tall.