To be horrified how much of a fat monster I look in pics

[gahga]

This is a bit of a light hearted post.. but I look in a full length mirror and I'm like - ok this looks ok.

I look at my face in the mirror and it looks alright.

Then I see myself in photos and I look like a fat monster.

What's that all about ?

I'm the same, I'm a size 10 so I know I'm not large but in pictures I look absolutely massive especially compared to everyone else who look normal.

When I've met people face-to-face, I've actually had people blurt, "Zoom/Teams does you no favours. You look completely different".

But, I've never photographed well, why would Zoom be any different.

This.

A size 6 but forever a fat face.

It's depressing.

I'm another who loathes having their photo taken and avoids at all costs.

Some years ago at a wedding, my photo was taken and facially I didn't look too bad but my shoulders filled the whole width of the photo so much so that I looked like an American football player. I looked huge! 😩

I really didn't think I was that big when I looked in the mirror before I left home. 😳

I look fine in the mirror and on teams. In photos I always seem to be pulling a weird face or blinking, or have a hunched posture, or otherwise look awful.

I have looked like I have a double chin (I don’t), like I have a scoliosis/hunchback (I don’t), and like I was pregnant (pre-kids, where I weighed 45kg, had a 20 inch waist, and had defined abs). Even my husband and family say I look strangely awful in photos, so it isn’t just me.

Candid photos where I’m not aware I’m being photographed look a lot better.

The big question op is do you twist your face weirdly or shut your eyes? I can guarantee you your pics are prettier than mine😅

I have looked like I have a double chin (I don’t), like I have a scoliosis/hunchback (I don’t)

I do (double chin, seems inherited as have it at 47kg), I do (congenital scoliosis).

I have to think these are magnified many times in static images or over video, hence people's shock when they actually meet me and they seem more in proportion?

I don’t know what happens to me on photos. I’m a size 10-12 which is the right size for my frame, I dress to suit my body shape, I look in the mirror and my hair is nice, my make up is good, my eyes look big and pronounced. But in every photo I am fat, shoulders like a rugby player, my hair is terrible, my eyes are tiny squinty currants in a doubt ball face, and I look like I’m wearing no make-up at all even if I’ve gone to town with it. My (female) partner is the same size, height and build as me with similar colouring but slightly darker eyes and skin. She looks fabulous in photos and looks like she’s wearing nice make up even though she only ever wears a bit of mascara and nothing else. It’s not fair!

It was a photo of me at a significant family occasion that prompted me to adopt healthier eating and exercise habits.

Having said that, photos and films are ‘unkind’. People who look average on TV are often tiny in RL.

I’m another person who has been met IRL and told they look so much better/prettier/taller than their online photos. I really struggle to get a good shot of my face and even at my slimmest/size 6 I look so big (camera adds ten pounds!)

Apparently we see ourselves more attractive in the mirror than other people see us though, which is quite depressing! Especially when I so often dislike the mirror anyway!

Yes, I didn't realise that I waddle until I saw myself on the door camera.

A lot of it will be camera focal length - phone cameras and laptop cameras don't have a flattering focal length at all, and it's where most of us see ourselves...

As demonstrated here

There is a LOT to do with camera angles, lighting and posing/positioning/distance.

I am big and have a big face. Nowadays I try to stand towards the back in any group photo - it does absolute wonders (especially because so many photos now are taken by somebody who's actually in the photo, and unless they have telescopic arms then the camera is far too close and really screws up proportions).

If I stand nearest to the camera then I look as though I'm about to shout FEE FI FO FUM and start eating the people next to me.

Yes, I didn't realise that I waddle until I saw myself on the door camera.

Same! couldn't believe how waddley I was. Thought I just walked, like, y'know, a person, not an overfed, somewhat elderly duck!

My late mother who was slim and attractive even in old age always looked evil in photos.
I tense up sp just look odd and sort of square.
I one bought a floral outfit for a wedding. When he saw the photos DH said i looked like " a small 2 seater sofa,badly upholstered. I did !

https://www.gavinjowitt.com/blog/why-do-i-always-look-bad-in-photos/

it’s explained here

Yes know exactly what you mean . Go out feeling OK then afterwards see any photos - horrendous . And other people who also look just OK look great on the photos !

@gahga I've recently lost 6 stone with WLS but STILL look shite in photos, not to mention the fucking suitcases under my eyes!! 😂

If it's all camera angles and lenses, why do the other people in the same group shot look like themselves?

It's funny, I have had the exact same conversation withy husband recently. A few very unflattering photos of me in different settings, taken by different people, that I actually can't believe are me as I don't look like that in the full length mirror but absolutely are of me. It's shocking and quite frankly frightening and depressing too.
I have a BMI of 26.5 so not big enough for weight loss jabs and only a size 10-12 but in these photos I look almost twice my size in my face and body 😭

Me too. I’ve put on weight over the last couple of years (only a stone) and my view of how I look in my mind doesn’t match reality.

Camera adds 10 pounds!!

I am a size 8 and 5 ft8, exercise most days. I still think I look enormous in photos, I think the solution is not looking at them??!

Same. Except in Teams, we don't use Zoom. I look fine and then I get in the team's camera and I look like the trash heap from Fraggle Rock.

Yes I’m hideous and very fat in photos but look great in the mirror and in my head

Oh, I absolutely feel this. I went out on Friday night, and I thought I looked good. Some pictures were posted on Saturday. Christ, I look old and fat. I haven't been in a family photo for at least 5 years, and I think it will stay that way.