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That horrible feeling when you went out feeling fabulous… and then saw a photo of yourself ☹️

121 replies

ScreenPrinting · 09/09/2023 22:15

Just what the thread title said, really.

I know it’s silly but I’ve felt miserable all day.

I honestly thought I looked great when I went out for a friend’s 50th last night. Not saying I’m a supermodel but I really did think I looked nice. Had an outfit I’d spent time thinking about (I love clothes), my hair done, etc.

Saw the photos this morning as friends started to send them and I look awful. My outfit looked nothing like I thought, I was trying to channel minimalist sophistication but it just looked plain and made me look blobby. I looked much heavier and ‘bigger’ than I thought (I’m not remotely overweight but I definitely could tone up) and my hair looked awful.

I’m not usually critical of my appearance, I’m old enough to accept my bad points and work around them, and emphasise my good points. Which is what I thought I’d done.

I hadn’t. And now I feel really crap about myself, and silly for thinking I looked good. And wondering if I have the energy to start a new fitness/de-blobbing campaign. Which until this morning I didn’t think I was in quite such need of.

Just wondering if anyone else can relate?

BLOODY camera phones ☹️

OP posts:
sadaboutmycat · 09/09/2023 23:05

Every time for me.
Some of us are just not photogenic 😞

Boomboom22 · 09/09/2023 23:12

A good trick is to pause the tv randomly on the news or any close up and you will see even celebrities and make up perfect people look shocking when you catch them mid word or blinking etc. It is also just really funny, go on do it now 😄 full body too, even funnier for posture etc.

SallyWD · 09/09/2023 23:14

I know exactly how you feel. 8 think I look nice in the mirror but in almost every single photo I look terrible! It really gets me down and I end up avoiding photos when I can. We had a professional photographer come to work recently and he took individual photos of everyone. Everyone else looked lovely and seemed so pleased with their photos. I look horrible! I refused to use the photos for work purposes.

GhostFaceInMyWindow · 09/09/2023 23:21

Rubiconmango · 09/09/2023 22:57

My friend is a photographer and thankfully years ago she told me cameras make us all look healthier than we actually are and while they capture memories, pictures are not 100% accurate. Never felt bad about a picture since! Pictures for me are just memories of good times! If I think I look a million dollars in real life, then I do, and no picture on earth can make me doubt that! I'd believe a mirror over a picture (especially a smart phone picture) any day, and if all else failed, that gleaming joy of feeling a million dollars supercedes any picture that you won't be looking at for a long time! So continue feeling amazing! 😌

They make us look healthier than we actually are? Jesus, I must look like walking corpse in real life 😲

menopausalbloat · 09/09/2023 23:26

I always look shit in pics which is why I avoid them.

Londoncatshed · 09/09/2023 23:34

I feel as though I have body dysmorphia but in reverse. Happy with my reflection in the mirror and always make an effort but my god, I just look like a potato in photographs. Had a picture taken with my teen daughter and I looked so big that she looked like my snack. She is tiny but bloody hell!

PorridgeOnToast · 09/09/2023 23:40

My friend is a photographer and thankfully years ago she told me cameras make us all look healthier than we actually are

Well THAT has depressed me further

Kleptronic · 09/09/2023 23:48

I think the poster meant heavier

OnAFrolicOfMyOwn · 09/09/2023 23:50

I think it's because, looking in a mirror or posing for a selfie, people automatically and unconsciously adjust themselves so the angles are flattering, or do pouts/grins to smooth out facial wrinkles. Photographed by someone else, you have no way of doing this so it can be a lottery what the picture looks like.

ChampagneBlossom44 · 09/09/2023 23:52

Oh today. Despite the disgusting heat I’d done my hair in loose curls and for once it went right, my makeup was LOVELY. Put my nicest smart casual dress on, to meet the ILs for dinner. Mil sent me 6 photos, so it’s not just one bad photo or the light & even a waiter took 2 of them, so it’s not even like I can blame her. My hair looked stringy, my face like a sweaty pack of ham. She’s also managed to practically upskirt 2 photos with me standing up to leave the table & my dress was like a maxi wrap style, & she’s caught the cellulite I’ve been denying to myself. And what looks like a varicose vein also.

Rubiconmango · 09/09/2023 23:58

Rubiconmango · 09/09/2023 22:57

My friend is a photographer and thankfully years ago she told me cameras make us all look healthier than we actually are and while they capture memories, pictures are not 100% accurate. Never felt bad about a picture since! Pictures for me are just memories of good times! If I think I look a million dollars in real life, then I do, and no picture on earth can make me doubt that! I'd believe a mirror over a picture (especially a smart phone picture) any day, and if all else failed, that gleaming joy of feeling a million dollars supercedes any picture that you won't be looking at for a long time! So continue feeling amazing! 😌

Healthier as in FATTER 😂

Veryverycalmnow · 10/09/2023 00:01

I get this completely. It's such a disappointment. Also catching a glimpse in a shop window and seeing a different angle and feeling like a colossal mess.

EmmaPaella · 10/09/2023 00:09

I get this all the time! I bet you looked great. My family always choose the worst photos of me to put up so maybe they see it differently. I cringe every time I go in DM’s living room and see one particular photo but she likes it.

blibblibs · 10/09/2023 00:12

I'm exactly same, so much so I didn't bother with a photographer on our wedding day!

Dontcallmescarface · 10/09/2023 00:12

Every single photo ever taken of me makes me look ridiculous. The camera hates me and the feeling is mutual.

ConnieTucker · 10/09/2023 00:16

I'd believe a mirror over a picture
dont say that! There is a mirror in the last cubical before you reach the pool at my local swimming pool, so you cannot help but pass it, that im 100% convinced is a fairground mirror.

wineandsun · 10/09/2023 00:20

When I want a photo with my daughter I'll always take a selfie. If my DH takes it...well that's going nowhere.
I think the theme is we all feel awful in photos. I want to hear from people who feel good in a photo and not saying they'll bragging at all but please tell me the potato what I'm doing wrong

Metatarse · 10/09/2023 00:28

I look shit in photos, but decent in real life. Ds looks fucking amazing in photos, but has no confidence. My cousin bends my head, because she looks so different in photos it's unreal. Her camera appears to make her slim and young, but she's really not like that in real life. And in response to the "you sound jealous ", no I'm just annoyed that I'm the actual better looking cousin, but posterity will think she is.

IHateLegDay · 10/09/2023 00:31

FlamingoQueen · 09/09/2023 23:05

I do not photograph well at all! I think I look okay and then this big ugly blob appears in the photos (with a big nose as well) and I don’t really understand why!

Please do not put yourself down - you may not photograph well, but you can still be totally awesome and gorgeous x

Same!! My husband always looks horrified when he sees pictures of me and says "that looks nothing like you!!! I promise!!!!"

ell87 · 10/09/2023 00:32

Oh lord I'm the queen of bad photos!! I am THE most unphotogenic human on the planet!
I look reasonable nice in the mirror, get make attention etc but I look awful in every single photo for some reason.
I bet you don't look as bad as you think you do though.

SilverCatStripes · 10/09/2023 00:32

OP do you ever look at photos of your mum and dad and think god they look awful I wish I didn’t have this photo to look at ?

Or do you think - I love this photo , I wish I had more of them ?

candlelighter · 10/09/2023 00:36

Remember the camera always adds on 10lbs!!

And for all the horrors remember the photo when you thought you looked minging but you are pleasantly surprised in the photo!

NewbieSM · 10/09/2023 00:41

Honestly I think it's because you are seeing the 'real' version of yourself in a picture versus the flipped image of yourself in a mirror. We aren't used to seeing the reversed image so can look a bit strange but that's what everyone else sees. We also tend to automatically pose/adjust our posture and facial expression in the mirror to a more flattering one. Also lighting, camera type and angle play a part too. A picture is just that, a snapshot of the night I'm sure you looked great in person.

Fallingthroughclouds · 10/09/2023 00:43

SomethingNastyInTheBallPool · 09/09/2023 22:16

God, yes. I thought I looked the biz at my cousin’s wedding. Turns out I’m actually a manatee in a pretty dress.

🤣🤣🤣 albeit a very funny one

Fallingthroughclouds · 10/09/2023 00:45

Londoncatshed · 09/09/2023 23:34

I feel as though I have body dysmorphia but in reverse. Happy with my reflection in the mirror and always make an effort but my god, I just look like a potato in photographs. Had a picture taken with my teen daughter and I looked so big that she looked like my snack. She is tiny but bloody hell!

A snack! 🤣🤣🤣