What you 'really' look like - reflection vs photo

Kimia

Ok - this is quite possibly the most stupid question in the world ever, but you know your 'real' appearance - is this the one that you see in the mirror, or the one you see in photos? I'm talking angles wise. Which is your 'real' appearance, or how you appear to others - the mirror or a photo?

And sorry if this is in the wrong place - it's the weirdest question and I just couldn't think of anywhere in particular to post it and as I hang around here a bit I thought i'd ask you ladies in case you've ever wondered..

Trashed

I suppose.... its hard thing to explain.
People never really see the real me. I suppose my most 'public' look is what people see in photographs. When I look in the mirror........ Its me raw. and thats not something I can share.

Larianne

Oh, I'm pretty sure there is some kind of physics answer to this and that the image we see in the mirror is not what we look like in reality. Or something.

It confused me so much I just moved on.

Silverfish

The photo.

Unfortunately for me.

The correct way to see your correct reflection is to look at it in a mirror reflected in a mirror. Like the ones in M&S changing rooms.

In a mirror, your reflection is reversed, so when that is viewed in another mirror, its flipped again, and this is what people see when they look at you.

Larianne

Silverfish wrote: »

The photo.

Unfortunately for me.

The correct way to see your correct reflection is to look at it in a mirror reflected in a mirror. Like the ones in M&S changing rooms.

In a mirror, your reflection is reversed, so when that is viewed in another mirror, its flipped again, and this is what people see when they look at you.

Oh, that's probably what they were saying...

Man, I sound dumb now. (It sounded more complicated though from what I can recall..)

I'd say Video gives the best idea.
Some people do honestly take ridculiously bad photos.

metrovelvet

I dont think anyone can answer this. Photos all look different and so do mirrors. Observers all have different eyes so we will appear differently depending on who is looking at us.

Nervous Wreck

Everything in a mirror is reversed. Hence, in real life, I'm a tall, fat, ugly, black woman. It's a lot to get my head around.

Kimia

Gah thank god i'm not the only one who this confuses! I have a birthmark on my cheek and (i know this sounds so stupid i'm laughing to myself now) but i can't tell what side it's on if that makes any sense at all. I keep wondering - but what do others see??!! Oh my head hurts from it.

Thanks Silverfish i think i'm slightly understanding it now. It's so weird - we never really see ourselves..

Killaqueen!!!

I often wondered this because I'm not a great looking lass but every now and again i get the hair/makeup/outfit just right and i look in a mirror and think i look good :P but then i see the photos the morning after and im like jeeezus i didnt look like that when i looked in the mirror!!

Cameras just dont like me lol

Pretty_Pistol

I prefer what I see in the mirror to photos most of the time so I hope people see my mirror image. Interesting question...hmmm

Kimia

Isn't it an odd one? And it's also relevant if you're pondering how to part your hair. Left or right? Or right or left? Which is which!

I'm not actually this obsessed with my appearance I promise, but this is confusing!

skywards

Moonbaby wrote: »

Some people do honestly take ridculiously bad photos.

Ya that'd be me. I usually blink and therefor look semi stoned .

Chinafoot

I was thinking about this just a few weeks ago. When I look in the mirror I think I look ok, then I see a photograph and its horrible.

I'm definitely not photogenic.

Silverfish

I can confirm I'm the same.

However, when I did see my reflection in a mirror flipped in another mirror, well there's the face I see in photos.

I'm pretty sure half of M&S were wondering why there was shrieks coming from the changing room.

Stheno

Silverfish wrote: »

I can confirm I'm the same.

However, when I did see my reflection in a mirror flipped in another mirror, well there's the face I see in photos.

I'm pretty sure half of M&S were wondering why there was shrieks coming from the changing room.

Lol same here, my parents got my confirmation photos for free as they were so hideous. To this day I cannot look at those photos without shuddering.

I've about three nice photos of me and I'm 36, I mind them jealously

iguana

Kimia wrote: »

It's so weird - we never really see ourselves..

It's definitely quite strange. A few years ago I was visiting my family and we were playing with my brother's Wii. I was setting up my Mii (to those who don't know; a cartoon version of you who plays certain games) and I chose a hairstyle parted on the right with a fringe coming over the left eye. My mum had to tell me that I had it backwards.:o Then after I flipped it I still found it looked so weird.

I know my mirror image is the reverse of me, but that doesn't stop my mental picture of myself being my reflection rather than my actual image. A few months afterward I actually took a bunch of pictures of myself with my hair as it is and then I washed my hair and blow-dried it with my hair parted to the opposite side and took some more photos so I could get to grips with my actual image. (And thankfully I look better with my hair parted it's usual way as I wouldn't fancy swapping it around.:D)

amacachi

Funnily enough I actually think I'm not an ugly bastard most times I see my reflection. When I see a photo though it's another story.

krudler

Im very unphotogenic (is that a word?) I dont think I'm too bad looking in real life but in photos,ugh.

LimeFruitGum

I can look quite nice in photos, but I am one of those photo control freaks though It's all about the posture & lighting, dahlings

But I never ever like what I see looking back at me when I am in a ladies dressing cubicle with multiple mirrors ...... noooooooo!!!!

krudler

Take a photo of a reflection of your reflection if you wanna really screw with yourself

mariaalice

what image would you get if you looked in a mirror and then got some one to stand at your shoulder and take a photo of your reflection in the mirror would it be the real you or a photo of you ...or even a photo of the image of the real you .....

iguana

mariaalice wrote: »

what image would you get if you looked in a mirror and then got some one to stand at your shoulder and take a photo of your reflection in the mirror would it be the real you or a photo of you ...or even a photo of the image of the real you .....

You'd get a photo of your reflection and it would look like what you see in the mirror.

Luno

I just read through this and have never been more confused in my life :eek:
I taught at first it was about reflections and if they were different in photos than if your looking in a mirror?
I don't see how you look any different just its a flipped you in a mirror which is so strange! :eek:
But then some of ye were saying about how ye feel attractive looking in a mirror but when ye see yourselves in pictures from that night you wonder what happened?
The confusion!!

This thread is making my head hurt

Larianne

M&S* wrote: »

I just read through this and have never been more confused in my life :eek:
I taught at first it was about reflections and if they were different in photos than if your looking in a mirror?
I don't see how you look any different just its a flipped you in a mirror which is so strange! :eek:
But then some of ye were saying about how ye feel attractive looking in a mirror but when ye see yourselves in pictures from that night you wonder what happened?
The confusion!!

Deleted User wrote: »

This thread is making my head hurt

Makes my confusion not feel so silly.

Luno

Aha I've just been looking in the mirror thinking have I been looking at myself backwards all my life and should I use a camera instead of a mirror ?

Phlann

Sorry, old thread, but just to weigh in:

One of the reasons you look different in photos compared to reflections is due to lighting. Normally when you see yourself in the mirror your face is lit by an overhead light. With a flash from a camera, the light is usually coming from right in front of you, which casts different shadows, making your face appear slightly different. Additionally, light from a flash is not the same colour or intensity as either sunlight or room-lighting and might reveal blotches and imperfections that would be less visible under other circumstances.

So the answer is... both photos and reflections are accurate representations of your face, but the lighting in photos is less natural, less familiar and usually less flattering.

If you try taking a photo without flash, the end result will be closer to what you see in the mirror and what other people see when they look at you.

Dudess

Isn't your reflection you "backwards"?

I look quite different in pictures to how I look in the mirror.

WindSock

Pfft. You lot have obviously never tried to have an out of body experience. :P

Catari Jaguar

You think you look normal in a mirror & pretty.. Then you see someone you know in a mirror and they look all crooked and weird. So obviously YOU look all crooked and weird in the mirror to them. But to you, that's how you always look. Obviously then when you see yourself in a photo, you look crooked and weird to yourself as you are used to seeing your reflection face... No wonder we hate our appearance in photos. Maybe flip your photos to mirror reflect on your computer and you'll see how you think you look...

Do webcam pictures make you look mirror image or normal?? Never mind I just checked, it's mirror image. It would be mad seeing yourself onscreen moving oppositely.. Oh it's too early for this.

Wibbs

Plus on top of being backwards and familiar a mirror is a moving image and a photo is a still image(duh:D) which makes a diff. I look much more like me on video even though its not reversed.

Truley

I think part of the reason I can look very weird in pics is that I have a very narrow face with high cheek bones. In bad light a picture will show up all these shadows and contours on my face. I find that people with round faces take much better and consistant pictures. Just a theory I have.

BumbleB

I'm really not that ugly ,my camera just takes ugly photo's.

Rubberlegs

Ah just noticed this thread after posting something similar in another one. I too think on a good mood day I look ok in the mirror but when I see a photo its like OMG I look hideous, lumpy and double chinned:(. But if you think of it a photo is only capturing what you look like for a split second and you dont (hopefully) have that gormless expression or look like that permanently. Thats how I console myself anyhoo. That and there are zero photos of me on display in our house....

iguana

I have a friend who is a nightmare with photos. If you take a photo of her she looks at it on the camera screen and if she doesn't like it, deletes it and makes you take it again. This can go on and on and on.:(

If I see her anywhere near a camera I head off in the other direction. The worst is that while she eventually has a photo of herself that she likes everyone else in the picture has a grimace of a smile and frustration in their eyes because they are getting annoyed with having to be in photo after photo. Then the next day she puts all her good pics up on facebook with her looking great and everybody else looking really awful.

lil'bug

i avoid mirrors and camera's at all cost

Jemmy

I hate my photo being taken rarely ever like a photo of myself, I stay on the other side of the camera on nights out!

BumbleB

iguana wrote: »

. Then the next day she puts all her good pics up on facebook with her looking great and everybody else looking really awful.

Thats funny ,but I think a lot of women are like that ,

Truley

iguana wrote: »

Then the next day she puts all her good pics up on facebook with her looking great and everybody else looking really awful.

Ugh have a friend that does that and I know she does it to be malicious too :mad: That's why I never do that whole facebook tagging thing without people's permission, there's no point really. I hate the thought of having my photos plastered over the internet.

ColaBeDamned

I know someone who'll occasionally 'adjust' her photo in photoshop before putting it on facebook! lol

Dinxminx

Ouch my brain...

They've actually made a true mirror that shows you your real reflection. Creepy..

SugarHigh

Dinxminx wrote: »

Ouch my brain...

They've actually made a true mirror that shows you your real reflection. Creepy..

It's just one mirror at a 90 degree angle to another mirror.

Littleblondehen

I think I have body dysmorphia.....but in the opposite direction!

Instead of looking in the mirror and seeing this big fat person, I look in the mirror and see this Okayish looking not slim but not fat person, then I look at photos and think WTF?? :eek:

:P

SugarHigh

Lil Kitten wrote: »

Do webcam pictures make you look mirror image or normal?? Never mind I just checked, it's mirror image. It would be mad seeing yourself onscreen moving oppositely.. Oh it's too early for this.

It shouldn't be unless you used software settings to change it.

Coriolanus

Lil Kitten wrote: »

Do webcam pictures make you look mirror image or normal?? Never mind I just checked, it's mirror image. It would be mad seeing yourself onscreen moving oppositely.. Oh it's too early for this.

Funny you should mention webcams. I don't mind how I look in them at all, seems to fit my self-image better than a photo.
Guess it's to do with the lighting after all, like another poster said. The flash in the camera fúcks you up.

ToniTuddle

Silverfish wrote: »

The photo.

Unfortunately for me.

The correct way to see your correct reflection is to look at it in a mirror reflected in a mirror. Like the ones in M&S changing rooms.

In a mirror, your reflection is reversed, so when that is viewed in another mirror, its flipped again, and this is what people see when they look at you.

I always wondered about this!!!

On a night out I think I look grand and then photos make me look shocking :eek:

While I look at my other friends in the photos and they look the same to me. But maybe I look the same to my friends

Feicin cameras >.<