The Student Room Group

How can people look nice on pictures but not in real life?

How can people look expecially girls look pretty in pictures yet look bad in real life. A girl from college sent me some pics of herself and i could tell she didn't have make up on yet looked pretty. When I take pictures of her with my camera she looks pretty on them and her bone structure looks very good yet in real life her face doesn't look as well formed and her skin is not as attractive. She just doesn't look pretty in real life yet does on photos:confused:


Also another question I want to ask is would you say that what you look like in bad photos of yourself is more like what you look like to other people?

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Anonymous
How can people look expecially girls look pretty in pictures yet look bad in real life. A girl from college sent me some pics of herself and i could tell she didn't have make up on yet looked pretty. When I take pictures of her with my camera she looks pretty on them and her bone structure looks very good yet in real life her face doesn't look as well formed and her skin is not as attractive. She just doesn't look pretty in real life yet does on photos:confused:


Also another question I want to ask is would you say that what you look like in bad photos of yourself is more like what you look like to other people?


Ahh photoshop and make up.
Some bone structures just catch the lens more. A camera freezes you in less than a second so if your face looks good at certain angles, or in any kind of movement then you are photogenic, but some people lose the effect of looking good "frozen" when seen with human eyes as our eyes aren't as discerning when it comes to capturing moments as cameras are. But photogenic and RL pretty people are more common than photogenic and RL "ugly" people are.

As for the second point, no, because as I said, a camera catches you in a tiny tiny moment which is passed by the time the human brain has registered it, so if when you look in a mirror you look pretty good, chances are you're looking pretty good to other people's eyes too :yes:

EDIT: and of course there is photoshop and make up.
Reply 3
I'm the other way around :h:
Reply 4
Photoshop, lighting, camera angles, grey scale.
weird, i always think i look worse in photos than irl. depends though, i find that if there's a lot of exposure, your skin looks better, or if it's in black and white.
ashy
I'm the other way around :h:


:ditto:

I genuinely don't look like me in pictures!
Reply 7
adilmorrison
:ditto:

I genuinely don't look like me in pictures!

I know. I always look like a complete idiot in photos, but I'm not really! :tongue:
Reply 8
I always think I look pretty in some pictures, but in r/l I look baaad :frown: Webcam always makes me look worse for some reason though... :s-smilie:
The eye is much more complex than a camera, so obviously there are going to be discrepancies between the two images they produce.
photoshop :borat:
I only look good caught in the moment. If I have to do a still, I look :snow::snow::snow::snow::snow:.
Reply 12
Some people are photogenic. I've been told I'm photogenic many times...and I feel like it's an insult D:

I sometimes look like me in pictures but with some help of make up I can look like a complete stranger as I usually model for my own artwork and I can't look the same in all of them.

And also angles and lighting can change a person's look :3

oh and ofc photoshop
Reply 13
ourlastmemory
Some bone structures just catch the lens more. A camera freezes you in less than a second so if your face looks good at certain angles, or in any kind of movement then you are photogenic, but some people lose the effect of looking good "frozen" when seen with human eyes as our eyes aren't as discerning when it comes to capturing moments as cameras are. But photogenic and RL pretty people are more common than photogenic and RL "ugly" people are.

As for the second point, no, because as I said, a camera catches you in a tiny tiny moment which is passed by the time the human brain has registered it, so if when you look in a mirror you look pretty good, chances are you're looking pretty good to other people's eyes too :yes:

EDIT: and of course there is photoshop and make up.



Thanks I know what Im saying to the next girl I like I'l say 'You know I might look ugly to you but I actually have a very good looking face. Its just the human eye is neither sharp nor fast enough at capturing my beauty'
Wanischa
Some people are photogenic. I've been told I'm photogenic many times...and I feel like it's an insult D:

I sometimes look like me in pictures but with some help of make up I can look like a complete stranger as I usually model for my own artwork and I can't look the same in all of them.

And also angles and lighting can change a person's look :3


You're not photogenic, you're simply hawt! :wink2:
Internet Disease
Reply 16
unknownking321
You're not photogenic, you're simply hawt! :wink2:


;D
You have like a million chances to make yourself look good in a photo (if you're taking it yourself..) but only one chance IRL?
lighting and angles
Reply 19
I've always wondered, do people our age ACTUALLY use photoshop? I don't think any of my friends do :s