It is always good to remember that everyone will judge you differently. Some say you pass, others might think you do not. And there is a reason for that, which hasn't anything to do with your transition or even YOU.
Here is what I found out:
When we judge a photograph, the first thing we respond to are features that stick out the most. Like beard shadow, a big nose and so forth. The obvious one is the beard shadow and everyone will agree on that. Now some might think that your nose is fine, and other might think it's totally male. Why? I think I solved this question that has nagged me for years:
When we are asked to judge a facial feature, we seem to run a routine through our minds that weighs the extremes we have been exposed to. For example: If I have seen females with a big nose in my life, I might judge you passable. Someone else hasn't seen as much females with a big nose in their lives, they might judge you not passable. And this is not about the size alone, it is also about shape, angle, distance between nose and mouth. Conversely, when we see a facial feature we have only seen on males, but never on females, our bias kicks in based upon what we've been exposed to.
So it's my thesis that:
When we recognize a feature we have seen before on another gender, we tend to get confused and look for more cues until the weighing process is satisfied with the value of the combined cues which equals the initial observation of those who we weigh. In other words: first, we tend to see what we want to see and see what we know. If in doubt, this weighing routine kicks in and produces a result which is compared to what they already known to be "female". The weighing routine is complicated by the bias of two key issues: 1) we already know your gender. 2) we also know your birth gender. And probably a 3rd. 3) we don't want to hurt any feelings and avoid social conflicts arising out of that.
Now, normally we are not judged on passability in real life. There is no one who goes about their day, looking for trans people and judge how they pass. Just as you do not try to see if cis-genders pass, because you assume they are cis. While in fact, they might be trans. People do not expect to see us, so they are already biased to judge you as female when enough immediate cues are preset. Which are mostly hair, the shape of the body, breasts and clothes. If these cues are not present, or if some cues are out of context people will pause and try to understand what makes them feel doubt. People are neophiles, which means that any novel things will catch their attention by virtue of biology. Then they run the cue-routine to figure it out, and if that is satisfied you are judged female. If not, then you are either overwhelmingly male, or their cue-routine hints at unknown facial features that have not encountered before on a female. If that happens, they pause and try to learn what they see. If they are ->-bleeped-<-s, insecure bigots, they might harass you. if not, they could figure you are trans, or a very manly female. Even in this stage they still might not see you as trans, but simply doubting. So chances are that you will pass in public on confidence alone. Even after all this, the last thing that they (want to) do is confirming your own insecurities, unless you show them through your body language.
All in all, it's pretty complicated.
I hope that anyone who wants their picture judged, know that it's not as simple as asking others their opinions. You might get a general idea -like dropping the beard shadow- but the intricacies of passing are far more complex, and go beyond a mere YES or NO.
